The competitive world of dairy cattle showing is getting the Hollywood treatment. Two Canadian filmmakers have released a new comedy called Cows Come Home, inspired by their experiences in the 4-H dairy community and filmed on working farms. Lindsey Middleton, who plays the main character in the movie, says the idea grew out of her own background in the show ring.
“So I grew up doing 4-H dairy competitions as a kid. So it was a world I was very familiar with, grew up in, and always knew I had access to cows if I ever wanted to film something in that world. So Katie and I were chatting at my brother’s birthday party four years ago. She had a lot of producing experience and directing experience and said, hey, I’m looking for a rural comedy. And I said, what about this little cow showing world? And then from there, we’ve worked on it every single day since then.”
That childhood connection to the dairy industry is the foundation for the comedy’s storyline.
“So the show is about female friendships set inside the world of competitive cow showing. It’s about a woman whose life falls apart. She moves back to her small town and with the help of her best friend, thinks she’s going to put her life back together by getting back into the show ring. Even though she’s too old to do 4-H dairy anymore, she cuts her hair, she puts on a disguise, and she’ll stop at nothing to win that ribbon.”
Middleton says making the movie was also an opportunity to showcase the farming communities where she grew up.
“It was an incredibly special experience. We got to film on two farms that I grew up on, a horse farm and a dairy farm. So to kind of bring the world of film-making from the city of Toronto down to where I grew up, it was like nothing anyone ever gets to experience in their life, so very heartfelt, and it couldn’t have went any better. We had such an incredible cast, crew, the 4-H leaders from my past were all involved in training actors who had never worked with an animal before. We had local 4-H’ers in the show ring as well, and it was just a feel good experience from start to finish.”
Director Katie Uhlmann says authenticity was a priority throughout production.
“It helped that Lindsey comes from that world, and really it was so important to us to get it right and have an authentic representation of this beautiful, rich world. And then the two, as a director, I come from a small town and horses, but not cows. So it was really important for me to do a day of chores on a dairy farm, really want to get it right. And we had some key story elements come out of that research. We did consult with the farmers themselves.”