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Kevin Sullivan is a Director, Scriptwriter and Producer Canadien born on 1 january 1955 at Toronto (Canada)

Kevin Sullivan

Kevin Sullivan
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Birth name Kevin Roderick Sullivan
Nationality Canada
Birth 1 january 1955 (69 years) at Toronto (Canada)

Kevin Roderick Sullivan (born c. 1955) is a Canadian writer, director and producer of film and television programs.

Kevin Sullivan is best known for detailed period movies such as the Anne of Green Gables series films, his movie adaptations of Timothy Findley’s novel The Piano Man's Daughter, feature films and TV-movies such as Under the Piano, Butter Box Babies, Sleeping Dogs Lie and CBS mini-series Seasons of Love, as well as long-running television series such as Road to Avonlea and Wind at My Back. Having produced over 500 hours of movies and television in his thirty year career he has also won hundreds of international awards, including three Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award for outstanding contribution to television, Gemini, Cable-Ace & Prix Jeunesse Awards. His films have been broadcast in over 150 countries. His production company Sullivan Entertainment has produced movies, mini-series and specials for CBS, PBS, Disney, Lifetime, Ion, INSP, Channel 4, BBC, ITV, ZDF and NHK.

Sullivan began his filmmaking career at an early age of 24. His father, Glenn A. Sullivan was a successful attorney and his uncle Sen. Joseph A. Sullivan was a prominent doctor with a seat in Diefenbaker’s senate. Sullivan strayed from a professional career in their footsteps. His first foray into filmmaking was with a half-hour Hans Christian Andersen Christmas special titled The Fir Tree (1979) in which he edited and also had a small acting role. From there Sullivan wrote, produced and directed Kreighoff (1979), a widely-acclaimed docu-drama in French and English on the life of the prominent German artist and illustrator of 19th century Quebec.

Sullivan graduated from the University of Toronto in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. That year, he founded Sullivan Entertainment with Trudy Grant (to whom he is now married) and they created a successful international production and distribution business with a 30 year history. In 1980 Sullivan wrote, produced and directed Megan Carey (1980), a film about a young Irish immigrant indentured on a farm in 19th century Canada. His first feature film was The Wild Pony (1982), which he co-wrote, co-produced and directed became a turning point for Sullivan, because it was the first feature-length movie to be made exclusively for pay-TV in Canada.

In 1984, he purchased the rights to Anne of Green Gables and completed the screenplay the four-hour miniseries in 1985 with co-writer Joe Wiesenfeld. He directed the production for CBC, Disney and PBS in 1985. Anne of Green Gables and its Sequel were the highest rated dramatic productions to air in Canadian TV history. Cinematic feature versions played in theatres in Japan for five years straight. Anne of Green Gables has been studied in US film schools as a model of TV Drama with a wide appeal to a wide variety of viewers. Part of Anne of Green Gables’ immense attraction was its rich look, featuring painstakingly recreated sets and detailed costumes that imbued it with a magical reality. That look, or a variation on its theme, has become the hallmark of every Sullivan production since.

The tremendous success of Anne of Green Gables Starring Megan Follows, Richard Farnsworth and Colleen Dewhurst led to three sequels: Anne of Green Gables – The Sequel (1987 aka Anne of Avonlea - US release) starring Follows, Dewhurst and Wendy Hiller, Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story (1998) and most recently Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning (2009) starring Barbara Hershey and Shirley MacLaine. Sullivan penned all three sequel screenplays as well as the novel for Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning. An educational, animated series Anne of Green Gables: The Animated Series produced for PBS Kids and "Road to Avonlea” produced for CBC and Disney, were each successful spin offs from the Anne of Green Gables franchise.

Set in early 1900’s Prince Edward Island, Road to Avonlea was the longest-running (93 one hr eps.), most popular and most lucrative drama series in Canadian TV history. Co-produced with a strong influence by Disney, Road to Avonlea was filmed on a 300 acre farm and in Sullivan’s studio and back-lot in Toronto. In recent years, Road to Avonlea fans from around the world have organized Avonlea Conventions (Avcon) in Toronto to meet with stars of the show, tour filming locations and celebrate their love of the show.

