Up on High Ground

***Up on High Ground***  is a teen family drama, syndicated television series, comprising nine television episodes, produced in the United States of America.
Up on High Ground was nominated for best television series in 2020, five years after originally airing by roku Detaron TV awards. The same year, Up on High Ground's lead actress Rylee Cravens went on to receive the award for Best Actress in a television series/film playing Savannah Swanson.

Main Cast of Up on High Ground

## History

Originally, *Up on High Ground* was a product of BK Studios as created by Bryan Kreutz in a first draft series proposal, dated February 2013.

Director Thomas Callahan and Co-Director of Photography Dwayne Simmons discuss a scene on location for Up on High Ground.

### Location

West Chase Building - Creve Coeur Missouri

Beginning with a single pilot episode, *Friends, Family, and Freeloaders*, filming began in August 2013, using three separate episode scripts, filmed in reverse production order, starting first with *Fued of Friends and Foes*, *Friends, Family, and Freeloaders, Part 2*, then filming *Friends, Family, and Freeloaders* last. Director Thomas Callahan recommended filming the three scripts in reverse production order to get chemistry created and on-screen characters down pat by the time the actual pilot would be up and presented to networks as the best work from the cast. *Up on High Ground* was not placed on the schedule of television affiliates on The CW network until a second pilot episode, to precede the original titled *Superiority of the High and Mighty Kind-ness*, was produced in 2014. The second pilot was written solely by Joanna Ferbrache, then a co-writer credit was added for Bryan Kreutz for two scenes re-added from the original pilot. One scene is a crucial Mr. Stu Charles classroom scene from the original pilot, blended into Ferbrache's script. Ferbrache's script originally included more students and much of the scene Kreutz wrote already from the original pilot, however the footage taped already from the original pilot was added before and after Ferbrache's script to compliment it.

*Up on High Ground* officially went into production on August 31, 2013 and ran for one season until it was canceled in the fall of 2015. The series originally aired in TV syndication on affiliates of The CW and PureFlix from October 25, 2014, to October 26, 2015. Up on High Ground was distributed by PureFlix with parent production company Brayden Patterson Productions. In association with BK Studios.

Before it was a TV series in 2013, Bryan Kreutz, Brayden Patterson and Joe McGettigan were meeting several times a week and on weekends while in Pre-production to carefully comb through characters, scripts already written, and available crew members to build the full production in the St. Louis Missouri area. After the first three aforementioned scripts, that were filmed in reverse production order weren't getting any networks to bite via Kreutz and Patterson's agent, other duties to get the pilot script officially under a copy-write by the Library of Congress office in Washington D.C. were being carried out.

Joanna Ferbrache

Once IAMFlix, later PureFlix signed the series to distribute and The CW network affiliates fell inline together as it's main distributors, the series would be required to write and produce a new full pilot episode to precede the original, containing more main character backstory and establishment. In a very short period of time within the spring of 2014 Kreutz and McGettigan interviewed several people for the marketing and public relations crew as they wanted to increase visibility locally and eventually into the East cost. This was achieved as the show would begin airing in the fall on several affiliates in Missouri and Pennsylvania to begin. Bryan Kreutz has personally said on record that "Joanna Ferbrache saved this would be series and if it wasn't for her new pilot script and her zeal of great energy and enthusiasm in pursuit of this TV series objective, we may of never been able to air the would be series."

Joanna Ferbrache was originally hired by Kreutz and McGettigan as crew performing the marketing and public relations, but would also deliver the infamous pilot script and co-write the second script to propel the series off the ground in 2014.

The production team pose after one final production meeting before the new pilot written by Ferbrache was completed in 2014
## Production

Production crew on the set of episode 5 "The Quintessence of a Situation"

Production of *Up on High Ground* took place from August 2013 until 2014, when the production was shopped around by series creators Bryan Kreutz and Brayden Patterson's agent Mandi Morris. Once the series landed on the aforementioned network and streaming services, production continued in the late summer of 2014 which took the franchise from now four produced and ready to air episodes in the can, to a script ready to produce for episode five titled The Quintessence of a Situation. The remaining episodes six, seven, eight, and nine, were all produced sequentially and uninterrupted until the series was canceled.

Up on High Ground series creators Bryan Kreutz and Brayden Patterson

The series was primarily shot with a single Canon HD camera, at times with dual cameras. The crew includes Emmy Award-winning editor Dale Ward, and Bryan Kreutz who has directed over 60 TV episodes, including two TV talk shows, his first being Revolution 618. Aside from one scene written by Emma Jane Mitchell, and the two pilot episodes, original and 2nd episode, co-written by Joanna Ferbrache, All 9 episodes were pinned from the collaborative script writing of Lec Zorn and Bryan Kreutz. With the exception of episode 4 which was also co-written by Thomas Callahan. On set production ceased for the series in October 2015.

## Plot and setting

A college psychology student is tested daily with his roommates, one in friendship, and the other on patience as a third wheel freeloader. Dillon and his roommate Landon are majoring their college courses in applied developmental psychology: variability in teacher-student interactions at East Valley Academy High School.

Dillon, a fairly good guy who pictures himself a role model, a leader - being "Christ-like", must deal with his unemployed roommate crashing on the couch, and being more than just a neighborly influence to his neighbor Jaris, a widowed, pregnant, mother of three children. An ongoing high school feud of girl foes is at the top of Dillon and Landon’s psychology matters, as the two try to convert their principal leader from Buddhism to Christianity.

Set at the fictional East Valley Academy High School near the city and in suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri, and Illinois, it follows the emotional travails of three roommates, two of them, Dillon and Landon, interning for college courses in psychology, studying student teacher interactions of several teenagers. The story arc parallels with a neighborly community connected to an entourage of teens, mainly two student rivals, in the social circle of main teen characters Savannah Swanson, played by Rylee Cravens and Erin O'Byrne played by Erin Morris.

