Fresh off two Canadian Screen Awards wins for Best Web Program or Series (Fiction) and Best Direction (Katie Uhlman), ‘Cows Come Home’ follows a young woman navigating rural life and competitive cow-showing in Fort Erie, Ontario. A female-led production created and written by Lindsey Middleton and Katie Uhlmann has all its episodes directed by Uhlmann. Uhlmann and Middleton give us their take on how ‘Cows Come Home’ came together; from inception to production to post-production, and all the challenges that came with making this project. This is a masterclass kind of interview, a learning lesson for many, with tips and tricks for anyone looking for a little bit of guidance on how to get the ball rolling on an idea that has been ruminating in their minds. This article features Uhlmann and Middleton’s chat with Armin Sethi about all things ‘Cows Come Home’.

When did you first start talking about ‘Cows Come Home’? What was the initial spark for the story? Was it based on a personal experience? 

Katie: We started talking about ‘Cows Come Home’ in the Fall of 2022. I wanted a project to write and direct, and Lindsey wanted to write and act.  Lindsey and I were out for her brother Gordon’s birthday. We were all in a transitional time – Lindsey coming back from travelling, and both Gord and I were going through breakups. A bit of a “rock bottom” for me personally, anyway. I knew about Bell Fibe regional funding and was actively looking for a rural series to produce, and Lindsey brought up cow showing as a kid, which I thought would be a unique (and fun) backdrop for a series.

Turns out, she had always wanted to make something in that world as well.  We agreed then and there to start working away. The protagonist (Tabby) is very much where I was emotionally at that time, and we talked a lot about the friendship between the two lead characters- Tabby (played by Lindsey) and Cara (played by the lovely Allie Dunbar). Both Lindsey and I have best friends in real life who live a very different, more traditional life than we do, yet they are still our biggest cheerleaders, and we’re theirs. We wanted this ride-or-die friendship as the primary relationship in the show. 

Lindsey and I are both from small towns. We grew up around animals, farmers, and where your handshake is your word. Neither of us has met a farmer who isn’t hard-working, smart, and generous, and in a media landscape where often the small-town folk are the butt of the joke, we agreed early on that we didn’t want to do that. We were excited to represent the communities we know and love in an authentic way. 

In retrospect, we were both going through a tough time when the journey started, and maybe we needed ‘Cows Come Home’ to provide some direction (maybe even distraction), and focus. I’ve noticed that sometimes we cling to our dreams a little bit harder in life’s tough moments. Our protagonist Tabby is similar in that respect – only her dream is to win at competitive cow showing, and she dives headfirst with her childhood bestie at her side. Life is always a little more fun with a girlfriend to cheer you on, after all.

Lindsey: In 2021, I watched ‘Best in Show’ during the pandemic for the first time, and it made me think, “Huh, something like this would be interesting with cow-showing.” I wrote “4-H Best in Show” in my Notes app and then went on with life until one fateful evening that Katie and I now call the “saddest birthday party ever.” We were celebrating my brother’s birthday, who was recently going through a breakup, as was Katie, and I had just come back from seven months of travelling and had a blank slate in the life department. One of my party stories over the years had been about growing up cow-showing, so when it came up, Katie thought that would be a great show, much like I had wondered many years earlier. Great minds think alike. Katie knew about the Bell Fibe Fund, and I knew about cow-showing, and we basically have not stopped working on the show since. That’s where it all started: some ideas jotted down on a napkin. 

What did the very first version of the project look like? How different is the finished series from that original concept?  

Katie: The first version is very different from where we landed – it was a bit broader in terms of the comedy, and we had to work hard to bring the heart to it. The scripts went through many drafts up until shooting. We did test read-throughs with actors where they gave feedback and also brought in Keri Ferencz (‘Murdoch Mysteries’, ‘Hudson and Rex’) to consult and give notes.

Lindsey: The very first version of the project was conceived as a six-episode series, with the episodes being ten minutes in length, as this is what we heard the broadcaster wanted. These guardrails were super helpful in the early days as we wrote initial scripts, arcs, and outlines. We would later reimagine it as a half-hour series, pitching that around and eventually becoming part of the TIFF Series Accelerator Program. But it was the green light from Bell Fibe that had us imagining it in a shorter format yet again (it ended up being an average of 17 minutes per episode because we had so much story we wanted to tell!).

How did you divide responsibilities during development? What did collaboration look like between the two of you? How did you handle disagreements?  

Katie: Development was very shared – we wrote the scripts together and in the same room. We met regularly, which has always been really important to my process to keep motivated on a project. There weren’t too many disagreements, but when we did disagree, we would talk through it. We are both in our thirties and have had some experiences working through work relationships and relationships in general! Any team is bound to bump heads at times, but it’s how you deal with it that really counts.