With Wind at My Back, the 67 episode depression-era series produced as a follow-up to Road to Avonlea, Sullivan created an entire 1930’s town on his company's 1.5 acre studio backlot, one of the largest in Canada, located at Sullivan Entertainment's 60,000 square foot studio and sound-stages in Toronto, which the company continues to operate. Sullivan also has an accumulated thousands of items of period costumes, sets and props ranging from the 1860s to the 1960s.

Inspired by a lifelong interest in Baroque Architecture and the beauty of Mozart’s hometown of Salzburg, in 2006 (the "Mozart-Jahre") Sullivan decided to create a contemporary, English-language feature film of the composer's classic opera The Magic Flute, entitled Magic Flute Diaries. The film was a full-scale CGI production created like a variation of Sin City and 300 with elaborate studio green-screen production design. Special choreography sequences and backdrops were shot on location in palaces, monasteries and gardens in Austria and Germany.

Sullivan also produced a companion documentary to Magic Flute Diaries titled Mozart Decoded which takes a historical look at Mozart’s involvement with the Freemasons and his genius as a composer.

Sullivan productions have been seen in over 140 countries, starring such award winning actors such as Colleen Dewhurst, Christopher Reeve, Meg Tilly, Eugene Levy, Treat Williams, Michael York, Madeline Kahn, Peter Coyote, Robby Benson, Bruce Greenwood, Maureen Stapleton, Faye Dunaway, Dianne Weist, Diana Rigg, Kate Nelligan, Ryan Gosling, Zoe Caldwell, Peter Strauss, Rachel Ward, Hume Cronyn, Christopher Lloyd, Sam Waterston and Stockard Channing.

As a writer and art-enthusiast Sullivan is the author of Beyond Green Gables, a behind-the-scenes look at the production design and inspiration for his films. Sullivan's Publishing Division, Davenport Press, which is owned by Kevin Sullivan, has released over 50 books. These titles are available as hard books and ebooks. They include a) novels including Anne of Green Gables ~A New Beginning, b) a children's book series based on Anne of Green Gables: The Animated Series and c) an assortment of specialty books."ShopatSullivan.com". Retrieved 10 April 2013.

Sullivan Entertainment, owns a music library and operates a music distribution business.

Sullivan Entertainment owns and operates a 4 acre studio/backlot facility in Toronto which holds and rents an assortment of props, set pieces and costumes that were used in Sullivan productions.



Sullivan is also an art collector. This interest compelled him to produce the documentary Out of the Shadows. Narrated by Donald Sutherland, the documentary shows how new types of x-rays and digital imaging are allowing scientists to see beneath layers of paint to reveal and authenticate paintings by masters such as Rembrandt, Goya, Caravaggio and Van Gogh. Out of the Shadows closely follows the scientific journey of a group of material physicists and art historians during the attribution of Rembrandt's painting “Study of a Bearded Old Man”. Out of the Shadows was produced with the cooperation of the Rembrandt Research Project, The University of Delft, Cornell University and Brookhaven National Synchrotron. The film premiered at The Metropolitan Museum in New York in June, 2012.

Usually with

Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Kevin Sullivan (15 films)

Display filmography as list

Director

Out of the Shadows, 55minutes
Directed by Kevin Sullivan
Origin Canada
Genres Documentary
Themes Documentary films about the visual arts

Art historians and scientists have joined forces, enabling new details about paintings to be exposed. Using cutting edge x-ray techniques, art historians are now able to see beneath the surface on famous pieces of art. The combination of new data and expert knowledge of artists’ methods allow the Rembrandt Research Project and a group of material scientists to make startling new discoveries.
Magic Flute Diaries, 1h44
Directed by Kevin Sullivan
Origin Canada
Genres Drama
Actors Rutger Hauer, Warren Christie, Daniel Kash, Jonathan Monro, Daniel Fathers
Rating58% 2.91362.91362.91362.91362.9136
Tom (Warren Christie), a young classical singer, reluctantly accepts the lead role in a production of The Magic Flute during Mozart’s 250th birthday celebration in Salzburg at the urging of his girlfriend Sandy (Kelly Campbell).
Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning, 2h24
Directed by Kevin Sullivan
Origin Canada
Genres Drama
Themes Films about children, Children's films
Actors Barbara Hershey, Shirley MacLaine, Rachel Blanchard, Ron Lea, Hannah Endicott-Douglas, Natalie Radford
Rating51% 2.5622252.5622252.5622252.5622252.562225
Anne, now a middle-aged woman, is troubled by recent events in her life. Her husband, Gilbert, has been killed overseas as a medical doctor during World War II. (This did not happen in the books.) Her two daughters are preoccupied with their own young families and her adopted son Dominic (a character not featured in the books but invented for The Continuing Story) has yet to return from the war. When a long-hidden secret is discovered under the floorboards at Green Gables, Anne retreats into her memories to relive her troubled early years prior to arriving as an orphan at Green Gables and being adopted by the Cuthberts.
Mozart Decoded, 50minutes
Directed by Kevin Sullivan
Origin Canada
Themes Films about music and musicians, Documentary films about music and musicians, Documentaire sur une personnalité, Films about classical music and musicians, Musical films

