L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables

"What we're going to do is take it a little bit deeper, and start to really explore backgrounds and characters, the immigrant experience during that time, the economic challenges during that time. Really just be a little braver about telling the real stories, you know, what people were really experiencing."

- Jean Lambur, executive producer

L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables is a 2016 Canadian television film created by Breakthrough Entertainment. Initially announced as a thirteen-episode series, it was directed by John Kent Harrison, written by Susan Coyne and starred Ella Ballentine, Martin Sheen and Sara Botsford.

Synopsis
It is the year 1907 on beautiful Prince Edward Island. Anne Shirley is mistakenly sent there to Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, a middle-aged brother and sister who had intended to adopt a boy to help them on their farm.

Anne must make her way with the Cuthberts, in school and in the town of Avonlea to ensure she is never sent back to the orphanage again.

Based on the globally beloved classic children’s novel that was first published in 1908 by Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables is the story of a fiercely imaginative little girl who, with her irrepressible spirit, touches the lives of everyone that she meets. In particular, it is the story of Anne’s stormy relationship with the strait-laced Marilla Cuthbert who discovers through Anne a capacity for love that she never knew she had.

Cast

 * Ella Ballentine as Anne Shirley
 * Sara Botsford as Marilla Cuthbert
 * Martin Sheen as Matthew Cuthbert
 * Julia Lalonde as Diana Barry
 * Jaime Feggi as Minnie May Barry
 * Zoe Fraser as Ruby Gillis
 * Kyle Gatehouse as Mr. Phillips
 * Drew Haytaoglu as Gilbert Blythe
 * Kate Hennig as Rachel Lynde
 * Linda Kash as Mrs. Barry
 * Stefani Kimber as Josie Pye
 * Natalia Payne as Mrs. Beatty
 * Alanis Peart as Mary Jo
 * Isabella Ricker as Prissy Andrews
 * Amelia Byrnes-Lewis as Young Girl

Crew

 * Director: John Kent Harrison
 * Executive Producers: Joan Lambur, Ira Levy, Kate Macdonald Butler, Peter Williamson
 * Writer: Susan Coyne

Behind the scenes
Casting Production notes Trivia "From the inspired casting, the tender script and its eloquent adherence to the story of Anne Shirley, my family is so proud to be associated with bringing Breakthrough's film adaptation to a new generation of viewers."
 * Ella Ballentine and Megan Follows, who both portrayed Anne Shirley in different adaptations of Anne of Green Gables, both appeared on the American TV series Reign, where Follows stars as Catherine de Medici.
 * The filming took place in Milton, Ontario.
 * It is the first television adaptation of the books made in close partnership with the author's family. Kate Macdonald Butler, the granddaughter of Lucy Maud Montgomery, is one of the executive producers.

- Kate Macdonald Butler


 * The script also references Before Green Gables, a prequel written by Budge Wilson and commissioned by Montgomery's estate.
 * "one last time", the 11th vlog of Ruby Gillis and a Green Gables Fables episode, was released eight hours before the Canadian TV premiere of the film on YTV.