## Episode availability licenses

The Up on High Ground Pureflix.com landing page to watch episodes 2014-2015

Amazon Prime Video took the rights of the pilot episode 1 *Superiority of the High and Mighty Kind-ness* in 2017. Later in spring 2019, episode 2 *Friends, Family, and Freeloaders and* episode 3 *Friends, Family, and Freeloaders, part 2* were made available on Amazon Prime. Then episode 4 Fued of Friends and Foes was also made available later that year.

Older licenses for previously aired episodes were no longer available after their syndicated run on the CW TV affiliates and Pureflix until 2020 when the Roku channel Detaron TV took the rights for free streaming of the entire 9 episode series and is still available to date for viewing. Several scripts and material belong to numerous companies. Plans to have the entire series available on the Amazon Prime streaming platform going forward were discussed heavily by the production companies and teams after the series run, but to date only the first four episodes are available on Amazon Prime and all 9 episodes on Roku Detaron TV.

## Casting and Character development

This series marks the third time that Brayden Patterson, Joe McGettigan, Neil McDonald, Bryan Kreutz and Erin Morris have worked together alongside sisters Rylee and Molly Cravens. The first was the 2013 Indie Fest USA qualifying short film, To Inflict, and the second was the feature film Hercules: The Brave and the Bold.

Savannah Swanson was based on creator Kreutz’s blonde haired classmates, Carrie Spooner and Jill Gant, who spent all of middle school and high school together. Rylee Cravens who played Savannah was meant to have a haughty, big attitude and rival the class smart girl Erin. Kreutz, who worked closely with Cravens in two previous films, knew she would be the perfect fit to play this lead girl role without an audition, stating “She was your A-typical American popular girl and that's what we cast her for”.

Additionally the character Erin was based on Kreutz best friend's short-lived girlfriend. This girlfriend, was a classmate of Kreutz, whom at the time in highschool like the character had very deep red curly hair and smarts.

Actors pose after a script table reading

### Performers

Billy Patricks, Erin Morris, Malissa Williams

### Location

Chase Park Plaza - St. Louis Missouri

The character of Bogroe was not part of the original concept for the show. Creators Kreutz and Patterson had an original script and storyboard to include only Dillon and Landon, who were based upon the real lives of Off-the-cuff comedy between then roommates Brayden Patterson and Byron L. Wilson. However, Crystal Richardson, a future guest star working with Kreutz suggested a third freeloading character be placed in the cast to be the recipient of the butt end of jokes. Richardson suggested to Kreutz to have this third wheel roommate be written as combinations of the Dimwitted character Cole Brown and also "Tommy" Strawn, both were two of Martin Payne's three best friends on the 1990s comedy Martin (TV series). Bogroe's crashing on the couch as a temporarily-permanent fixture comes under scrutiny with his apparent mysterious unemployment status. This was a running gag throughout the show until his D-Jay gig is discovered in the finale, which was also written in closely paralleling the Martin best friends.

Joe McGettigan

Joe McGettigan, the supervising Producer on this new series "Up on High Ground" brought in a production assistant who would eventually play the role of Bogroe on the second day of taping, which coincidentally was being filmed at McGettigan's former house now turned a set in the Dutch town district of St. Louis. Billy Patricks, this production assistant turned main character, proved his improv skills and quick script retention to be invaluable in a late pinch. When production began after weeks of delays, the actor who was originally going to play Bogroe didn’t show up to the location set on call time, thus he was fired even though not under a contract yet. The role was immediately given to Patricks and he assumed the role for the entire series without an audition. The creators were "blown away" both by his acting ability and demeanor in playing a down and out un-employed freeloader.

The first three table readings of the pilot script were notable because the producers had another actor playing Bogroe and Byron L. Wilson playing Landon, which affected main cast chemistry when one was fired and then Wilson having to leave because of family obligations. Essentially Producers never heard main cast members Billy Patricks or Cody Jarvis read lines because they were cast without auditions after the first three table readings occurred and the series was practically into production.

The producers of Up on High Ground selected Matthew Becker as the first casting choice for main cast roles upon completing the first three episode scripts in pre-production. Along with Becker, Erin Morris had previously worked together with most of the producers on an Independent feature film as well in St. Louis. Hours after Becker was asked to play Griffin, Morris was asked to play the rival classmate to Savannah and kept her real first name for the role, Erin.

Casting the main teacher Mr. Neil Rowley was played by Neil McDonald, whom is the most senior teacher at the school (East Valley Academy). McDonald previously played in several productions and a TV commercial with Bryan Kreutz.

## Broadcast and home media

Up on High Ground DirectTV Programming Guide on KPLR-TV-CW affiliate in St. Louis for the Premiere Date October 25,2014

The first and only season consisted of nine episodes, the first eight episodes a half-hour-long, and the ninth and final episode at one-hour-long. The episodes which were released worldwide on Pure Flix Entertainment on October 25, 2014 had the first three episodes available on this date, then subsequent episodes available throughout its run.

First-run syndication
The half hour episode series was released in the United States airing on numerous Television affiliates of The CW in the Midwest and East Coast of the United States. With other CW affiliates airing all 9 episodes, only 1 episode aired on the KPLR-TV CW Affiliate in St. Louis, Missouri, where the entire series was taped, due to a new closed captioning rule.