Lindsey: We truly worked like a unit. Multiple meetings a week, whether that was creative writing, grant writing, or research trips to the farms, we kept the commitment to each other and the project going. Of course, there were disagreements; it would be strange to work so intimately with another person and never have them. But we both always sat down at the table and tried to find out what was at the root of it and hear each other out. 

A few questions about timelines – Can you walk us through a year-by-year timeline of the project? When did development officially begin? When was the first draft completed? When did financing conversations start? When did production become a realistic possibility?

Katie: Development began in 2022, and the first draft would have been completed later that year. Financing conversations started immediately because I was already aware of the Bell Fibe regional funding, so we applied to them very early as well. It took Bell a while to give us the green light (they didn’t have the funding available for Niagara when we initially applied). When we didn’t hear from them, we continued developing the series into a half-hour comedy and were participants in the 2023 TIFF Series Accelerator in the longer format.  We then heard back from Bell Fibe at the end of 2023 that it was a go, and then applied to Ontario Creates for production funding in 2024.

We continued developing, knowing we would shoot with or without their support; it would just be a very different scale/budget level. Ontario Creates gave us a yes on July 5th, 2024. This was a huge win as they brought in a big chunk of the financing. Then we went and secured some brand sponsors, private funding, and lots of in-kind sponsorship, thanks to the community of Fort Erie. We went into production in Sept-Oct 2024 and delivered the series in the spring of 2025. The launch date was June 11th, 2025.

Lindsey: We truly started the day after the birthday party, first with the creative and with the goal of submitting to Bell Fibe in December 2022. There was a first draft in there, though it would change substantially by the time we went to camera. Winter 2023 had us having multiple meetings with Bell Fibe, but they didn’t know if funding windows would align. However, they were interested in the creative. 2023 was hard for me; without a firm yes from the network, it was hard to know where to go next. But Katie said we had to just keep going. So we did. We reimagined it as a half-hour series after our agents encouraged us to and ended up getting into the TIFF Series Accelerator. 

In December 2023, we got the yes from Bell Fibe. Winter 2024 was about finding financing (Ontario Creates, private funding, in-kind donations) as well as working with story consultant Keri Ferencz. We moved ahead with filming plans – not one hundred percent sure if Ontario Creates would come through, and I definitely cried in my hallway when I found out it did in July. Then it was a swift few months of pre-production and twelve days of filming in September/October. We always knew we were going to shoot and make something, but the support of Ontario Creates meant that we could make something even bigger than I personally had ever imagined.

How many years passed between the initial idea and the first day of shooting? 

Katie: October 4th, 2022, was the initial idea, and the first day of shooting was September 20th, 2024. That would be about two years exactly! 

Let’s talk financing! What was the first funding you secured? What was the whole budget for the series? How did you structure your finance plan?  

Katie: The first funding we secured was Bell Fibe TV1, which was 60K. Then Ontario Creates came in for $150K. We then raised an additional $97K through private investment and in-kind services. The total production budget was $307,709. It’s cheesy to say, but it was all crucial.

What advice would you give filmmakers applying for Canadian funding programs?

Katie: Give yourself some time to do a good application. I have been on the jury for funders before, and it is very competitive. Try to have at least a few pieces already in place. Think through the style of your application – the ones that stand out have a cohesive style. Get a mentor to double-check your budget. I’ve done many applications, and even now, I have a few mentors who I will have look at the numbers in case I’ve missed something. Make sure you set up a meeting and talk to the funder before you apply. If you don’t know how much to reasonably ask for, ask them!

Lindsey: This was the first funding I had ever received after applying to many grants over the years. Step one is to have an amazing mentor. Katie had been around the granting cycle before and is always thinking in a 360-degree kind of way. Attend the webinars about the funds you want to submit to and start with the harder tasks first (getting anything from anyone else (letters, agreements, etc.) always takes time). Time is also huge. I kept track, and we collectively spent 50 hours on our Ontario Creates grant application. Go the extra mile, make sure it’s clear, and ask the funding bodies for clarification if you don’t understand something.

Tell us about the TIFF Series Accelerator? What were you hoping to gain? What surprised you about the experience? How did the program change your strategy?

Katie: The series had been developed as a short-form digital series and then re-developed as a half-hour comedy. We had a pitch deck that, in hindsight, was not the best, even though our concept was unique and well thought out. We were looking to learn and to make more industry connections, and find opportunities for the project. I was surprised by how our cohort really bonded – it was great meeting execs, but it has been really special staying in touch with the other participants and keeping up with all of their success! 

The program inspired us to re-do our entire pitch deck, really matching the tone and feel of the show. We think it did help us with positioning because we put the TIFF logo on absolutely every deck afterwards – the TIFF brand is so recognizable, and we felt it really helped to elevate the project and give it a stamp of approval. In the months after the accelerator, we heard from Bell Fibe that we were good to go – it’s hard to say if the TIFF accelerator directly had an effect on their decision, but I don’t think it hurt!

