Sullivan Entertainment waltzes into the world of musicals and legitimate theatre!

Multiple Emmy and Peabody award-winning producer, Kevin Sullivan is prepping to stage ANNE OF AVONLEA™ (as a new Anne of Green Gables™ musical), based on Sullivan's multi award-winning Anne movie adaptations. The production has been in development in 2009 and is now in negotiation to launch in the US in the new year with Sullivan writing both book and lyrics.

"We are very excited to expand our Anne of Green Gables brand, with this classic musical production, to a whole new audience and generation of young people that may never have seen Anne before," says Executive Producer Trudy Grant. "Kevin's film adaptations of L.M. Montgomery's novels have had a beguiling and emotional impact on audiences over their 25 year history and this sparkling new production with its breath-taking music has had a similar audience effect in advance readings and performances."

The romantic musical comedy follows Anne through her childhood at Green Gables farm on mythical Prince Edward Island (PEI) here she is mistakenly sent to an elderly couple, then through her years as a young teacher in a private school - when her affections are divided between the wealthy father of one of her pupils and her childhood boyfriend Gilbert Blythe.

Sullivan began his career in live theatre in Toronto working as both a performer and writer and then began making films in 1979 when he formed Sullivan Entertainment. Sullivan's original movie Anne adaptation and its sequels (starring Megan Follows, Colleen Dewhurst, Richard Farnsworth and Jonathan Crombie) garnered wide critical acclaim and over 150 international film and tv awards, including a Peabody Award for Outstanding Contribution to Television after the productions premiered on PBS and The Disney Channel; where they subsequently spawned the Emmy award- winning spin-off series "Avonlea".

The films have attained cult status over time and remained cherished by a devoted international audience. Particularly amongst the Japanese who have come to PEI in legions since Sullivan's movies were released and re-released numerous times theatrically in the 90's in Japan.

The most recent fan convention (AVCon 2009) brought delegates from all around the world to Toronto for a intense four day extravaganza where audiences got an inside glimpse at how the films were originally created when they listened to actors and production staff who had worked on Sullivan's Anne movies and Avonlea series for over 20 years.

Anne of Green Gables - A New Beginning (the 4th installment in the series starring Shirley MacLaine and Barbara Hershey) premiered Xmas 2008 on CTV to record breaking audiences and is being released in 2009 around the world. Sullivan's novelisation of the Anne 4 property hits bookshelves this fall across the US, distributed through IPG.

Sullivan has also just signed a five year deal with American Public Television to re-release Anne of Green Gables - The Animated Series on PBS in spring 2010, bringing the brainy and talkative redheaded heroine to a new generation of PBS kids and teachers.

The Sullivan Entertainment Group, created thirty years ago by writer/director/producer Kevin Sullivan and partner/ Executive Producer Trudy Grant, is a multi-media company that has produced, published and merchandised some of Canada’s biggest brand-name exports, including the Green Gables™, Road to Avonlea™ and Wind at My Back™ franchises, around the world.

The Company has operated production and international sales offices in Toronto, Los Angeles and London and currently maintains its own distribution labels in Europe, North America and Asia. They have co-produced award-winning and ratings-breaking programs for CTV, CBC, as s well as CBS, PBS, Lifetime, ABC/Disney, BBC and Channel 4, as well as many other broadcasters around the world.

By acquiring and crafting unique film, documentary and television properties with a strong sensibility, the company became known early on for its classic library of hundreds of hours of beautifully executed and highly praised movies and classic television series that have won hundreds of international awards, including several Emmy’s and numerous Cable Ace Awards. Sullivan Entertainment’s strong brand is based on visual style, quality of writing, and outstanding performances.

The Company is currently devoted to expanding its on-line business, publishing arm and worldwide licensing operations as well as theatre and feature film projects in 2010. For more information go to www.sullivanmovies.com