## Episodes summary

Episode No.    Title    Directed by    Written by    Original air date
1    "Superiority of the High and Mighty Kind-ness"    Bryan Kreutz    Joanna Ferbrache, Bryan Kreutz    October 25, 2014
Two college psychology student roommates, taking college-prep classes at a St. Louis High school are introduced as counselors observing variability in teacher-student interactions. Dillon, with the aid of longtime tenured teacher Neil Rowley, observes differences in clashing personalities between students Erin, the drama department class president, and Savannah the most popular student. A former high school roommate of the two college students crashes on their couch as freeloader. When Landon reluctantly challenges Bogroe to prove he is more responsible than in the past while they were in school, Bogroe takes exception and makes his couch proclamation.
2    "Friends, Family, and Freeloaders"    Tommy Callahan, Bryan Kreutz    Joanna Ferbrache, Bryan Kreutz    November 1, 2014
Widow neighbor and mother Jaris receives a call that Dillon is driving her son Griffin home instead of letting him ride the bus due to his sickness, Dillon takes it a step further to invite the family, not just Griffin over to watch old pro basketball videos of Griffin's deceased father and Jaris' husband. Savannah and Shane as a couple have high points and a rather questionable two- timing moment when Shane is seen with his Ex, Londyn, on what appears to be a date.
3    "Friends, Family, and Freeloaders, Part 2"    Tommy Callahan    Bryan Kreutz    November 8, 2014
Upon overhearing a music class side conversation about a new show choir, Miri, Erin’s best friend, tracks down Savannah to get the details for her and Erin to gain an edge on an early scoop about the audition. Nervous butterflies and insults ensue as many of the girls wait for their turn to go on the audition stage while guys and teachers look on with an official state judge. A multi-talented group of students audition for the new East Valley Academy show-choir where the results are left as a cliffhanger. Finding it difficult to deal with family tragedies, Khalil, slits his writs in front of the class and passes out.
4    "Fued of Friends and Foes"    Tommy Callahan    Tommy Callahan, Bryan Kreutz    November 15, 2014
Singled out by Mrs. Hialeah and standing front and center in class as do not do examples, the school's most popular girl Savannah, and smartest girl Erin, have gone too far in their obvious hate for each other. Mrs. Hialeah's philosophy of student discipline goes too far in they eyes of Avril, Erin's mom, as she makes an in school visit to confront the teacher and Principal Guidry.

Meanwhile Savanna's best friend Sydney and Ellise (Ellie) meet on her behalf with Londyn to discuss who the highly sought after guy Shane considers his girlfriend. Meanwhile Bogroe successfully sets up Landon on a blind date to entice him to leave his current girlfriend Tara so he can have her. Unbeknownst to Landon this blind date, Vanessa, Bogroe's former high school Ex, is in on the fun with Bogroe. Tara questions Landon's unusual behavior when she suspects something is going on.
5    "The Quintessence of a Situation"    Bryan Kreutz    Bryan Kreutz, Emma Jane Mitchell, Lec Zorn    November 22, 2014
Landon cracks down on Bogroe's laziness. Erin gets accepted to a prestigious acting school in Ireland, to the dismay of Savannah, who's already devastated from being cheated on by Shane. Kaidence reaches out to comfort Savannah, one on one, as well as Khalil, who is bummed about the results of the show choir. The teens involved in the schools madrigal show choir, ie. Savannah, begin to encounter moral and ethical dilemmas in the high school setting. Confident and armed with sheet music, Savannah in a change of heart, in what seems to be a good gesture, tells the show choir teacher, Fritz, she wants to sing a solo lead. Particularly boasting of her vocal talents, she takes Hialeah's advice giving the solo to her best friend Sydney in the first show choir performance.
6    "Underlying agreements"    Bryan Kreutz    Bryan Kreutz, Lec Zorn    March 14, 2015
Kaidence meets Jaris at home for the first time and the two quickly become friends. Erin and Griffin quickly become a couple of forevers. Bogroe is caught by the nosy neighbors on his way out to a money making side gig. Catcalls and bribery from Hayley force his hand to the coercion of cash to keep his secret gig an unknown to Dillon and Landon. A show-choir competition before the state finals reveals Ellie is giving Ms.Fritz pointers from her previous championship year before transferring. The group show-choir competition between East Valley Academy and Mount Vernon High-school appear flawlessly performed with the cliffhanger results left to be read by Principal Guidry.
7    "In the Middle of It All"    Bryan Kreutz    Bryan Kreutz, Lec Zorn    April 11, 2015
East Valley's Show Choir competes on the road in the state competition at the St.Louis city-line high-school stage. Bogroe officially introduces his girlfriend Gemma, who cooks a masterpiece of food and charm. With Borgoe gone more, Dillon and Landon begin to wonder about a possible money making mystery when Bogroe is smiling, mocking, and sure of himself when asked about applying to the 10 jobs a week. Bogroe applies for jobs under Landon's ultimatum. However, Landon and Dillon are even more suspicious when they ask neighbor Brody if he knows something they don't about Bogroe latest act. Savannah and Erin endure their required school project together. Mr. Neil's covering for Mr. Stu's accused class wrongdoings are brought to the forefront by Hialeah who believes he's interfering with an upcoming school board hearing about his best friends recent dismissal from teaching duties. Jaris, surrounded by family and friends goes into what seems to be a complicated and painful labor early while at home.
8    "Gone, But Not Forgotten"    Bryan Kreutz    Bryan Kreutz, Lec Zorn    October 19, 2015
When the results at the hospital appear seemingly glum, Jaris trusts in her faith and believes its a blessing in disguise. Recent family tragedies trigger traumatic experiences and even some confusing dreams of past memories for Hayley. With Mr.Neil close enough to vouch for its accuracy, Erin tries her own in class societal social structure comparison of her situation with Savannah and Sydney to make a point. Jake makes a heartfelt move to solidify his relationship with Sydney not knowing she had plans to break up with him. Griffin proclaims his love for Erin, knowing she is leaving for acting school in Ireland for the upcoming summer. Suspicion of Borgoe's secret side life become more evident when Landon texts Brody to come over and discuss posted pictures among other knowledge about their freeloading roommate.
9    "All Good Things Must Come to an End"    Bryan Kreutz    Bryan Kreutz, Lec Zorn    October 26, 2015
Savannah and Erin's cooperative class project for Mrs. Hialeah becomes the talk of the school and even has the Principal discussing and Mr. Neil watching from afar.
Sydney surprised as ever to see her best friend Savannah finally make peace with her class rival in the auditorium, is moved by the moment, and takes a risk herself with Landon. With the ongoing feud now mutually over between Erin and Savannah, Thea tries to overshadow it by bringing Erin in on what she thinks is inside info on Sydney and Landon's age difference relationship. Erin has clearly grown beyond the underclassmen style of gossip and walks out on Thea with her older sister by her side. Bogroe is busted by blabbing neighbors revealing the truth of his money making and is literally foot chased by his roommates.

