Rosana Roth brings three decades of television experience to Sullivan’s Crossing

Rosana Roth's first job in the writers’ room was as script coordinator on Lonesome Dove: The Series, which was shooting in Calgary. When her shift ended, she'd sit in the editing bay and watch the editors work their magic.

It was an early glimpse into the moving parts that go into making television, and one that helped shape Roth’s future career.

"I always wanted to be a writer,” says Roth, BFA 96, MFA 01. “And hope I can make the leap to director one day."

Thirty years later, Roth is co-executive producer and writer on the hit romance series, Sullivan's Crossing, which airs on CTV, CW and Netflix. Based on bestselling author Robyn Carr's novel of the same name, the Nova Scotia-shot series was created and executive produced by her identical twin sister and showrunner Roma Roth.

Joining the series on its second season as a story editor, Rosana rose to the ranks of co-executive producer and writer before the season was out, and is now working on its fifth season.

‘I loved being surrounded by like-minded people’

Before moving into writing and producing, Roth spent much of her career shaping stories behind the scenes, working as a development executive and creative consultant for companies such as Taurus 7 Films, Allegro Films, TVA International and Guy Laliberté’s Cirque du Soleil Media.

In her position as head of development at Reflector Entertainment, Roth grew the company from three people to more than 80. She also helped create the cross-platform story-world, Unknown 9, overseeing and producing the podcast, novel, feature script, comic and live immersive experience in New York.

It all speaks to Roth's belief in lifelong learning. "It's important that I continue to grow and challenge myself for as long as I’m working in the industry,” she says.

That appetite goes back to Roth's undergraduate years at Concordia, which predated the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. She spent that time cutting and splicing physical film by hand.

"While I learned many things at Concordia, I can't say that I excelled in keeping my film stock scratch free," she admits.

A third-world cinema course with Peter Rist introduced her to films she would never have found on her own. When Roth returned to Concordia for her MFA, she was already working full-time in the industry while working on an experimental autobiographical film, Disney to Dachau, as her thesis.

"I wasn't ready to stop going to university," she says. "I loved being surrounded by like-minded people who weren't stuck in a corporate nine-to-five executing someone else's vision."

People counted as much as the coursework. Former classmate Roy Cross, MFA 98, now a professor at Concordia, is still a friend. Film director and screenwriter Louise Archambault, BFA 93, MFA 00, was also among Roth’s cohorts.

"You learn as much from each other as you do from the professors," she says. "University allows you the space to explore your creativity, and you don't have that anywhere else in life."

Roth encourages emerging writers to follow three guiding principles: know your story, know your audience and focus on the future.

She is also a firm believer in creative collaboration and providing writers with a supportive space in which to create. "In the writers’ room, there's no such thing as a bad idea. Even the most nascent of thoughts can evolve into something brilliant," she says.

Under her own company banner, Code Red Entertainment, Roth is developing Dust, a coming-of-age fantasy feature based on the Governor General Award-winning young adult novel by Saskatchewan author Arthur Slade, which Roth plans to direct — another step towards the goal she set more than three decades ago.

Further down the road, Roth would like to return to where it all started and share what she has learned with the next generation of filmmakers. "I miss my days at Concordia," she says. "I would love the opportunity to come back and teach there one day."