Degrassi Between Takes

How it feels

This film goes behind the scenes of the Degrassi Junior High TV series. It shows how the show was made on location in Toronto with real teenagers acting out stories from their own lives.

earnestgroundedrawunderstatedauthenticsincerequietly intense

What happens

Degrassi Junior High is a Canadian teen drama television series created by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood. It is the second entry of the Degrassi television franchise after The Kids of Degrassi Street and aired on the CBC from January 18, 1987 to February 27, 1989, and on PBS in the United States starting from September 1987. The series follows those who attend the titular fictional school and the issues they face. Produced by Schuyler and Hood's Playing With Time, development of the series began soon after the end of The Kids of Degrassi Street, in response to a perceived lack of teenage representation in media. Its cast mainly consisted of amateurs who were similar in age to the characters they played, a deliberate response to the trend of young adults being cast in teenage roles. The actors had extensive input in the writing process, and plots were often drawn from their real lives. It was filmed entirely on-location in Toronto, with then Daisy Avenue Public School in Etobicoke used as the school. The series received widespread critical acclaim on release, with praise directed at its realism, cinematography, and portrayal of serious topics, and became a significant commercial success in Canada after it was moved to a prime-time spot, while it also developed cult followings in the United States and Australia. In its home country, it won eight Gemini Awards, including four in a single year. A sequel series, Degrassi High (1989–1991), continued to follow its characters into high school, and the franchise's revival and continuation with Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001–2015) was brought into motion by a successful 1999 televised cast reunion. In spite of seldom mainstream acknowledgement, Degrassi Junior High is credited with being the progenitor of the teen drama and a major influence on series such as Beverly Hills, 90210, and continues to be highly regarded. In 2017, the Toronto International Film Festival named it one of Canada's most significant contributions to the cinematic landscape. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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