### Main characters

**Dillon Magnum.** Played by Brayden Patterson.
Straightforward, Early 20's, open-minded, athletic as a track champion. He shares the rent with Landon. His other roommate, a friend from high school named Bogroe stays with him as a freeloader. Dillon takes responsibility and stands up for him knowing his old friend has fallen on hard times. A student of Saint Louis university, majoring in psychology along with Landon they are finishing up taking College Prep Classes at a local high school, East Valley Academy. Landon regularly gets opportunities to do the right thing (or not) and follow Christian principles, such as the biblical principal "Love thy neighbor as thyself." The Dillon character develops a friendship with the Sundin family as he goes out of his way to assist the mother, A widow with three kids.
His girlfriend is Veronika Earney.

**Landon Lofton**. Played by Cody Jarvis.
The original of the two roommates with Dillon, and, as a Christian, is really intent, with the help of Dillon, to convert their down and out roommate Bogroe from being a walking advertisement for welfare into a straightforward, taxpaying good man, and Christ believer.
Landon often shows a heightened animosity towards Bogroe and his laziness of hogging the couch and by forcing him to apply for 10 jobs a week with e-mail confirmations sent. Often a fun guy to watch an anime or a play a basketball game 1-on-1, he helps coach his high-school freshman neighbor Griffin, often meeting with him on the courts and afterwards for talks on strategy. His girlfriend is Tara Giordano.

**Savannah Swanson**. Played by Rylee Cravens.
She is the most popular girl at the high school East Valley Academy. A blonde, High School Sophomore, and a riled up gossip girl.
Savannah lives the luxury life in the Upper East Side of the burbs with her dad and freshman sister Thea. When with her friends, notably Sydney or Teagan, she points out others downfalls or creates rumor starting stories to their achievements to make them appear as superficial achievements. Typically her arguments, rumors, or frustration is toward student rivals Erin, Miri, or less popular girls who have gained a certain importance she feels is infringing on her as the main focal point of attention. Ms. Fritz meets Savannah in the teachers lounge and essentially treats Savannah as the teacher's pet giving her the requirements on what the judges will be looking for to make the madrigal show choir squad. There is a rumor going around school with some students that a show choir is being formed and Savannah divulges the information to a known nerd Miri, who is friends with Erin O'Byrne that Savannah tries to deceitfully encourage the two to try out, ultimately to make a fool out of them during the auditions. Her boyfriend is Shane and her best friend is Sydney.

**Bartholomew Bogroe**. Played by Billy Patricks.
Couch crashing freeloader, living as the third wheel roommate with Dillon and Landon for no payment and, as such, is really cashing in on a side gig as a Deejay.
Dillon and Landon question Brody about Bogroe's unusual behavior and coy smiles when Landon continues to see online Job applications filtering to his inbox. Bogroe has an ongoing feud of words with sassy neighbor Hayley who follows him to discover he has been storing music equipment for Deejay gigs. Brody, who knows more than Bogroe's roommates about his side gig, ultimately is one of the two neighbors who divulge Bogroe's secret life much to his demise of his hopes to live at the apartment for free.His girlfriend is Gemma Qiao.

**Erin O'Byrne**. Played by Erin Morris.
High School Sophomore, and a integral part of the state finalist show choir team. Erin is an introverted, super smart redhead, and much to the chagrin of her class rival Savannah, she is the president of the school's drama department. Revealing she was accepted into the prestigious Abbey School of Acting in Dublin, Ireland to friends, a confrontation of sorts ensues about her gifts from God when Savannah throws her out of her house when the two are finishing their required joint school cooperative project together. Erin mentions to her best friend Miri that her in-school restraining order with rival Savannah shouldn’t restrict her from participating in a new school show choir. She is seen hanging around Griffin Sundin playing basketball and quickly gets swept away by his charm, shortly thereafter the two become a couple of forever's.
Her boyfriend is Griffin Sundin.

**Griffin Sundin**. Played by Matthew Becker.
Griffin Sundin is a show choir singer, talented dancer, and basketball player who gets private lessons from East Valley High varsity coach Landon Lofton during his high school freshmen year. Griffin lives in an apartment across from Landon and Dillon with his Mother Jaris and sisters Hayley and Roxy. Griffin is best friends with Khalil, a classmate in a higher grade level at the local high school. His girlfriend Erin is one year ahead of him in school although they are about the same age, boldly he is found making out with his new girlfriend while in detention by Principal Guidry and plays it cool when caught.
In the next to last episode, Griffin proclaims his love for Erin, knowing she is leaving for acting school in Ireland for the upcoming summer break. Griffin mentions to Dillon that East Valley Academy recently retired his father’s Basketball Jersey number, the son of the late Johan Sundin, a Swedish basketball league great in the Ligan, meaning simply the “League” in Sweden. His girlfriend is Erin O'Byrne.

**Sydney Ashdown**. Played by Sydney Thomas.
A "solo-pianist-singer”, a bit of a bad, rich, high school girl, prone to sarcastic remarks. She comes prepared to talk to her best friend Savannah Swanson during class even while teachers are giving a lesson. Sydney is seen talking through the entire class on the phone and face to face with friends, even telling the teacher "why are you teaching during my conversation" when confronted by Mrs. Hialeah. Sydney often goes by the nickname Syd, especially by the students she is surrounded by. She and her best friend Savannah are always hanging around guys or sipping coffee at a local café, during, before, and after school. Sydney, is instrumental, literally, in the first year school madrigal show choir making it to finals as a pianist and vocalist. She takes the advice of rival student Londyn Downey, to get Keratin treatments at a high end salon when her close friend Teagan Janney, meets up with her. Teagan mentions she is surprised the two aren't meeting up with Savannah and Thea at Starskie's, Sydney states "No..No.. Savannah needs time to reflect, she's thinking about Shane non-stop." Jake, Sydney's current boyfriend, indicates the two have been going out for a while, reminding her its been 8 months when she mistakenly said it was 6 months late in season 1. Sydney mentions Jake's parents offered her a job as a solo-artist singer under a small record label in Seattle upon graduation. Jake makes a heartfelt move to solidify his relationship with Sydney by surprising her with a promise ring. Sydney is very happy by the sweet gesture and accepts the ring with a kiss for Jake. Later, when talking with Savannah, she reveals that she is torn between having feelings for Jake and Landon, a college psychology student teaching and observing at her school.