Lindsey: We applied to the TIFF Series Accelerator almost immediately after we had gotten our “not right now” from Bell Fibe. There were many joyous surprises with this project, but getting accepted into that program might have been one of the biggest. I was coming from a producing background in theatre and web series, so I was hoping to understand more about the TV landscape in general.

What I didn’t expect to gain was an incredibly kind and supportive group of peers who still champion and look out for each other four years later. One of my biggest learnings from the Accelerator was around pitching and packaging and how you really need to distill, distill, distill the hook of the show. Any recognition from TIFF is a huge honour, and though it may not have directly led to our series being made, we are proud alumni of that program and institution. About six weeks after the Accelerator, we got approval from Bell Fibe.

What was the lowest moment in the process? What almost prevented the web series from being made?

Katie: We had to fire one person on the show, which was a low point for me because I have never fired anyone before. It really sucked – it was someone whom I had liked for years as an acquaintance and was very excited to work with.

Lindsey: I don’t think anything ever almost prevented the web series from being made; we knew we were going to make this show. Two moments stand out to me. 2023 was challenging because we had to keep pushing this boulder up the hill when there didn’t seem to be any end in sight. We had no network, no funding, and I found it hard to keep dedicating lots of time to a ‘maybe’. I remember saying to Katie all the time, “I feel like I am running a marathon, but I don’t know where the finish line is.”

The biggest low moment was learning they had found cancer in my dad three weeks before we were set to film. My parents’ house was home base for many of our crew, and my parents were very involved with coordinating many elements of what was happening in my hometown, where we were filming. We took things day by day, and fortunately, my dad was able to have a procedure and was on his feet and driving people to and from set when filming began, not missing a beat. It was very scary and not something that could have been planned for in any way. I am thrilled to say my dad is cancer-free and enjoys putting our ‘Cows Come Home’ stickers on anything he can.

Were there any crises – scheduling, budget, cast, funding-related?

Katie: Honestly, I don’t think we had any crises (knock on wood). Lindsey and I both worked very hard in pre-production and prep to make sure we were as prepared as possible. We stayed on budget and on schedule. We did offer a few parts to actors who declined, which is fine. We could always use more money, and would have loved to pay everyone more!

Lindsey: Budget crisis, not a crisis, but not knowing if we would have the Ontario Creates grant until two months before shooting had us planning for two very different productions. When it came to scheduling, seventy percent of our shoot was outside, so we were always thinking of rain plans, and luckily, we only needed to find a workaround once. With cast availability, we didn’t have the flexibility to cater to that. Funding gaps: We worked for a year trying to gather as much funding as we could. We would have loved more filming days, larger crews, and bigger day rates, but we did the most with what we had. 

When did you start thinking about publicity and building awareness about the project? How important was social media?

Katie: We started publicity very early via social media. We have been active for years and hired an on-set social media person to post while we were in production as well. We hired Sue Baldero as our publicist in pre-production, for the launch, and post-CSA wins, who did a great job. We also did a launch party at Hot Docs cinema in Toronto with over 600 guests, where we had a red carpet, photo ops, and volunteers dressed as cows and cow show people. We did cow-branded snacks and tote bags – it gave us a big boost in terms of people sharing, knowing about the show, and interactions on our accounts. 

Strategic partnerships with 4-H Canada and 4-H Ontario helped a lot as they promoted the show to their 400 clubs across Canada, networks, and included us in various newsletters. These organizations also helped connect us to other rural media outlets across the country that also promoted the series. We have been invited to speak at agricultural events, including The Royal Winter Fair and the 4-H Youth Summit, which has helped us connect directly with rural communities as part of a 360 marketing approach of the show. Please follow @cowscomehomeshow on FB and Insta! 😉

Lindsey: Sue Baldaro (the best!) was able to get us coverage in Playback in July 2024, three months before going to camera. We also started leveraging social media at this time, showing folks pre-production, farm content, and allowing and encouraging social media content on set. Typically, at least as an actor, this is never allowed, but we were keen to create buzz about the show. Sure, there were a few key scenes we asked people not to post about, but for the most part, folks had carte blanche. We worked with Sue again for our launch in June 2025, both for our Hot Docs premiere and for press and media appearances. We worked with her again following our CSA wins!

Outside of working with Sue, we also partnered early on with 4-H Canada and 4-H Ontario (the organizations that facilitate cow-showing competitions) and attended conferences, youth summits and spoke with press outlets more in the agricultural sector. This is a huge element of our audience, so we wanted to make sure the word was getting out to them as well. 

How do independent films compete for attention? Did TIFF Accelerator help with visibility? What made journalists respond to the story?

