Unique Bond Helps One-Of-A-Kind Mother/Daughter Showrunning Team Succeed

“We’re beggars for punishment, but it’s what we love to do,” says Heather Conkie of the work she does with her daughter Alexandra Clarke.

The pair are currently co-showrunners on the series The Way Home, now in its third season, having already been renewed for a fourth.

The series tells the story of three generations of strong women living together in a small farm town who embark on a surprising journey that none of them could have ever imagined as they learn how to find their way back to each other.

Conkie began her career as an actress, working in children’s shows in the 1980s before becoming a writer/producer whose credits include the long-running series Heartland.

It was on that show that she and Clarke began their professional relationship, with Clarke coming to work on the series as a writer.

As their time together on Heartland progressed, Clarke says that, “Quite frankly something we always really dreamed about doing was partnering on a show. So, coming together for this has been incredible.”

Conkie says that in their first year as co-showrunners they worked hard to define their roles, as she explains, “Alex is amazing at handling all of the intricacies on set. And she went to Parsons (School of Design) so she handles decisions about styling and costuming. We do share all of the decisions about casting and other things.”

She adds that, “Most of the big heavy-lifting and big decision-making, we do that together.”

Because filming and editing have to take place at the same time to meet deadlines, while Clarke is usually handling on-set duties, Conkie is often in an editing room at the same time. This division of duties works for the pair, says Clarke.

By the second season, however, says Conkie, “We made the schedule differently to bring Alex into the editing room more, because we wanted her opinion on the cuts. And now this year, we’ve been able to do the editing together and it feels like our strengths have kind of combined now.”

But, this isn’t to say that while working in this highly stressful arena the pair don’t ever disagree.

“Well, we tend to think that when we’re in the production office, we’re in a ‘zone of silence’ of sorts, but everyone knows we fight once in a while, complete with door slamming and all,” says Conkie.

This push-and-pull comes because, as Conkie admits, “We’re two people who are very determined and we can both be digging in their heels on something.”

After some time though, Clarke says that she and her mother are usually able to work things out, and if not, they involve a third party.

She cites Marley Reed, who came up with the initial concept for The Way Home, as a welcome mediator.

“To have her working with us for those moments where you really do need another opinion is just an ideal situation,” says Clarke.

Reflecting on why they feel that they work so well together, Clarke believes that, “One of our strengths is that we’re never panicked at the same time. Like, if one of us is really stressed out, the other one is calm,” to which Conkie adds, “We can talk each other down when we need to.”

This may be a learned skill for the two of them, but Clarke reveals that, “I will say one of the incredible things about us is that we’ve never really had one of those kinds of mother/daughter relationships where she’d say, ‘you’re grounded’ or ‘that’s the way it’s going to be because I say so.’ There was always, as far as I can remember, conversations between us to work things out.”

Conkie does say that they did experience some rough times, mostly when Clarke was a teenager, which Clarke readily agrees with, but that those outbursts were few and far between, and only lasted for a short time.

Their bond is one of the reasons that they make the perfect c0-showrunners for The Way Home, says Conkie. “It’s a show about a mother/daughter relationship and we’ve had so many people tell us how authentic that relationship feels, and it sounds so simple, but it’s really because there’s a real mother and daughter writing and producing this. I don’t think that’s ever been the case before.”

And, because the show features time travel, Clarke points out that, “I think about myself on-set as a kid watching my mom’s show, and sort of going, like, ‘hey, guess what? One day you two are gonna be doing this together.’ It’s crazy to think about it like that, but that’s what this show is — it asks the question, ‘if you could go back and meet your mother at a time when she was your age or younger, what would you do?’”

Both women say that while they bring their personal stories into the narrative of the show, they do try to limit their discussion about the series when they’re away from the work environment.

“Well, we say that we have our rules – like that at family dinners there’s no talk about the show…” says Cronkie.

“But, in all honesty,” says Clarke, “As much as we try, it inevitably comes back around especially because this show is so layered, we’re thinking about it non-stop. You know, we’re sleeping and dreaming about it and thinking about it at every possible moment.”

All of this prompts Conkie to laugh a bit as she says, “So yeah, all this is to say that we try to create rules about how to leave work at the office, but they never really pan out.”

While they love what they do, they still admit that it’s extremely hard, even though they have each other.

Clarke, quoting fellow showrunner, Liz Friedman, who oversees the series The Good Doctor, says, “Being a showrunner is like being beaten to death every day with your own dream.”

“Co-showrunning with anybody is not easy, let alone someone who’s your child,” says Conkie, “but there is an intense feeling of pride that we’re doing it successfully, and that we’re doing it together.”

While they’re hopeful that The Way Home will run for years to come, Conkie and Clarke both say that they have another project that they long to see come to fruition.

“There’s one show that has to be done at some point in our lives,” says Conkie. “This one is our baby. We created it a long time ago.”

After watching her mother work all those years, and discovering that she yearned to do the same thing, Clarke had a revelation recently.

“I had a really surreal moment not too long ago when my son, who’s seven, was on set. Here he was, watching both of us do this job. It felt very full circle because I was the same age watching my mom do the job and now I’m doing it. We’re doing it, and we love it.”

‘The Way Home’ airs on the Hallmark Channel and is available for streaming on Hallmark Movies Now, Peacock, and Prime Video.