A detailed look the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart Decoded starts with Mozart’s upbringing and follows his life through his success and affiliations. A priority of this documentary is finding out what motivated Mozart’s work and how organizations like the Freemasons impacted his most popular operas.
The Piano Man's Daughter, 3h
Directed by Kevin Sullivan
Origin Canada
Genres Drama, Historical
Actors Wendy Crewson, Chistian Campbell, Stockard Channing, R.H. Thomson, Sarah Strange, Boyd Banks
Rating61% 3.092053.092053.092053.092053.09205
A young man must deal with several generations of madness and familial intrigue in this screen adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Timothy Findley. Charlie Kilworth (Christian Campbell) is a young man whose mother, Lily (Stockard Channing), is the daughter of Frederick Wyatt (R.H. Thomson), the owner of a well-known piano manufacturing company. Lily is also a free-spirited and unstable woman, who bore Charlie out of wedlock, has had a number of lovers over the years, and has an unsettling fascination with fire. Lily's mother Ede (Wendy Crewson) has put her daughter in a mental hospital on several occasions, and is considering having Lily lobotomized. Charlie, meanwhile, has had affairs with a number of women but has never settled down with anyone; working as an events coordinator at a resort hotel, Charlie becomes infatuated with Alex Lamont (Sarah Strange), the singer in a dance band Charlie has booked into the ballroom. Lily urges her son to get married and raise a family, but Charlie isn't so sure he's ready for a lifetime commitment, and Alex becomes frustrated by Charlie's inability to take their relationship seriously. Meanwhile, Ede and Frederick have decided that Lily needs to be permanently committed to an institution; Charlie insists that they send her to a comfortable private facility, but then discovers that a mysterious benefactor has been supporting Lily for years, and Ede and Frederick have decided if Lily is to be in a private institution, then the generous stranger must be the one who pays for it. Surprisingly, The Piano Man's Daughter was co-produced by noted comic actress Whoopi Goldberg.
Lantern Hill, 1h51
Directed by Kevin Sullivan
Origin Canada
Genres Drama
Actors Sam Waterston, Zoe Caldwell, Sarah Polley, Colleen Dewhurst
Rating68% 3.4363953.4363953.4363953.4363953.436395
12 year old Jane Stuart (Mairon Bennett) has long been told by her Grandmother Kennedy (Zoe Caldwell) that her father is dead. But when her mother, Robin Stuart (Patricia Phillips) returns home after recovering from a long illness, Jane learns that her mysterious father, Andrew Stuart (Sam Waterston) is still alive. When Jane finally meets her father and travels with him to Prince Edward Island to stay at Lantern Hill, their family home, she discovers that he is a kind man that cares deeply for both her and her mother. Determined to bring her parents back together, Jane enlists the aid of Hepzibah (Colleen Dewhurst), a powerful mystic, to help her solve an old mystery that has torn apart her family.
Looking for Miracles, 1h43
Directed by Kevin Sullivan
Origin Canada
Genres Drama
Themes Transport films, Road movies
