{"id":12486,"date":"2017-06-16T08:00:29","date_gmt":"2017-06-16T12:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2017-06-19T12:27:37","modified_gmt":"2017-06-19T16:27:37","slug":"breakthroughs-nat-abraham-talks-anne-of-green-gables","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/breakthroughs-nat-abraham-talks-anne-of-green-gables\/","title":{"rendered":"Breakthrough\u2019s Nat Abraham Talks Anne of Green Gables"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nat Abraham, partner and president of distribution at Breakthrough Entertainment, discusses the film revival of <\/em>Anne of Green Gables and why the trilogy has appealed to international partners.<\/em><\/p>\n

Lucy Maud Montgomery\u2019s classic story of a red-headed orphan who finds a home with siblings Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert is recognized not only in Canada, where it originated as a book series, but the world over. The beloved tale of Anne Shirley was revived by Breakthrough Entertainment as L.M. Montgomery\u2019s Anne of Green Gables<\/em>, which has been scooped up across the globe, with the latest deal coming from HBO Europe. \u201cThe initial trigger for this project was from the estate of L.M. Montgomery, which reached out to Breakthrough Entertainment to open discussions on reviving the literary work into a brand-new film installment,\u201d Nat Abraham, partner and president of distribution at Breakthrough Entertainment, tells TV Kids<\/em> of the genesis of the production.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the success that this series of books has enjoyed worldwide for decades, we were thrilled and flattered at the opportunity to work with the estate to make these films a reality,\u201d Abraham continues.<\/p>\n

The first movie in the trilogy, which was produced by Breakthrough Entertainment in association with Corus Entertainment\u2019s YTV and the author\u2019s granddaughter, Kate Macdonald Butler, launched on YTV in Canada at the beginning of last year. The adaptation was filmed in Canada and is based on Montgomery\u2019s book, Anne of Green Gables<\/em>, which was first published in 1908 and has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide. It stars newcomer Ella Ballentine as Anne, Martin Sheen as Matthew and Sara Botsford as Marilla.<\/p>\n

Since its launch on YTV in 2016, L.M. Montgomery\u2019s Anne of Green Gables<\/em> has been picked up around the world, including by PBS in the U.S., which also secured the second and third installments of the trilogy, The Good Stars<\/em> and Fire & Dew<\/em>, respectively. Abraham notes that the initial success for the first film with top broadcasters globally was \u201ca determining factor in moving forward with two more installments.\u201d He adds, \u201cPBS is the go-to gold standard for quality in programming. We are proud of their commitment to all three of the Anne<\/em> films and feel confident that these films serve their audience perfectly. The timeless nature of the stories and their setting is sure to entertain PBS\u2019s viewers and their families for many years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heading into NATPE Budapest, Breakthrough inked a pay-TV deal for the first installment with HBO Europe. Through the partnership, the film will be available in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. \u201cWorking with a partner like HBO gets this film maximum exposure to their widest possible audience,\u201d Abraham says.<\/p>\n

Additional broadcast partners are ITV in the U.K. and ARD in Germany. In Japan, L.M. Montgomery\u2019s Anne of Green Gables<\/em> had a theatrical release in May prior to becoming available via DVD and VOD in the country, thanks to a deal Breakthrough secured with Happinet Corporation and Synergy Entertainment. The film has also seen a theatrical release in Australia and New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Abraham credits the enduring nature of the Anne of Green Gables<\/em> brand and the universal need for family programming with the ability of this revival to travel so widely. \u201cI\u2019m certain that most of us have films or stories we were exposed to as children that we still retain the fondest memories of,\u201d he says. \u201cIn today\u2019s entertainment environment, it\u2019s rare to find the kind of entertainment that the entire family can enjoy together. There are many other classic works like this that fans of this genre would gladly welcome again. Anne<\/em> has certainly proven to be timeless.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are not just classic stories but more importantly, they are generational stories that never seem to tire as those who grew up enjoying Anne of Green Gables<\/em> gladly welcomed seeing more and also wanted their children to be exposed to this iconic character,\u201d Abraham adds.<\/p>\n

Breakthrough was careful to remain faithful to the literary classic in making the trilogy. \u201cWhen you are working with stories you love, the only challenge is to be as true as possible to the author\u2019s intentions with great screenwriters, a great director and, of course, a great cast,\u201d Abraham explains. \u201cWe have truly found a gem in Ella Ballentine as Anne as well as Martin Sheen and Sara Botsford rounding out the main characters.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The company’s partner and president of distribution discusses the film revival and why the trilogy has appealed to international partners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":477,"featured_media":12487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,21],"tags":[1369,803,2737],"class_list":["post-12486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-profiles","category-top-stories","tag-anne-of-green-gables","tag-breakthrough-entertainment","tag-nat-abraham","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nBreakthrough\u2019s Nat Abraham Talks Anne of Green Gables - TVKIDS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/breakthroughs-nat-abraham-talks-anne-of-green-gables\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Breakthrough\u2019s Nat Abraham Talks Anne of Green Gables - TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The company's partner and president of distribution discusses the film revival and why the trilogy has appealed to international partners.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/breakthroughs-nat-abraham-talks-anne-of-green-gables\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-06-16T12:00:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-06-19T16:27:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/06\/Anne-of-Green-Gables-Breakthrough-617-e1497878223323.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"516\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"330\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sara Alessi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sara Alessi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/breakthroughs-nat-abraham-talks-anne-of-green-gables\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/breakthroughs-nat-abraham-talks-anne-of-green-gables\/\",\"name\":\"Breakthrough\u2019s Nat Abraham Talks Anne of Green Gables - TVKIDS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-16T12:00:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-06-19T16:27:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/3a30a856ec6d9cc2372bf054d26a0418\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/breakthroughs-nat-abraham-talks-anne-of-green-gables\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/breakthroughs-nat-abraham-talks-anne-of-green-gables\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/breakthroughs-nat-abraham-talks-anne-of-green-gables\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Breakthrough\u2019s Nat Abraham Talks Anne of Green Gables\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\",\"name\":\"TVKIDS\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/3a30a856ec6d9cc2372bf054d26a0418\",\"name\":\"Sara Alessi\",\"description\":\"Sara Alessi is the associate editor of World Screen. 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