Toronto’s Epitome Pictures, with support from federal agency Telefilm Canada, are developing a big screen feature based on CTV’s high school teen series “Degrassi: The Next Generation”, with Kevin “Jersey Girl” Smith tapped to direct for a late August shoot in Toronto.
Smith recently appeared on the series alongside “Jay And Silent Bob” sidekick Jason Mewes.
Two “Degrassi: TNG” books and a TV doc are currently in the works, with the fifth season now prepping for Toronto production.
“Degrassi: TNG” airs on The ‘N’ network in the US, also broadcasting in the UK, Australia and France.
The series was removed from the broadcast schedule of publicly-funded PBS network, following complaints from citizen’s rights groups objecting to the series’ realistic portrayals of teens involved with drugs, sex and rock ‘n roll.
The show is filmed in a mock-up village/school south of Toronto’s Eglinton Avenue East, with daily usage of classrooms, training the next generation of Degrassi actors.
“Degrassi” is the name of an actual street in downtown Toronto’s east end.
Sneak Peek TV and Dark Horizons have already reported the story. Expect a quick denial or confirmation on this one, we’ve got no idea if it’s legit or just a rumor gone wild, though astute readers will note that Kevin DID recently meet with Degrassi’s Stacie Mistysyn.
If true, we’ll find out the impact on the Clerks 2 shoot, of course, and get you all the latest. If false, we’ll let you know that as well. Stay tuned, folks. We certainly were surprised to see this one come across the desk today. In a way, it seems like fanboy speculation, especially due to Kevin’s recent appearances on the program (prom ninjas!), though with his open fandom of the program, and a possibly low production cost for such a film, we’re not totally calling this out of the question just yet.