Actors Zachary Bennett, Joe Flaherty, Patricia Gage, Paul Haddad, Mag Ruffman, Leslie Carlson
Rating75% 3.7592353.7592353.7592353.7592353.759235
Set in the summer of 1935, 16-year-old Ryan Delaney (Greg Spottiswood) wants to go to university on a scholarship, but his struggling mother (Patricia Phillips) wants him to stay home, find work, and take care of his 10-year-old brother Sullivan (Zachary Bennett). Due to circumstances relating to the Depression, the brothers were separated and have recently reunited. Ryan is easily annoyed by his little brother. Desperate to find a job, Ryan manages to gain a position as a counselor at Camp Hochelaga despite the fact that he is not qualified; he is too young, has never been to camp, and cannot swim, none of which he reveals during his interview with the camp director, Chief Berman (Joe Flaherty). The ruse is so effective that Ryan is offered the lead counselor position for the group of age 10 boys. After his mother tells him that he cannot go to camp without Sullivan, Ryan convinces Chief Berman to allow the young boy to attend. Being age 10, Sullivan is assigned to Ryan's group.
Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel, 2h35
Directed by Kevin Sullivan
Origin Canada
Genres Drama, Romance
Themes Films about children, Children's films
Actors Megan Follows, Colleen Dewhurst, Wendy Hiller, Patricia Hamilton, Frank Converse, Jonathan Crombie
Rating83% 4.195524.195524.195524.195524.19552
The film resumes the story of Anne Shirley, who at 16 had chosen to study for her college degree by correspondence in order to remain at Green Gables to help an aging Marilla, who has eyesight problems, look after the house and farm. Anne now holds a Teacher's Licence after completing the two-year post-secondary course at Charlottetown's Queens Academy in only one year.
Anne of Green Gables, 3h20
Directed by Kevin Sullivan
Origin Canada
Genres Drama
Themes Films about children, Children's films
Actors Megan Follows, Colleen Dewhurst, Richard Farnsworth, Patricia Hamilton, Marilyn Lightstone, Schuyler Grant
Rating81% 4.0815954.0815954.0815954.0815954.081595
11 year old orphan Anne Shirley is living in servitude with the cruel Hammond Family in Nova Scotia. However, when Mr. Hammond dies, Anne is sent to an orphanage where she eventually receives the wonderful news that she has been adopted by a couple on Prince Edward Island.
The Wild Pony, 1h30
Directed by Kevin Sullivan
Origin Canada
Genres Drama
Actors Marilyn Lightstone, Art Hindle, Josh Byrne
Rating66% 3.309233.309233.309233.309233.30923
To save her ranch after the accidental death of her husband, Sarah Fellows (Marilyn Lightstone) marries Frank Chase (Art Hindle), the man responsible for the mishap. She and her children move into Frank’s house, but Sarah makes it clear that it is only a “marriage of convenience”. Deeply resenting the situation, her twelve-year-old son Christopher (Josh Byrne) becomes withdrawn and increasingly obsessed with a renegade black pony that runs unfettered through the valley. Frank realizes that Christopher needs the pony and buys it for him, despite Sarah’s strong objections. Surprisingly, it is through Christopher’s adventure-filled relationship with his pony that the family discovers the true meaning of devotion.

