From Melissa Hank of O.Canada.com:

Slight, smiling and sandy haired, Ramona Barckert is almost indistinguishable from the actors who star on her new teen series for YTV, Open Heart. Her words flow as freely as soda pop, and her laugh is just as bubby.

The creator and executive producer says it’s simple to understand today’s tech-savvy teens if you can just remember your own youth, and it’s easy to believe her. After all, she earned an Emmy nomination and Canadian Screen Award for her writing on teen TV staple Degrassi. Continue reading.

From Bill Harris of the Toronto Sun:

I was thinking just the other day about how American TV and movie audiences are obsessed with big, wealthy, dynastic families.

It’s a tradition of story-telling that goes back many decades. There’s a fascination with watching a rich family fight amongst themselves. And in recent years the trend has moved into reality TV as well, making celebrities of the Kardashians and their ilk. Continue reading.

From Anne Easton of the New York Observer:

Talking with the Exec-Producer of ‘Open Heart,’ An Immersive Experience for All Ages
Barckert explains the genesis of the show, saying, “While I was a writer on Degrassi, the studio behind that show was looking to start a new show that was not centered around a school the way Degrassi is. The idea come up that a hospital might be a great place to set the show, but a hospital might also seem like a weird place to find teens, so we had to work out why would they be there and what would be the trials and tribulations that they’d face in that setting, so when I came onboard the project we sort of had to find what those things would be. Then, the idea for a really intricate family drama with a mystery came out. At that point, we knew we wanted to mesh these ideas together into one show, so we did just that and created this sort of hybrid series that’s family drama and mystery all rolled into one.” Continue reading.

From Troy Patterson of Kincardine News:

Kincardine’s Kevin McGarry stars as Dr. Timothy “Hud” Hudson in YTV series, “Open Heart”
The new show is shot by Degrassi producer Epitome Pictures in Toronto, where he now calls home. McGarry said the series is targeted at an older teen audience, but differs from others shows in both its mystery and hospital setting. “It gets pretty heavy,” he said. “They built a hospital hub, operating room, everyone’s wearing gowns, there’s a lot of ‘eye-acting’. It was really cool to go to work every day.” Continue reading.

Open Heart is a gripping mystery series, folded into a sprawling family saga, set against the high-stakes workplace and relationship drama of a hospital. Dylan Blake, the rebellious daughter of a fractured family of doctors, uses her stint as a youth hospital volunteer to secretly investigate the mysterious disappearance of her father.

Karis Cameron stars as lead character Dylan Blake with the series also starring Tori Anderson, Justin Kelly, Cristine Prosperi, Kevin McGarry, Patrick Kwok-Choon, Jenny Cooper, Demore Barnes, Jeff Douglas, Elena Juatco, Mena Massoud, and Dylan Everett. The family mystery series will shoot this August through October in Toronto.

Open Heart debuts Tuesday, Jan. 20, at 9 p.m. ET on YTV.

Open Heart is executive produced by Linda Schuyler and Stephen Stohn, Ramona Barckert, Matt Hornburg and Mark Bishop. The series is developed in association with marblemedia, which is also taking the lead in producing a fully integrated interactive digital component to the series. Directors are Stefan Brogren and Samir Rahem. Writers include Ramona Barckert, Chris Pozzebon, Scott Oleszkowicz, Brendan Gall, Brendon Yorke and Barbara Haynes. Production Executives for Corus Entertainment are Jamie Piekarz and Chris Bell and for TeenNick, Kim Powers.