Booky's Crush | |
---|---|
Based on | That Scatterbrain Booky With Love from Booky As Ever, Booky by Bernice Thurman Hunter |
Screenplay by | Tracey Forbes |
Directed by | Peter Moss |
Starring | Rachel Marcus Megan Follows Stuart Hughes Dylan Everett Sarah White |
Theme music composer | Robert Carli |
Country of origin | Canada |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producers | Armand Leo Phyllis Platt |
Cinematography | Norayr Kasper |
Editor | Diane Brunjes |
Running time | 89 minutes |
Production companies | Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Platt Productions Shaftesbury Films |
Original release | |
Network | CBC |
Release | February 15, 2009 |
Booky's Crush is a 2009 Canadian made for TV drama film directed by Peter Moss. The screenplay was written by Tracey Forbes and based upon the Bernice Thurman Hunter novels That Scatterbrain Booky, With Love From Booky, and As Ever, Booky. [1] [2] [3]
First announced in 2008, Booky's Crush is the third in a series of made-for-TV films about Beatrice 'Booky' Thomson, a little girl growing up in Toronto during the depression era. [4] [5] Her parents are played by real-life husband and wife Megan Follows and Stuart Hughes. [1] [6]
The first in this series covered a timeframe when Booky was a teenager. Booky Makes Her Mark (2006) starred Tatiana Maslany as Booky at 15 years old. The subsequent films in the series, both Booky and the Secret Santa (2007) and Booky's Crush (2009), were set in an earlier timeframe, with Rachel Marcus starring as Booky at 11 years old. [7]
The Thomsons are a working class family living in Toronto during the Great Depression. Parents, Thomas Thomson (Stuart Hughes) and Francie Thomson (Megan Follows) struggle to provide for their children, Willa (Sarah White), Arthur (Dylan Everett), Beatrice (nicknamed Booky) (Rachel Marcus) and Jakey (Noah Ryan Scott).
11-year-old Beatrice 'Booky' Thomson is showing her strength in reading and spelling, and has been asked to tutor Georgie Dunlop (Connor Price), an older sixth grader. This thrills Booky, as she has a crush on Georgie and hopes he will ask her to a school dance. But after Georgie gives her a strange gift, she begins to re-evaluate her feelings toward him.
Booky's older sister Willa Thomson, has a part-time job as a librarian. While at work, Willa meets and is attracted to Russell (Marc Bendavid), a medical student. With her senior year in high school beginning, and even though she knows her family cannot afford it, Willa gives thought toward attending medical school after she graduates.
Arthur has an artistic aptitude, and though his parents are supportive of his dreams, his father encourages him to consider a more stable profession, which places a strain on their father-son relationship.
Booky goes to the dance with Georgie. He turns up late and surprises her. He kisses her and that's all she talks about.
Maria Kubacki, of the Calgary Sun notes that modern audiences can relate to the hardships faced in the 1930s when she writes "Booky's Crush might have been conceived as a nostalgia piece far removed from modern reality but given the current economic meltdown, CBC's Depression-era family drama suddenly seems strangely relevant." [1]
Megan Elizabeth Laura Diana Follows is a Canadian-American actress and director. She is known for her role as Anne Shirley in the 1985 Canadian television miniseries Anne of Green Gables and its two sequels. From 2013 to 2017, she starred as Catherine de' Medici, Queen of France, in the television drama series Reign.
Stacey Farber is a Canadian actress. She played Ellie Nash in seasons 2 through 8 of the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation. From 2010 to 2011, she starred in the CBC series 18 to Life. From 2014 to 2017, she played Sydney Katz on the Canadian medical drama Saving Hope, and since 2023 she has had a lead role on The Spencer Sisters. Stacey has also recurred on the Netflix drama series Virgin River and the CW superhero series Superman & Lois.
Enuka Vanessa Okuma is a Canadian actress, writer and director, best known for her role as detective Traci Nash in the Global/ABC police drama series, Rookie Blue (2010–2015).
Jordan Todosey is a Canadian actress. She is known for her role as Adam Torres, the first transgender character on the long-running TV series Degrassi: The Next Generation, and as Lizzie McDonald on Life with Derek.
Julie Anne Stewart is a Canadian stage, film, television and voice actress, and director. She is most commonly known for her role as Sgt. Ali McCormick from the CTV television series Cold Squad.
Anna Silk is a Canadian actress best known for her role as Bo Dennis, the protagonist of the Showcase television series Lost Girl (2010–2015).
Booky and the Secret Santa is a 2007 Canadian family television film directed by Peter Moss from a book adapted by Joe Wiesenfeld and written by Bernice Thurman Hunter. It stars Rachel Marcus and Megan Follows. The film first aired on December 11, 2007 on CBC Television. A prequel set five years before 2006's Booky Makes Her Mark, all the juvenile roles were recast.
Roger Anthony Lemke is a Canadian television and film actor, best known for portraying Three on the science-fiction drama Dark Matter. In French Canada, Lemke is best known for playing David Rothstein on the comedy-drama Les Hauts et les bas de Sophie Paquin.
Booky Makes Her Mark is a made-for-TV movie that is based on the books by Bernice Thurman Hunter, starring Tatiana Maslany. The family film also features Megan Follows, Roberta Maxwell and Lally Cadeau. Filmed in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and set in Toronto, it features a young and diverse cast of Canadian actors and actresses.
Teresa Hannigan is a Canadian film and television editor, most noted as a four-time Gemini Award and Canadian Screen Award nominee for Best Picture Editing in a Dramatic Program or Series. She was nominated at the 19th Gemini Awards in 2004 for her work on The Eleventh Hour episode "The Missionary Position", at the 24th Gemini Awards in 2009 for the Flashpoint episode "Scorpio", at the 1st Canadian Screen Awards in 2013 for the Rookie Blue episode "Every Man", and at the 2nd Canadian Screen Awards in 2014 for the Rookie Blue episode "Poison Pill".
Dylan Phillip Everett is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his roles in How To Be Indie (2009–2011), Wingin' It (2010–2013), Degrassi (2012–2013), and Open Heart (2015).
Rachel Marcus is a Canadian actress and voice artist best known for her role as Beatrice 'Booky' Thomson in Booky and the Secret Santa (2007) and Booky's Crush (2009).
The Canadian Screen Award for Best Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role is an annual Canadian television award, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best leading performance by an actor in a Canadian television series. Previously presented as part of the Gemini Awards, since 2013 it has been presented as part of the Canadian Screen Awards.
The Canadian Screen Award for Best Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role is an annual Canadian television award, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television to the best leading performance by an actress in a Canadian television series. Previously presented as part of the Gemini Awards, since 2013 it has been presented as part of the Canadian Screen Awards.
Noah Ryan Scott is a Canadian actor best known for his role as Jakey Thomson in Booky and the Secret Santa (2007) and Booky's Crush (2009).
The Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series or Program is an annual Canadian television award, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best supporting performance by an actress in a Canadian dramatic television series or television film. Previously presented as part of the Gemini Awards, since 2013 it has been presented as part of the Canadian Screen Awards.