Scriptwriter

The Piano Man's Daughter, 3h
Directed by Kevin Sullivan
Origin Canada
Genres Drama, Historical
Actors Wendy Crewson, Chistian Campbell, Stockard Channing, R.H. Thomson, Sarah Strange, Boyd Banks
Rating61% 3.092053.092053.092053.092053.09205
A young man must deal with several generations of madness and familial intrigue in this screen adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Timothy Findley. Charlie Kilworth (Christian Campbell) is a young man whose mother, Lily (Stockard Channing), is the daughter of Frederick Wyatt (R.H. Thomson), the owner of a well-known piano manufacturing company. Lily is also a free-spirited and unstable woman, who bore Charlie out of wedlock, has had a number of lovers over the years, and has an unsettling fascination with fire. Lily's mother Ede (Wendy Crewson) has put her daughter in a mental hospital on several occasions, and is considering having Lily lobotomized. Charlie, meanwhile, has had affairs with a number of women but has never settled down with anyone; working as an events coordinator at a resort hotel, Charlie becomes infatuated with Alex Lamont (Sarah Strange), the singer in a dance band Charlie has booked into the ballroom. Lily urges her son to get married and raise a family, but Charlie isn't so sure he's ready for a lifetime commitment, and Alex becomes frustrated by Charlie's inability to take their relationship seriously. Meanwhile, Ede and Frederick have decided that Lily needs to be permanently committed to an institution; Charlie insists that they send her to a comfortable private facility, but then discovers that a mysterious benefactor has been supporting Lily for years, and Ede and Frederick have decided if Lily is to be in a private institution, then the generous stranger must be the one who pays for it. Surprisingly, The Piano Man's Daughter was co-produced by noted comic actress Whoopi Goldberg.
Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story, 3h5
Origin Canada
Genres Drama
Themes Films about children, Children's films
Actors Megan Follows, Jonathan Crombie, Schuyler Grant, Cameron Daddo, Janet-Laine Green, R. D. Reid
Rating47% 2.388732.388732.388732.388732.38873
Anne Shirley returns to Avonlea after five years of teaching at an orphanage in Nova Scotia while separated from her fiancé, Gilbert Blythe, who was finishing medical school. After catching up with Diana Barry and other old friends. Anne and Diana visit Green Gables, and a horrified Anne realizes that since Marilla's death in an episode of Road to Avonlea the owners have treated Green Gables so poorly, that it is coming apart. Later, Anne is reunited with Gilbert on the island. However, instead of settling down immediately, Gilbert asks Anne to move to New York since he has been offered a staff position at a prestigious medical institution. Her reluctant agreement comes with the promise of being published and that they will return to Prince Edward Island to raise their family.
Promise the Moon, 1h37
Genres Drama, Adventure, Western
Actors Henry Czerny, Shawn Ashmore, Aidan Devine, Gordon Michael Woolvett, Richard Donat, Frank Crudele
Rating64% 3.2269553.2269553.2269553.2269553.226955
Ranch hand Roy Leckner (Henry Czerny) gets more than he bargained for when he agrees to fulfill his bosses dying wish to bring home his long lost son Levi (Shawn Ashmore) and teach him to take over the Four Arrows Ranch. Roy finds Levi unable to speak and living in an institution where he’s been his entire life. Roy has no idea how he is going to be able to teach the boy anything and to make matters worse, Sir Robert Butler (David Fox) a local, cut throat businessman, is plotting to take over the ranch. Roy thinks the case is hopeless until Butler’s former secretary Jane Makepeace (Colette Stevenson) joins forces with Roy to keep her greedy ex-employer at bay. The prim and proper Jane brings order to the household and discovers that Levi can’t speak because he is deaf. Jane and Roy join forces to teach Levi to communicate and work on the ranch and an unlikely romance blossoms between them. In the end, in spite of their differences, Roy, Jane and Levi defeat Butler and forge a family in the process.
Lantern Hill, 1h51
Directed by Kevin Sullivan
Origin Canada
Genres Drama
Actors Sam Waterston, Zoe Caldwell, Sarah Polley, Colleen Dewhurst
Rating68% 3.4363953.4363953.4363953.4363953.436395
12 year old Jane Stuart (Mairon Bennett) has long been told by her Grandmother Kennedy (Zoe Caldwell) that her father is dead. But when her mother, Robin Stuart (Patricia Phillips) returns home after recovering from a long illness, Jane learns that her mysterious father, Andrew Stuart (Sam Waterston) is still alive. When Jane finally meets her father and travels with him to Prince Edward Island to stay at Lantern Hill, their family home, she discovers that he is a kind man that cares deeply for both her and her mother. Determined to bring her parents back together, Jane enlists the aid of Hepzibah (Colleen Dewhurst), a powerful mystic, to help her solve an old mystery that has torn apart her family.
Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel, 2h35
Directed by Kevin Sullivan
Origin Canada
Genres Drama, Romance
Themes Films about children, Children's films
Actors Megan Follows, Colleen Dewhurst, Wendy Hiller, Patricia Hamilton, Frank Converse, Jonathan Crombie
Rating83% 4.195524.195524.195524.195524.19552
The film resumes the story of Anne Shirley, who at 16 had chosen to study for her college degree by correspondence in order to remain at Green Gables to help an aging Marilla, who has eyesight problems, look after the house and farm. Anne now holds a Teacher's Licence after completing the two-year post-secondary course at Charlottetown's Queens Academy in only one year.