A powerful short film starring Heated Rivalry’s Hudson Williams has been released.
Titled Hold Your Back, the film follows two men “going through a violent yet passionate breakup,” with Williams starring opposite Vancouver-based actor and filmmaker Zack Fonzovs, who also served as director, writer, and editor. Williams additionally produced the project.
On social media, Fonzovs revealed that the five-minute film was made in 2024 for the Shits N Giggles Film Festival “and ever since then it’s just been living on my hard drive.”
“Art should not be hidden in a vacuum,” he said. “And although there are things I would’ve liked to have done differently with this film, I’m still immensely proud of it and everyone who helped make it.”
Fonzovs praised Williams for his role in bringing the project to life, saying he’s “the reason this movie exists” and that he “filled me with enough passion and help to go through with its creation.”
“So with his newfound and well-deserved recognition, I figured why not give the world more of the brilliant Hudson,” he continued. “We’ve got many more movies and stories to come, and I’m beyond stoked to start sharing them.”
In the comments section, Williams wrote: “Very proud to have you as a friend and collaborator, Zack.”
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Williams recently shot to worldwide fame with the release of Crave’s gay sports romance, Heated Rivalry, which follows rival hockey players as they embark on a passionate secret romance over the course of eight years.
The series has received particular praise for Jacob Tierney’s directing and writing, its faithfulness to the source material, and Williams and Connor Storrie’s performances as Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov — as well as their undeniable on-and-off-screen chemistry.
While all six episodes were met with acclaim, the final two — ‘I’ll Believe in Anything’ and ‘The Cottage’ — have been hailed as some of the best television of 2025, each earning an extraordinary 9.9/10 score on IMDb.
Heated Rivalry has already been confirmed for a second season, which Tierney recently assured will not follow the drawn-out release patterns of other series.
“It’s not gonna be two years. It’s not even gonna be 18 months, I don’t think. So we’re gonna go as fast as we can, while ensuring that we’re doing as good a job as we possibly can,” he told Entertainment Weekly.
“There’s only so fast a track to go down when the show is written and directed by one person. I haven’t started writing yet. I’m going to. We are aware. We want to get the season out as soon as we can, while also making sure we give people a good second season.”
Heated Rivalry will premiere in the UK on Sky and NOW TV from 10 January.
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