Sullivan Begins Production on New Anne of Green Gables Movie

TORONTO, October 16: Sullivan Entertainment has begun
production on Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning, a new three-hour prequel to the original 1985
mini-series, slated to premiere on CTV in 2008.

Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning reveals Anne’s early life before her arrival at Green
Gables. Sullivan Entertainment has cast 12-year-old Hannah Endicott-Douglas (The
Good Witch; Samantha: An American Girl) as
the newest Anne Shirley for the movie, who will co-star with Rachel Blanchard (7th
Heaven, Clueless) and
Academy Award nominee Barbara Hershey (The Portrait of a Lady, Hannah
and Her Sisters), who plays Anne as a woman
in her fifties reflecting on her past. Additional casting details will be
announced shortly. Principal photography continues until November 7 on location
throughout Ontario.

CTV has also acquired the original 1985 Anne of Green
Gables mini-series, in addition to the
entire Anne catalogue and more,
totaling 128 hours. The package includes eight other titles from Sullivan
Entertainment, including the original three Anne of Green
Gables mini-series, the Emmy Award-winning
series Road to Avonlea, and the
two-hour animated Anne, Journey to Green Gables. Anne of Green Gables and Road to Avonlea have been broadcast in more than 140 countries
around the world. Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel originally aired in 1987 and has remained the highest
rated mini-series ever to air in Canada with an audience of 5.4 million. CTV
has also acquired The Magic Flute Diaries, showcasing Toronto’s internationally renowned Opera Atelier Baroque
Opera Company, and the one-hour Mozart Decoded—The Magic Flute
Diaries Documentary.

“To say that we are 'excited' about bringing the Anne of
Green Gables franchise to CTV would be an
understatement!” said Kevin Sullivan, the president of Sullivan Entertainment.
“Ivan Fecan and I created the Avonlea/Family Hour franchise on CBC in the early 90s and together we
made it into one of Canada's most successful weekly television events. We are
very proud to have been given the opportunity by Ivan and his team to premiere A
New Beginning on CTV as a major television
event, for the enjoyment of a new and younger audience; as well as for the
audience that fell in love with the original."

—By Irene Lew