Creators Who Inspire: Meet Roma Roth

Roma Roth [Sullivan’s Crossing Productions Inc]
Roma Roth. Photo credit: Sullivan's Crossing Productions Inc.

Roma Roth is a mastermind of the comfort-viewing genre—think Virgin River. With her knack for creating shows that feel like home and storytelling chops that keep viewers coming back for more, it’s no surprise that CTV renewed her latest hit, Sullivan’s Crossing, for a third season. 

“In the world we live in right now, with all the different things that are happening that are traumatic or upsetting, it's nice to have a show that can give people a reprieve from that,” says Roth. 

Sullivan’s Crossing is based on the book series by Robyn Carr and focuses on Maggie Sullivan (Morgan Kohan), a neurosurgeon facing a professional crisis who returns home to Nova Scotia and the campground run by her estranged father (Scott Patterson). It’s also where she meets good-looking handyperson Cal Jones (Chad Michael Murray), who makes a play for her heart.  

The show is brimming with romance, flawed-but-lovable characters, family drama, and secrets that keep fans watching week after week. There is another key element that attracts viewers: its beautiful, rustic Nova Scotia setting. 

“Nova Scotia is just the perfect place to shoot the show, because Nova Scotia is all about community,” says Roth. “It's like a province with a small-town sensibility where people are very supportive of one another.” 

Sullivans Crossing S2
Sullivan's Crossing - still shot

Through her production company, Reel World Management, Roth has been writing and/or producing TV movies and series for over two decades. But growing up in London, Ontario, she never planned to work in the entertainment industry. 

She began her career as a primatologist—Roth cites the original Planet of the Apes film for inspiring her — but she remembers it wasn’t until after she produced a documentary about Bonobos that she felt the tug of filmmaking. 

“I was a member of the Calgary Society for Independent Filmmakers when I saw the notice on the board about hiring for the assistant to the producer on Lonesome Dove, so I applied and got the job,” she recalls. 

“I come from a family of people who work in academia, and I realized I had two roads I could take. One would be to write articles and journals that only a handful of people would read, or I could use this wonderful medium of film and television to reach a much broader audience, a global audience.” 

The success of Sullivan’s Crossing proves viewers are hungry for her brand of emotional, romantic dramas.  

“You want to create a dedicated fan base by offering your viewers identifiable characters that people can go on an emotional journey with,” says Roth. “It has to be a kind of ‘one degree of separation,’ so that they don’t have to expose themselves emotionally too much so that they have a good cry and then go have dinner with their family.” 


CMF-FMC
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) fosters, develops, finances and promotes the production of Canadian content and applications for all audiovisual media platforms. The CMF guides Canadian content towards a competitive global environment by fostering industry innovation, rewarding success, enabling a diversity of voice and promoting access to content through public and private sector partnerships. The CMF receives financial contributions from the Government of Canada and Canada’s cable, satellite and IPTV distributors.
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