In true character a picture on set of actress Molly Cravens known as "Mol" makes the cast laugh hysterically with her humorous moments.

**Hayley Sundin**. Played by Molly Cravens.
15-year-old "verbally-vivacious" Freshman girl at East Valley Academy high school. She has a twin brother, Griffin Sundin whom she often places blame for everything towards. Her infamous catchphrase is a very sarcastic and distinctive phrase ("Do we have to start like this") that she normally says after a rude or snide comment. Her father, a Swedish professional basketball player died at a young age and she relies upon her single mother and neighbor Dillon for parental influences. Among three children of a widowed mom, she appears to be affected the most in grieving for her deceased father when dreaming of past memories that have a profound outcome.
She is in the East Valley Academy show choir after a strong solo singing performance for the try out auditions, but is noticeably gone when a Laryngitis epidemic forces several students to miss the State finals competition.

East Valley Academy, the school and classrooms of the TV series Up on High Ground

### Supporting characters

East valley academy the high school and classrooms were where much of the series took place is where almost all of the supporting characters were present in the setting.

**Neil Rowley**. Played by Neil McDonald.
Mr. Neil Rowley, who goes by Mr. Neil, is a science teacher and newly appointed school board member.
By default, not by choice, Mr. Neil has been volunteered to work double tasks at East Valley Academy School by new Principal Guidry due to budget cuts. He is mentioned as being the most senior teacher at East Valley Academy school when his close friend and teacher Mr. Stu Charles is dismissed from school for a scandal. His son, Mac, who was the first ever valedictorian at East Valley academy, speaks positively of his father as he addresses the current graduating class during the final scene of the series.

**Thea Swanson**. Played by Jessica Jordan.
Thea is a freshman at East Valley Academy School and close with her sophomore sister Savannah and friend Sydney.
Her best friend is Hayley Sundin, with whom she is seen with often at the Sundin apartment preparing to play some video games or snooping around. Although she is popular and well liked she has a quiet side and, uncharacteristically for a popular girl, she likes Star Trek. She often wears a Star Trek pendant and is seen wearing a themed T-shirt when getting ready before school. She sings a solo during the state show choir competition and is only one of six remaining East Valley students left after a laryngitis outbreak shorthand's the choir squad.

**Miri Cyanne**. Played by Malissa Williams.
Miri is the freckle-faced girl next door, (Although she often covers them with makeup). She portrays herself as a cool geek. Sophomore, 16, shy at times, open-minded, strong willed, she is extrovert but in her own eloquently straightforward way. She is a member of the new show choir team. Her best friend is Erin O'Byrne, whom she is seen with or talking about in nearly every scene she is present in.
Her dad often sends her YouTube videos as she goes about her day, though she is interested in them she appears annoyed the first time she mentions it to Savannah. Very confident in herself, Miri states to Savannah when asking about a possible tryout for show choir "if you want something you have to go for it".

**Principal Guidry**. Played by Joe McGettigan.
Principal at East Valley Academy High School and openly a practicing Buddhist.
A new principal taking over for a formerly failing regime on the school board, Guidry added his own group of teachers to act as the new council members. He makes it a point to use other resources for alternative funding like “Box tops for education clippings” brought in by all teachers and faculty. Not by his choice and under protest teacher Mr. Rowley has been volunteered by Guidry, to work as a council member in an early episode. During Melody Hull's final valedictorian speech to end the series, she extends Principal Guidry an open invitation to come to her Christian Church.

**Jaris Sundin**. Played by Courtni Aries.
An overworked 32-year-old widowed supermom, and neighbor to Dillon and his roommates, Jaris is the mother of three children. Jaris is noticeably pregnant with a fourth child on the way in the first few episodes of the series. Her husband Johan died recently, and she seeks support from her new friend Kaidence, a school counselor at East Valley Academy. Upon Khalil’s loss of his last immediate family member in the pilot episode, Jaris specifically conveys her support and understanding of family loss with Khalil, a classmate of Hayley and Griffin’s. Shortly after Khalil’s attempted suicide, Jaris and her daughter Hayley, offer support by cooking and providing extra blankets to Khalil knowing Dillon has essentially become a foster family to Khalil.

**Brody Vanderschmidt**. Played by Bryan Kreutz.
Brody is Dillon and Landon's nosy neighbor and expert video gamer. He is present with Dillon, Landon, or the Sundin twins playing video games, talking about video games, or dabbling into matters that concern his surrounding neighbors more than they should him. He gets a job as a Taxidermist after dressing up in a tacky suit for the interview. Brody who knows about ways to get hockey tickets online for cheap refers Bogore to stub-hub while helping him store his equipment in the Horseshoe apartment storage area. While helping Bogroe store his bulky Dj equipment it is apparent he knows more when Bogroe's roommates and Brody get into a conversation about his appearance. It is apparent that Brody is involved heavily in an ongoing cover up of Bogroe's side gig Dj job and eventually is one of two neighbors who reveal the truth to Dillon and Landon.

**Mrs. Hialeah**. Played by Sarah Cotton.
Psychology teacher at East Valley Academy High School and openly into the psychological and emotional state of her students. In one of the first scenes of the pilot episode Hialeah is shown speaking in front of her class with an emotionally driven statement to her students. "I want to be that teacher that crosses the line. The one you remember... a teacher whose passion for students inspires them to go that extra step". Hialeah sticks alongside her friend Mr. Neil, when his best friend, and teacher, Mr. Stu is under a scandal at the school. She Singles out two students on the spot making them stand front and center in class as do not do examples. Hialeah's discipline is to have the school's most popular girl Savannah, and smartest girl Erin, have to endure an ongoing cooperative project together after school. Mrs. Hialeah's philosophy of student discipline goes too far in they eyes of Avril, Erin's mom, as she makes an in school visit confrontation.

