Canadian showrunners Brendan Gall and Martin Gero say they鈥檝e spent much of their careers shooting Canada as a stand-in for other places as far off as Los Angeles or a distant planet.

But in their new Netflix survival show, 鈥淜eep Breathing,鈥� Gall and Gero say they wanted to transport viewers to a part of the country that鈥檚 just as otherworldly, if less often seen onscreen.

鈥淲e really wanted to, as Canadians, bring the world to Canada as Canada, and not have it be a substitution for something else,鈥� Gero said in a recent interview.

鈥淲e started to come on this idea of trying to figure out how to get all of the world to the Canadian wilderness in a way that could also be thrilling.鈥�

The six-episode limited series follows New York lawyer Liv, played by 鈥淚n the Heights鈥� star Melissa Barrera, as she struggles against the elements after a plane crash leaves her stranded in the far reaches of Canada.

The B.C. production also had to contend with the forces of nature to capture the severity and serenity of the show鈥檚 setting, said co-creators Gall and Gero, whose previous collaborations include the sci-fi TV thriller 鈥淏lindspot.鈥�

The shooting schedule last summer was often dictated by conditions on the ground, Gero said, with four-wheelers hauling heavy filming equipment through forests and up mountainsides to reach remote locations.

A couple of locations had to be nixed because the province placed them under fire watch, Gall added, and the crew was on a 鈥渞azor鈥檚 edge鈥� that a warning could shut down a shoot weeks into filming.

鈥淭hat was the sort of extreme sport for us of making the show, was taking these kinds of risks,鈥� said Gall, who was raised in Halifax and lives in Toronto. 鈥淲e just had to jump in, and we just were so lucky with what we got and what we were able to accomplish.鈥�

The showrunners didn鈥檛 want to alter the natural beauty of the sets by with lots of visual effects, Gero said. But they made an exception for many of the computer-generated campfires seen on the show, he said, suggesting a controlled open flame would pose too much of a risk to the environment.

鈥淲e wanted to be stewards of the land,鈥� said Gero. 鈥淚t was important for us to leave it as we found it.鈥�

鈥淜eep Breathing鈥� is the latest in a spate of survival shows that have been released during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Gero said he thinks the timing is no coincidence.

鈥淚t feels like there鈥檚 a survivalist instinct that has been activated in all of us,鈥� said Gero. 鈥淚 think watching the most extreme version of that onscreen can be deeply, deeply cathartic.鈥�

While other series in this genre, such as 鈥淵ellowjackets鈥� and 鈥淭he Wilds,鈥� revolve around the group dynamics of survival, the protagonist of 鈥淜eep Breathing鈥� is alone, so her central conflict is with herself, said Gero.

It鈥檚 an internal struggle that might resonate with viewers who are venturing back into the world after the extended isolation of COVID-19 lockdown, Gall added.

鈥淪he鈥檚 incredibly competent as a lawyer. She鈥檚 incredibly confident as a human in New York City. But she鈥檚 been on sort of a full-time mission to keep herself from herself,鈥� he said.

鈥淎long with having to survive, get enough to eat, not die of the elements, she also is forced to sit with herself out there and sit in silence. She doesn鈥檛 have anywhere to hide.鈥�

鈥淪he鈥檚 forced to kind of reconcile her past in order to move forward through this landscape and into her future hopefully.鈥�

鈥淜eep Breathing鈥� starts streaming on Netflix on Thursday.

鈥� Adina Bresge, The Canadian Press