The Sullivan Touch

Kevin Sullivan’s films have been praised for their visual beauty, their strong storytelling and their fine acting through which he weaves his unique spell. Sullivan’s style has translated into an image that has cultivated a devoted international following. In American film schools, Anne of Green Gables is studied as a model of television drama with multi-generational, multi-cultural appeal.

Renowned for his directorial ease with children and well known stars, Sullivan’s careful attention to performance and production detail has earned the enthusiasm of audiences who have become to appreciate the charm and authenticity of productions such as Road to Avonlea.

When the steely figure of Sullivan tours his five-acre studio in downtown Toronto, Sullivan points out a newly developed park set with Gazebo adjacent to a train station. New is good. New, but designed to look old. Sullivan has cultivated an entire1930’s town on a back-lot built on the exterior of his studio. He has shot over a dozen recent productions here, including 64 episodes of Avonlea’s replacement series Wind at My Back. He has literally found a home to explore his attention to period detail and created a body of work in the process.

From anyone who has ever worked on one his films, what Sullivan demands from any member of his team they are willing to give – with no question asked. After working with Kevin, Colleen Dewhurst once said she’d gladly appear in any Sullivan project without seeing the script. So she did, the time Sullivan cast her as the mysterious seer Hepzibah in Lantern Hill after pitching her the role over dinner.

As Sullivan explains it, after years of scientific approach to the world he discovered he had a longing to explore the other side of his brain. After a brief foray into commercials in an attempt to establish a film company, he managed to cajole a number of talented individuals he had met backstage at the theatre, into helping him make his early films. He was joined by his partner Trudy Grant who established Sullivan Entertainment with him in 1980 and helped him create the hallmark of the Sullivan brand: intelligent beautiful and moving stories.

To learn more about Sullivan Entertainment, please visit the official site.