- While creating the story for this latest installment of Anne, rather than draw from L.M. Montgomery’s novels, Kevin Sullivan chose to go straight to the source—he based the concept for A New Beginning on L.M. Montgomery’s own sense of estrangement from her own father. From a young age, Montgomery’s father was completely absent from her life, and that experience gave her an emotional complexity that in turn motivated Montgomery to create the orphan Anne Shirley in her own imagination. The themes of unresolved loss and estrangement are common in several of L.M. Montgomery novels. Sullivan therefore modeled the adult Anne on Montgomery herself, and that unresolved father-daughter relationship became the lynchpin to creating a prequel and sequel.

- In Anne of Green: A New Beginning, the actress playing Anne (Hannah Endicott-Douglas) had blue eyes, but Anne Shirley’s eyes are meant to be green. For the film, Hannah’s eyes were digitally changed in post-production to be green.

- Violetta Thomas, Louisa Thomas’s eldest daughter and Anne’s tormenter, is played by Vivien Endicott-Douglas, the sister of the actress playing Anne. Notably, Vivien was cast without Kevin Sullivan knowing that the two girls were sisters; however, Sullivan found this beneficial as the film was made, as their relationship meant that Vivien was an excellent coach to help Hannah prepare for scenes.

- Avonlea and Anne fans are no doubt familiar with the character Rachel Lynde, played by Patricia Hamilton. The actor Ben Carlson, who plays Walter Shirley in A New Beginning, is Patricia’s son. Carlson, a very seasoned theatre performer, was often considered by Sullivan for roles in other productions, but Carlson’s heavy schedule as performer at the Shaw and Stratford festivals meant that he was difficult to cast before A New Beginning. As Walter Shirley, Carlson’s arm was digitally removed from his scenes in post-production.

- A New Beginning was the first Anne film to be posted in high definition. HD allowed the production team to create a multitude of effects, including the use of green-screen to incorporate many of the original sets, as the passage of time would have made it impossible to use precise settings and features from the first Anne film.

As a result of filming the last Anne title, Kevin was inspired to release all four films together in HD with a 16:9 aspect ratio. This was the first time that they have ever been post-produced in a widescreen, theatrical version.

You can preorder the Anne of Green Gables: Kevin Sullivan Restoration Collection (including Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning) here.