**Londyn Downey**. Played by Brianna Langford.
Londyn is a sophomore at East Valley Academy High School and a cheerleader. She's the former best friend of Savannah, seemingly from years past and has a bitter attitude towards Savannah now. Londyn is seen sitting next to Shane closely as if an item again, even though they are exes and Shane and Savannah are a couple. Londyn takes advantage of an opportunity to take Savannah’s on again off again boyfriend Shane back when she tells Savannah’s best Friend Sydney she is not moving out of St. Louis after all. Londyn sets up a specific café confrontation and unexpectedly gets tag teamed by two of Savannah’s friends. Londyn works part-time mostly after school as a sales representative at the Triumph Sports store in St.Louis. She is seen in an early episode selling sports skorts to the East Valley High Track and Basketball coaches in an effort to cut down on costs.
A very convincing personality, her charm suits her beauty well as an effective sporty sales rep, Cheer-leading captain, and popular girl who is at the top of her game. Her sister is Berlin, and is only seen in one episode while the two sisters are at home.

**Veronika Earney**. Played by Emma Mitchell.
Veronika is Dillon's on again and off again girlfriend. She is the daughter of a former alternative rock group producer who turned to Catholicism with a final album recently produced. She is pushed too far to join in on going to Dillon's Church to change her life. She initially tries to maintain her relationship with alcohol after a less than responsible upbringing by her father, but validates her childhood and goodness by her actively catholic mother primarily raising her. In the Pilot episode Veronika implores Dillon to move in with her, even though they are not married, he gives a dissertation on waiting that pushes her away enough to return to drinking and eavesdropping in distrust of his motives.
Her best friend Juliana, questions Dillon on pushing Veronika too far and he eventually apologizes to her getting her back as a girlfriend.

**Tessa Stockton**. Played by Taylor Vandelicht.
Tessa is a freshman at East Valley Academy School and close with her younger sister Mackenzie, whom is a girl scout.
She is anything but quiet or soft-spoken, often vocalizing her opinion in and out of class. She's the one student who is seen as friends with both Savannah and Erin at the same time, ultimately becoming the victim of sisters Savannah and Thea's wrath at a cafe for being supportive of Erin's news of studying acting abroad.

**Kaidence Crews**. Played by Jamie Fritz.
Counselor at East Valley academy High School and a bubbly blonde who is known to be in Principal Guidry’s business. She's friends with Jaris Sundin, helping her through her loss of a spouse and with her daughter Hayley's teacher touching situation. She guides many of the students emotionally, notably Savannah and her boyfriend troubles, Erin and her haughty behavior towards Savannah, and Khalil's suicidal and social behaviors.

**Teagan Janney**. Played by Stephanie Swink.
The fashionable "other best friend" of Savannah Swanson. Teagan is a girl who has an eye for hair and fashion as she not only looks good, but she's the kind with that attractive high self-esteem. She helps taunt, but also has an analytical mentality when in two separate instances she is talking to Mr.Rowley and Londyn, appearing to be a smart mentor. She is the victim of a reported shoulder touching incident in class leading to Mr.Charles dismissal of teaching duties, when Hayley reports it to Counselor Kaidence.

## Marketing and budget

Generally, the marketing of independent television series is characterized by limited release, but can also have major marketing campaigns. Up on High Ground had a wide release and heavy presence in the U.S. Central and East regions via Television syndication, additionally its North American presence being available online via PureFlix. In the summer of 2015, when Up on High Ground's distribution platform “I Am Flix” announced it was being acquired by PureFlix, the launch of their newly re-branded SVOD (subscription video on demand) service made the program available on mobile devices, Roku, as well as the IOS or Android apps for increased viewership. Moreover, the program was now available through on-demand and video streaming for viewership to an even wider audience demographic.

Sydney Thomas in a green screen studio publicity photo for marketing Up on High Ground

The particularly unique factors about marketing of independent TV shows is capturing an audience and ramping up viewers that use social media before the premiere. Up on High Ground had three trailers released before the show premiered in the fall of 2014. Timing is incredibly important – Up On High Ground had to build up as much hype in the short space of time leading up to and around the launch as possible.

Using a multitude of different taping locations and unlike most major productions, where insurance is typically procured to protect against accidents, Executive Producer Bryan Kreutz found ways around using any insurance budget where location management requirements would hinder the effectiveness of the episode budget to agree and purchase insurance. This very strict budget allocation strengthened each production into making the series and in house production company stronger.

## Locations

Show creators/producers Kreutz and Patterson review dailies footage that they're in as actors for this scene. In the midst of being in between takes on the primary apartment set in Dutchtown, St. Louis. The apartment set was actually a two story house owned by producer Joe McGettigan at the time the picture was taken in early 2015.

**Primary locations overview**

During the production of the series, most settings were utilized at a house in the Dutchtown, St. Louis neighborhood in the city of St. Louis, Missouri for the apartment settings and utilized classrooms in Arnold, Missouri as its primary settings for the program. Many of the off school campus scenes were shot on location at the Hotel Ignacio, Cafe Pinxtos and The Moto Museum buildings on Olive Street and Grand Center in the art district of St. Louis near the Fox Theater and St.Louis University.

**Secondary locations overview**

Secondary settings for apartment doorways, corridors, and B Roll were shot before the series or used from still images that were located in Pontoon Beach, Illinois. Two scenes of the apartment interiors were also shot at the Pontoon Beach, Illinois location. One very short take of character Brody speaking in Granite City, Illinois was used to compliment him showing a picture on his phone that precedes a Cut-in (Insert Shot). This only shot in Granite City, Illinois is the earliest footage used in the final cut of the series that was intended to be a dress rehearsal walk-through in August 31, 2013.

Granite City Illinois location used for the first dress rehearsal. Bryan Kreutz as Brody is seen minutes before a take from a scene in which 1 insert take of rehearsal footage was used as the earliest footage on the series taped on Saturday August 31, 2013

**Classroom and East Valley school locations**

The first scene being filmed for the series in the classroom location of Arnold Missouri in September 2013.

