The most infamous troublemakers at Macdonald Hall Boys’ School are bringing their pranks to YTV in Bruno & Boots: Go Jump in the Pool!, based on the much-loved Macdonald Hall book series by best-selling young adult author Gordon Korman. Aircraft Pictures and YTV have started production on the TV movie, which stars Jonny Gray (Max & Shred, Annedroids) and Callan Potter (Stratford Festival), Peter Keleghan (18 To Life, Murdoch Mysteries) and Caroline Rhea (Sabrina The Teenage Witch, Phineas and Ferb). The movie will shoot in Hamilton, Ontario through to the middle of August and is slated to premiere on YTV in 2016
“I first read Go Jump in the Pool! at the age of nine and have been a huge fan of the book series ever since,” says Producer Anthony Leo of Aircraft Pictures, “The opportunity to adapt this work for the screen is without a doubt a career highlight.”
Bruno (Jonny Gray), the enthusiastic instigator of plots, plans to enrage Macdonald Hall’s rivals at York Academy, to intrigue the students at Miss Scrimmage’s Academy for Education & Awakening and to just make high school more fun. His very best friend, his comrade-in-arms, his we-do-everything-together pal is Boots (Callan Potter) who, as it happens, is a very good swimmer. The duo’s shenanigans try the patience of Headmaster William Sturgeon (Peter Keleghan) and Headmistress Eugenia Scrimmage (Caroline Rhea).
“We’re thrilled to bring Gordon Korman’s hilarious tales and mischievous characters to YTV,” said Jamie Piekarz, Director of Content for Corus Kids. “The boys of Macdonald Hall have entertained generations of kids and we can’t wait to see Jonny Gray bring infamous prankster, Bruno, to life.”
For the boys at Macdonald Hall, losing swim meets to the snobs at York Academy is a constant humiliation. But, until the Hall gets its own pool and Boots can train, York is going to win every swim meet. Unhappy with their son’s athletic performance, Boots’ parents decide to transfer him to York and enrol him in its excellent sports program.
What is worse than losing your best friend? Nothing. So Bruno concocts a plan to raise $150,000 to build his school a pool. How hard can it be? A few rummage sales. A couple of bake-offs. Maybe a slightly, possibly against-the-rules toll booth. Bruno will try anything to keep Boots at Macdonald Hall.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled to see Bruno and Boots jump off the page and onto the screen,” says author Gordon Korman, “At this point, fans of the series are raising their own fans of the series, which I began writing when I was not much older than my youngest readers. I can’t wait for Go Jump in the Pool!”
Bruno & Boots: Go Jump in the Pool! is the third TV project based on a book by Korman. Swindle, based on the book of the same name premiered on Nickelodeon in 2013 and the Disney Channel TV series The Jersey was based on Korman’s The Monday Night Football Club. Korman is the author of more than sixty books for kids and young adults. His writing career began at the age of 12 when is seventh-grade English assignment became is first published novel – This Can’t Be Happening at MacDonald Hall. Now, thirty-nine years later, he a full-time writer and speaker, with more than 28 million copies of his novels in print. His books have been translated into 30 different languages.
Bruno & Boots: Go Jump in the Pool! is produced by Anthony Leo and Andrew Rosen of Aircraft Pictures (Todd and the Book of Pure Evil, Cybergeddon), written by Adam Barken (Killjoys, Flashpoint) and directed by Vivieno Caldinelli (This Hour has 22 Minutes, Odd Squad). Breakthrough Entertainment will handle international sales.
