The Expositor: Former Paris woman’s film to air on CBC Sunday night (1982)

Source: The Expositor (Brantford, Ontario)
Author: Expositor Staff
Published: May 28, 1982
Section: District News
Document Type: Newspaper Feature Article
Source Link: View original newspaper scan (Degrassi Vault Gallery)

PARIS — A former Paris woman says the films her company produces are not the ”slick, glossy” variety, but are designed to make children think.

Linda Schuyler, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Bassett of Paris, says the films produced by Playing With Time Inc., of which she is a co-owner, are not ”star-makers.”

”We are not interested in making slick, glossy films. We make shows that make children think,” she says.

The latest, Noel Buys A Suit, will be shown on CBC’s The Kids of Degrassi Street on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. It explores the struggle faced by a 10-year-old when his father decides to remarry.

It was produced in conjunction with CBC’s children’s television department.

Playing With Time operates a store-front office on Queen Street East in Toronto and local children are encouraged to drop in anytime. The co-owners run acting workshops for interested children and from the informal and enthusiastic group that attends, they draw the actors who appear in their films.

The company has two additional films ready for fall telecast and will produce seven more for the series over the next two years.

It is also involved in a documentary dealing with adult illiteracy based on the experiences of local women in the community.

Archival Note: This article, published May 28, 1982, provides a local look at Degrassi co-creator Linda Schuyler through the lens of her hometown newspaper in Paris, Ontario. It highlights the production of “Noel Buys A Suit” and the early “store-front” workshop roots of the Degrassi acting troupe.