INDUSTRY DETAILS

Makenna Heidecker, only producer who reads Western Producer—

Producer

Makenna’s boundless passion for creating engaging work makes her a veritable spark plug for any situation or project she’s thrown on. Despite her young age, Makenna has a relatively long and rich history with Barbershop Films. A desire to immerse herself in the creative TV and video production industry led Makenna to seek out a Production Assistant gig in 2018 on a Barbershop shoot. She became a regular on shoots due to her magnetic personality and strong work ethic – eager to undertake and learn every area of production. Meanwhile, Makenna studied Marketing at Edward’s School of Business, graduating in 2022. Makenna was brought on full-time in May of 2021 while finishing her last year of school. As Project Manager, Makenna assists and leads projects from the pre-production to the completion stage, tasked with budgeting, setting schedules and meetings, coordinating logistics across multiple projects, and assisting in daily production duties. Makenna is exceptionally organized, motivated, and enthusiastic about her job, and is always the first person to offer a helping hand. Makenna also has the rare gift of immediately forming genuine connections with everyone she meets, and thus, is able to keep the needs of the client, talent, and crew in mind while ensuring the production is flowing on schedule. Her burgeoning career has already seen her working with Apple, Bloomberg, Federated Co-op, and Brandlive. Having grown up on a grain and cattle farm in Saskatchewan, when Makenna is not working she can usually be found sliding into her ‘farm girl pants’ back on the home range, exploring the dreamworld of Saskatoon, or writing love letters to the long deceased but still irresistible John Deere.

Fun Facts

What is a bucket list item for you?

I have a bucket list item to publish my book before I retire (so it’s safe to say I still have a few years).

What’s the best concert you’ve ever been to and why?

I don’t go to concerts… but I do go to NHL hockey games. And I can tell you the best one I have been to was in 2018 – Tampa Bay vs Edmonton and the best crowd ever jeering Ben Bishop in Rogers Arena.

What’s one irrational fear that you have?

Fireworks.

Do people tell you that you look like someone famous? If so, who? If not, who should we be telling you that you look like?

LOL. Well, Alex is convinced I look like Megan Markle (pre-princess that is). I do not see it. Everyone else should be mistaking me for Bailey Zimmerman’s wife, though.

Who is someone you admire, and why?

I greatly admire my dad for raising me to know what it means to love your work. Having a good work ethic is just an extension of your true character. Being a farmer, you live your work, and your work is your life. He always instilled in me that you spend most of your life working, so if you enjoy it, there is nothing wrong with your life and work overlapping. You will never work a day in your life when you love what you are doing. (Even though I am pretty sure he always wanted me to be in the ag industry, I took his lessons where I knew I would be most happy).

Do you have any skills or talents that most people don’t know about?

It doesn’t matter how much I sleep (4, 8 or 10 hours), I will always, consistently, without fail, hate mornings. The talent is breathing enough air to fill up my social tank so I can lose the hate by 8 am.

Flashback to when you were 10 years old. What do you want to be when you grow up?

When I was 10 or so years old, I wanted to be an actress because I had a HUGE obsession with movies growing up. Hollywood and the film industry have always captivated me. My creativity and passion for play-acting morphed into my love for writing.

What’s the best advice you were ever given? Who was it from?

“Go so you can come back.” My mother un-ironically would tell us this as kids, but it applies to a lot more situations than I originally thought.

What’s your least favourite smell?

I do not like artificially manufactured vanilla candles.

How fast can you run?

Depends on what is chasing me. My problems? Wicked lightning fast.

What’s your favourite hand-drying method in public washrooms?

OOOOO! The Dyson air thinger!

If you won the lottery tomorrow, what would you do with it?

Buy a cabin at a remote lake in the North of Saskatchewan and get a float plane.

You’re in a near-empty airplane, but a stranger walks up to you and sits on your lap. What do you do?

They most likely aren’t going to stay long as all my bags carry hard and sharp objects that are not a joy to sit on (trust me, I know).