The classroom settings were taped at the same location, but in four different actual church Sunday school rooms in Arnold Missouri. Most of these school rooms had green retractable walls for the crew to have more space to shoot the scenes. On September 7, 2013 the very first scene of the series was taped in one of these large classrooms that ended up being used in its entirety for episode 4 *Fued of Friends and Foes.* In the same building location as the classrooms, the series taped the school hallways, lockers, library, Erin/Miri's room phone conversations, Principal Guidry's office, Most teacher board rooms, and an indoor basketball court gym. Adjacent to this building is where the scenes where shot for the school show choir stages and backstage's, college cafe, fuse ball room, teachers lounge, and counseling office for Minister George Ross.

**Location proximity and management**

The series taped as far east as Granite City Illinois and as far west as St.Peters Missouri with most shooting taking place in St. Louis Missouri and Arnold Missouri.

Jennifer Langford, the mother of actress Brianna Langford, who played Londyn Downey, played an integral part in securing and location management for the series in St. Louis.

Vikki Farmer was the location manager over the Arnold Missouri classroom and adjacent taping locations for the series' first five episodes, beyond that on a part time and interim basis, Trina Stephens managed the Arnold locations.

## Production history

:*See also: Production timeline.*

The TV series began production in 2013 as a co-venture between TV-Talk Show Producer and filmmaker Bryan Kreutz and Brayden Patterson. The production was filmed in several locations in and around St. Louis, Missouri USA, a rarity for the time of scripted TV.

The DP Mike Frolos has Assistant director Stacey Nation place a clapperboard to identify a take and scene in front of actress Blair Dinucci for the episode "Fued of Friends and Foes"

Director Tommy Callahan started filming only a few days after the final on camera screen tests he specifically designated for lead actor Brayden Patterson. Callahan wanted one-on-one touch up rehearsal performances between him and Patterson ending with cast dress rehearsals on August 31, 2013. Filming occurred at no designated studios, all scenes were shot on-location.

Whilst Patterson's character Dillon appeared to be fully integrated as a student teacher in the original pilot production, the CW and PureFlix would ask for a new pilot to precede the original, establishing Patterson and his roommate Landon to have a full backstory. So the two characters appeared as roommates moving out of their college area housing and into the apartment seen throughout the series, along with an an explanation in the new first episode televised production.

Post-production, with award winning editor Dale Ward, did not include director Tommy Callahan for the third episode he directed *"Friends, Family, and Freeloaders, Part 2"*. Callahan was not available to be in the post production facilities due to an illness. Moreover the episode was not co-directed by Bryan Kreutz, but was the only episode solely written by Kreutz so he stepped in during the post-production process for scene selection with editor Dale Ward. The entire process was performed at Concordia Seminary in Clayton, Missouri ending on May 2, 2014. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after shooting or recording the individual program segments were completed. The subsequent episodes, including the new pilot, were performed by several other individuals at different post-production facilities.

On set production as well as post-production, ceased in October 2015, when the last episode also aired.

A production shot on the set with Brayden Patterson and Molly CravensSeconds before a take the placement of a clapperboard identifies a shot over the actors shouldersDirector Tommy Callahan places the camera with actors on set for the episode Fued of Friends and FoesA production shot of a scene from Cafe Pinxtos in St. Louis on November 3, 2013A Production shot showing the camera and supportive background lighting on set in October 2013
## Un-produced scripts

\* See: Undeveloped Up on High Ground scripts

The next produced episode that was never made, due to the cancellation, would have picked up after the episode "Gone, but not forgotten". Miri alludes to this in the episode when talking to Erin outside on her deck. The never produced script was about the girls dressing to impress, progressively and more indecently each day, in an effort to gain attention from guys at their High School. The unspoken, but dress less competing, is spearheaded by competitive girl cliques, self-esteem issues, and complex love hate relationships, mainly between Erin and Savannah, and a few of their friends and frenemies. With the show being a family oriented theme, the clothes would have been borderline indecent exposure and shocking in all the appropriate ways, but totally relatable to viewers. The titled episode was "Pretty Much Perfect". This would have been the first episode solely written by Lec Zorn and where the episode would have been centered on Erin and Savannah almost completely as the main plot. The school counselor for Savannah and Shane gives them guidelines for improving their relationship. However, cracks in their foundation soon reappear when Shane sees Erin trying on semi-revealing clothes at a fashion store that gets Savannah into the dress to impress war with Erin.

There were multiple early episode drafts of the Up on High Ground scripts that had the character Mrs. Hialeah being pregnant and even going into labor in one classroom scene. Producers knew actress Sarah Cotton was pregnant and she played an integral part of the story arc, so the scenes were written to add the pregnancy and give viewers an understanding of her family and impending child. The scenes, some where Hialeah's sitting for comfort, were ultimately cut or re-written when Sarah informed producers she was available for an upcoming all day shoot then the baby arrived early.

Writer Lec Zorn wrote a heavily recurring character named Michael Blake, who was a counselor and close to students and their teen trials. Ultimately the character Michael would be re-cast as a female and into the familiar character Kaidence Crews played by Jamie Fritz. Although in the first scene with Counselor Kaidence Crews, she mentions to Dillon that he will be working with her and Michael Blake on the counseling team when they're introduced. This is the only time Michael Blake is mentioned and he's never shown in a scene or mentioned again. There were several supporting stories and an arc where Michael would be a love interest to the recently widowed Jaris Sundin. An Un-produced episode plot had Jaris telling her children about her feelings for Michael, to the anger of Hayley, who’s still grieving her father’s death. Hayley's twin Griffin already discovers his mother Jaris’ romance with Michael before she tells them, and approves of it. Mr. Neil has a harsh exchange over Michael dressing casually and socializing with the students. Other guest characters would be inserted as teen love interests particularly ones who could sing in the show choir. A script was written to include a handsome and talented transfer student named Eban, who joins the show choir and is pursued by a scrapped and discarded character named Mara, who tries to win Eban's heart before Sydney does. Scenes in un-produced scripts had a worrisome Savannah continuing to fret about possibly losing her on again off again boyfriend Shane. Savannah confronts Shane, who agrees for the two to undergo counseling under Michael's close attention. Michael urges Erin to make peace with Savannah. Shane, liking that Savannah went to school dressed scantily, puts sexual pressure on her to do the deed. Savannah nearly succumbs to Shane’s sexual pressure, but her father arrives home just in time. Savannah agrees to have sex with Shane the next day, but Erin, unaware of that plan, tries to break them up. Not ready to lose her virginity, Savannah reaches out to Michael who, along with Jaris, teach Savannah about self-respect and help her understand why she’s so susceptible to Shane’s pressure. Erin realizes that what she intended for bad by dressing scantily to impress, God used for good as a life lesson.

