A Guelph screenwriter has been awarded a Canadian Screen Award for her work on a popular youth TV show.
Ramona Barckert was given the award for ‘best writing in a children’s or youth's program or series for her work on The Hardy Boys.
It’s her second time winning this award; the first was for her work on Degrassi.
“Working in television is a very challenging job, and to be recognized in that way is a great honour,” she said. Plus, she added “to be honoured twice in the same category is kind of amazing.”
Thank you! Incredibly honoured and congratulations to my fellow nominees. Writing is hard! https://t.co/GnznUnEUR6
— Ramona Barckert (@ramonabarckert) April 13, 2023
Growing up in Guelph, Barckert always wanted to be a writer, and would spend her time writing short stories and small plays. By the time she finished university, it seemed all that practice had paid off.
When she was finishing up her degree at York, a mutual friend asked her to be the writer for a fourth-year film project. It ended up doing well, earning a few different student awards and attracting the attention of short film festivals.
That’s when her agent approached her, saying he thought she was talented and could have a career as a screenwriter – a difficult task in Canada, she said, largely because of the behemoth that is U.S. television and film.
“You have to know the right people, you have to build on those relationships, and you have to really work on your craft,” she said. “So I feel very grateful that I've been able to do that.”
Her first professional writing gig was around 20 years ago, helping to develop a show called The Smart Woman Survival Guide.
From there, she began working her way up in the kid and young adult realm of entertainment. Her career really took off when she became a writer for Degrassi during seasons 11 and 14.
“That was sort of a big turning point,” she said. Her time there helped elevate her career, and she started getting producing and showrunning roles, as well as developing her own projects.
She's also since written for shows like Wynonna Earp, SurrealEstate and Open Heart.
For Barckert, inspiration can be found everywhere. But it’s also a muscle she has to continually exercise.
“I get ideas or bits of ideas or a scene or a little characteristic of some character or a moment that sticks in my brain, and I'll write it down. But I don't necessarily know where it fits into a story right away.”
“I get inspired by news stories or stories other people tell me. It never is exactly what I read or hear… it kind of turns into something else.”
Another form of inspiration comes from a devastating occupational hazard for a former English major: she can’t read books just for fun anymore: she’s always wondering if they would make a good adaptation.
Barckert moved back home when she married her husband; both originally from Guelph, they wanted to raise a family here.
It might seem like an inopportune spot for a professional screenwriter, when most of the jobs are in the GTA and surrounding areas. Most people in the industry typically move to where the jobs are, she said.
But she’s happily managed from home.
Although she commuted to Etobicoke where The Hardy Boys was shooting, she said a lot of writing rooms have been remote because of the pandemic.
“It’s been beneficial in a way for people who need to balance work life a little more,” she said.
Right now, she’s working on two pilots: an adaptation of a youth novel, and an original half-hour comedy, both of which she hopes will get the green light for production.
She expects the third and final season to be released on YTV sometime in the late summer or early fall. The first two seasons are available to stream on Disney Plus.
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