Katie: I think visibility is a challenge for small independent films. We do what we can with our budgets, and we really stretched as far as we could. We ended up doing a lot of the work ourselves, whereas I think larger budget productions benefit from having a team behind them and more dollars to put towards visibility.

TIFF Accelerator did help us, and continues to as they invite us to events, and have supported us however they can. In terms of media outlets, we did a mix of blogs and online outlets, as well as mainstream media like eTalk, CTV, CBC, and CP24.  Sometimes it’s hard to know what is translating the best into views, but we have been consistently in the Bell Fibe favourites on their app. I think journalists responded to the uniqueness of competitive cow showing – something we haven’t really seen much in mainstream media, if at all.

Lindsey: I think there are an incredible number of talented filmmakers all hoping to have their work seen and enjoyed. I think something that we have tried to do with our work is stay consistently visible, whether that is through social media or taking a grassroots approach at events where we think our audience will be.

TIFF Accelerator was a great boost in visibility and legitimacy. We are very grateful to be included in that cohort. In terms of media outlets, we worked with Sue to try and have a mix of TV, radio, print, and online; whether that was the Toronto Star, CBC, ETALK, or SiriusXM, we just tried to get the word out to everyone. I think the word “cow-showing” perks people’s ears up; it’s not something you hear every day. I think that element made people want to hear more about the show itself, the characters, and the message we are trying to get out as creators.

What was the smartest decision you made? What was the biggest mistake?                  

Katie: In terms of smart decisions, choosing a good partner to work with is the most crucial – producing will test you, and you will see someone at their worst and best, and I think Lindsey and I got lucky in that we work well together and have similar values. We are also both capable of really focusing and buckling down when we need to and have shared responsibilities in a fair way. 

In terms of the biggest mistake, our timeline for post-production was too fast, and I was the one who agreed to the June launch, so this was entirely my fault. Hari Ramesh, our editor, and I were working at a bit of an inhumane pace – every night and weekend for months, which was a little crazy! He’s one of my best friends, and we got through it, but I’d recommend setting a reasonable post schedule for yourself. Your picture editor, sound mixing team, music supervisor, and colourist will thank you.

Lindsey: Smartest decision: Working with Katie. She is incredibly knowledgeable, open about sharing information, past lessons, future pathways, and collaborating as both a creative and a producing partner. Biggest mistake: Not so much a mistake, but something I wish we had done differently is the way in which we incorporated for the show. Very long story short, incorporating a one-off corporation for your project is the way to go.

What advice would you give first-time web series makers?

Katie: Collaborate with people who have similar values. Find a good mentor (hi, David Carruthers, my mentor/EP for over 10 years!) Hire people who have prior experience in the job you are hiring them for. Test your script, rewrite it. Test your edit, and tighten/ ADR/ re-edit to make it better. Get insurance, have a good chain of title, keep your books clean. Be as fair as possible. Be nice to people. Have fun!

Lindsey: Find the idea you can’t let go of that is also something you can make for $0. If more money comes, you’re off to a different kind of race. We always knew we had the cows, great actors, and an amazing crew available to us, so we knew the show could go ahead in some capacity, even if it wasn’t the million-dollar version. I think a lot of creatives wait for something to be perfect before starting or before knowing all the answers. Figure out what kind of story you want to tell and then start asking people who are doing it how they did it. Thank them, then go and make yours, knowing it is going to take time, energy, a lot of favours, and many learnings.

What would surprise people most about how the web series got made? What’s one thing emerging filmmakers misunderstand about financing?

Lindsey: Surprise: Maybe that we filmed on operating farms, so we catered to their schedules. If the cows or the ponies needed to be milked or go out to pasture at a certain time, that was part of our scheduling prep. Oh, and also the calves had their own hair and make-up call times, and there was also a team that got them ready!

Katie: I think that emerging filmmakers don’t have enough understanding of business affairs. Not everyone is taught about insurance, deal memos, cost reports, etc. You cannot “wing” this part – take a course or find a mentor. If you get funding without the business experience, you can do it, but you will need someone to guide you.

Tell us about your CSA promotion strategy.

Katie: We used social media for our CSA promotion strategy. We created reels and posts for the different categories, and we also used word of mouth, telling literally everyone we saw! I think the years of hard work promoting the show, including all of the press and our various screenings and launches, also helped create awareness for ‘Cows Come Home’. Awards are not why we do what we do, but it is really meaningful to be recognized. I think we all need a pat on the back once in a while.

Lindsey: Something we tend to do before we start any of these chapters is talk about how we want something to feel or look. For example, we chatted about how we wanted the set to feel like summer camp. For the CSAs, we wanted it to feel celebratory. That was reflected in our promotions, our outfits, and our outlook going into the event. We were incredibly grateful to be recognized; it was the cherry on top of this many-layered cake.

Photo Credits: Courtesy of Belleview Creative Inc. and Katie Chats Inc.
Diego Barranco (BTS).