About

As a queer-owned company, Hearth Productions centres representation and community. Stories have the power to be transformative and identity affirming, so to expand the representation of marginalized groups and their experiences is to expand opportunities, uplift communities, and affirm the lives and experiences of the underrepresented.

Our focus is threefold: podcasts, microdrama films & series, and video production for businesses in the South Island community. These are our upcoming projects:

FIRE GAZE PODCAST, a podcast for and by 2SLGBTQIA+ people and allies will be a community building vehicle with story at its heart. Three shows under the Fire Gaze banner will convey the tone and intention behind Hearth Productions. The titular FIRE GAZE is an audio-only fiction storytelling show where our audience can gather round the “fire” and listen to the stories of talented queer writers; CINEMA QUEERS is a film react show in which drag queen Henrietta Dubét, self-described chaos goblin Max Robin, and professional screenwriter Tristin Morton watch queer content together then discuss; then ELDER BABY, hosted by Tristin Morton, an elder millennial and a baby gay, will be our interview show, bringing on seasoned queer community members to talk sex, dating, and relationships, as well as the importance of representation.

Hearth’s first microdrama will be TIDAL LOCKED, written & produced by Tristin Morton (STREET LEGAL: THE REBOOT, THE ROMEO SECTION) – a sapphic romance in which two ex-girlfriends on an isolated beach reexamine their past relationship through the classic game of spin the bottle – starring Jess Smith (THE LOST WIFE OF ROBERT DURST, ROUND AND ROUND) and Donna Benedicto (ALERT, EXMAS), and directed by the multi-talented Yvonne Chapman (AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER, SUPERMAN & LOIS).

Following the momentum of TIDAL LOCKED, Hearth will turn the focus to TIME WITH HER, a sapphic romance with time travel and a GEMFest feature screenplay competition finalist, starring Sophia Lauchlin Hirt (BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE, CARDINAL), Donna Benedicto, and Jess Smith, and directed by Yvonne Chapman. The story follows a grieving widow, who thanks to Tymlee’s new time travel technology, grows obsessed with reliving her brief marriage to the woman of her dreams until she stumbles onto a way to change their past and give them more time.

We are a new company, but as a team we bring decades of film & television experience to the table to provide bespoke and quality video production for businesses, whether that be for marketing or internal use. We work with companies to create content – commercial, corporate, and artistic – that connects and entertains.

HEARTH PRODUCTIONS is on a mission to grow as a content producer, telling stories that centre 2SLGBTQIA+ folk and their various intersections – this includes those who are BIPOC, people with disabilities, and the neurodivergent. We’re taking the reins as creative, edgy, and talented artists with fresh takes and a passion for story.