Epitome Pictures

History

Linda Schuyler and Stephen Stohn founded Epitome Pictures in 1992, and purchased its first studio building in 1995, to film Riverdale. At the time, the studio was allegedly "in a sorry state, with snow melting on the leaking roof and cans catching the water". Its main headquarters were located on a 100,000 square-foot lot in Bartley Drive in Toronto, Ontario. In April 2014, the company and its library, including the Degrassi series produced before Epitome (The Kids of Degrassi Street, Degrassi Junior High, Degrassi High, and the non-fiction documentary series Degrassi Talks), was acquired by fellow Canadian television producer DHX Media for $33 million.

After the buyout, Epitome's assets were absorbed into DHX Media. On April 2, 2019, as part of a strategic review, DHX announced plans to sell the Bartley Drive studios for $12 million to help pay down its debts.

Playing With Time, Inc.

Main article: Playing With Time, Inc.

Playing With Time, Inc. was a Canadian film and television production company based in Toronto, Ontario, and the predecessor of Epitome Pictures. Founded by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood in 1976, the company is best known for producing The Kids of Degrassi Street, as well as Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High, the first, second, and third respective entries of the Degrassi franchise. Schuyler, a Grade 7 and Grade 8 media teacher at Earl Grey Senior Public School in Toronto in 1976, met Hood, then an editor for television commercials, when she needed help from an experienced editor to save the "muddled footage" of one of her projects. Hood and Schuyler found a balance; editor Hood was inexperienced in writing, and Schuyler was inexperienced in editing, leading to their creative partnership. The production offices were located on 935 Queen Street East, where the Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High cast would routinely gather to be taken to the schools where the respective series were filmed.

Epitome Pictures later owned the rights to the three previous Degrassi shows produced by Playing With Time.

Filmography

Playing With Time, Inc.

• Jimmy: Playing With Time (short film)
• Our Cultural Fabric (1978, short film)
• The Kids of Degrassi Street (1979–1986)
• Growing Up with Sandy Offenheim (1980, five shorts)
• Pearls in the Alphabet Soup (1980, short film)
• Don't Call Me Stupid (1983, short film)
• Advice on Lice (1985, short film)
• OWL/TV (1985–1986) ("Real Kids" segments)
• Degrassi Junior High (1987–1989)
• Degrassi High (1989–1991)
• Degrassi Talks (1992)
• School's Out (1992)

Epitome Pictures

• X-Rated (1993, TV movie)

• Liberty Street (1995)

• Riverdale (1997–2000)

• Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001–2015) (co-production with Bell Media)

• Instant Star (2004–2008)

• Degrassi Goes Hollywood (2009, movie)

• Degrassi Takes Manhattan (2010, movie)

• The L.A. Complex (2012)

• Open Heart (2015)

• Make It Pop (2015–2016) (co-production with Tom Lynch Company, N'Credible Entertainment, and Nickelodeon)

• The Other Kingdom (2016) (co-production with Tom Lynch Company and Nickelodeon)

• Degrassi: Next Class (2016–2017)

• Letterkenny (2016–2019)

• Massive Monster Mayhem (2017)

References

Works cited

References

1. "Growing up Degrassi".
2. Zekas, Rita. (2013-10-04). "Degrassi their home away from home". The Toronto Star.
3. Pinto, Jordan. (April 2, 2019). "DHX to sell Toronto studio on Bartley Drive".
4. "DHX Media Acquires 'Degrassi' Producer Epitome". DHX Media.
5. (3 April 2014). "DHX Media Buys Degrassi TV Studio". The Globe and Mail.
6. Pinto, Jordan. "DHX to sell Toronto studio on Bartley Drive".
7. (25 January 2020). "Kit Hood, Co-Creator Of Beloved Canadian TV Series 'Degrassi,' Dies". The Canadian.
8. {{Harvnb. Ellis. 2005
9. West, Linda. (September 1979). "Introducing...Kit Hood and Linda Schuyler". [[Cinema Canada]].
10. "People want to name a Toronto laneway after Degrassi's co-creator".
11. (11 December 2007). "Niki Kemeny Interview by Natalie Earl".
12. "Nick orders Knight Squad, goes for DHX's Mayhem".