Other episode scripts to further the story arc about the suicidal Khalil had Counselor Michael continuing to build a father-son type relationship with Khalil who decides to move out of Dillon and Landon's apartment and in with Michael after the passing of his mother.

Bogroe wanders into the church and has a deep conversation with minister George. Dillon and Landon go to church and are in for a very pleasant shock.

## Deleted Scenes

*Up on High Ground,* like many TV series,layout several scenes that were in the original script and taped on set or on-location with the intention of using them, but removing from the final cut of the episode.

A heavily deleted scene from taping on November 24, 2013, Intended for the original pilot. This scene was reduced to less than 30 seconds and used in episode 5 "The Quintessence of a Situation". Mr Swanson drives his daughter Thea and her friend Hayley to the Sundin apartment. Hayley offers Brody an opportunity to do video gaming with her and her friend, but her mom Jaris says she can't due to Griffin being sick. Another part completely cut is where the scene ends as the helpful daughter Roxy opens the door for her pregnant mom.

Famously perhaps, viewers were sometimes frustrated during the run of "Up on High Ground" because the series did not contain each plot-line within a single episode. This meant that in an era of new pay per view streaming television and setting your DVRs for a very early morning recording, fans had to either be in front of the television during airtime or manually setting up a Tivo or DVR recording to keep up with the series. Many other shows began to slowly start adopting that format, and even today it's now very common. Most Netflix series, for example, include complex seasons that are designed for several hours of watching at a time.

Viewers didn't think it was possible to get to an episode you missed, and to hop back in was difficult. Now it's often a preferred way of viewing to binge watch.

Additional plot-lines would often be written or inserted on the fly to contain sub characters that support a small topic or expand the main characters friends and acquaintances pool. Often the actors had not started reading this additional material for their script lines at times for their character and did not know anything about what their plot-line would contain, so the scenes were deleted or heavily re-written for many episodes. Sometime the scenes were deleted or re-written due to scheduling conflicts where some actors were not available and the production schedule still had to move forward.

As such, there's plenty of explanations for the way things work that have never been confirmed on screen.

With Producer and co-Creator Bryan Kreutz already having produced multiple TV Talk shows now also on this same streaming platform along with Up on High Ground series content to add to the streaming platform, he also had behind the scenes and deleted scenes footage marked and queued up for streaming distribution to compliment the episodes of Up on High Ground.

   Many deleted scenes that weren't included in episodes that aired on TV syndication—except the pilot, as in this November 2013 deleted scene, included a longer than 28 minutes standard TV episode for the online streaming video platform version. The online version for PureFlix episodes two through eight had varying run-times up to 39 minutes for some episodes, with the finale running 1 hour.

IAMFlix, which was later purchased and merged content with PureFlix, ultimately expressed an initial interest, according to the series’
development team, and a pilot script was created. However this deleted scenes footage was not accepted as an addition at the time of the series run.

A compilation of deleted scenes and deleted clips of scenes not used to shorten the moments from early in the series are available in this section to view video footage.

## Overseas availability

*Up on High Ground* has been aired around the Americas throughout its run of television and streaming. No dubbed versions were available and it's only produced into the English language. In addition to the United States streaming availability of the series was available in the following countries: Canada, Mexico, Australia, Brazil, United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Argentina. Via Amazon Prime currently the only overseas availability outside the U.S. is in the United Kingdom, Japan, and Germany.

## Cast

Dillon Magnum — Brayden Patterson
Landon Lofton — Cody Jarvis
Savannah Swanson — Rylee Cravens
Bartholowmew Bogroe — Billy Patricks
Erin O'Byrne — Erin Morris
Sydney Ashdown — Sydney Thomas
Griffin Sundin — Matthew Becker
Hayley Sundin — Molly Cravens
Thea Swanson — Jessica Jordan
Neil Rowley — Neil McDonald
Principal Guidry — Joe McGettigan
Miri Cyanne — Malissa Williams
Brody Vanderschmidt — Bryan Kreutz
Londyn Downey — Brianna Langford
Hialeah Oxendine — Sarah Cotton
Jaris Sundin — Courtni Aries
Veronika Earney — Emma Mitchell
Kaidence Crews — Jamie Fritz
Roxy Sundin — Aliyah Studt
Khalil Burris — Lawson Burris
Teagan Janney — Stephanie Swink
Tessa Stockton — Taylor Vandelicht
Ellie Cross — Tessa Drake
Charissa Kirk — Grace Clark
Ms. Fritz — Allison Shadwick
Shane Sumner — Conner Lee
Melody Hull — Ashley Pavlige
Stu Charles — Charles Heuvelman
Lara Camille — Camille Marolf
Juliana — Emily Livaudais
Jeremy Estrada — Charlie White
Grant Kosanovich — Igor Stevanovic
Jake — Stone Birkner
Berlin Downey — Joanna Ferbrache
Emma Loughborough — Dacey Geary
Tara Giordano — Blair Dinucci
Minister George — Lec Zorn
Gemmah Qiáo — Sara Lin
Jayda O'Byrne — Kailynne McFerran-Cruthis
Mac Rowley — Randy Rambeau
Avril O'Byrne - Kate Barton
Wil — Mark Van Donsel
Vanessa - Crystal Richardson

## External links

==\*TV.com: Up on High Ground
\* The official *Up on High Ground* home page
\* IMDb: Up on High Ground
\* Wikipedia: Up on High Ground
\*
TV Guide: Up on High Ground
\*
EverybodyWiki: Up on High Ground
\*Amazon Prime Video: Up on High Ground
\*
Flickr: Up on High Ground