By: Barry Walsh

A legal challenge from a co-creator of the popular Degrassi Junior High television franchise, aimed at a related documentary that’s set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival this weekend, has been settled.

Degrassi: Whatever It Takes, directed by Lisa Rideout (Sex with Sue) and produced by Toronto-based WildBrain and Peacock Alley Entertainment, is scheduled to make its debut on Saturday (September 13) as one of TIFF’s special presentations. But on Monday (September 8), Linda Schuyler, one of the original Canadian series’ co-creators, filed a notice of action in Ontario to prevent the screening, alleging that “defamatory statements and innuendo” in the film could lead viewers to believe that she created an “empire” at the expense of underpaid child actors.

According to reports, the documentary features cast members from the series’ early seasons discussing their compensation, with one cast member alleging they made “50 bucks a day, or something like that.”

WildBrain, the current owner of the Degrassi franchise, and Peacock Alley Entertainment were named as defendants in the notice of action.

However, the dispute seems to have reached a settlement, and the premiere will take place, with Schuyler and the production companies issuing a joint statement on Wednesday that reads: “The producers, WildBrain and Peacock Alley, have settled the short-lived dispute with Linda Schuyler, the co-creator and longtime producer of the Degrassi franchise, on the new Degrassi documentary. The world premiere and other screenings at TIFF will proceed as planned. For future distribution beyond TIFF, the parties have agreed to add some additional context around the compensation paid to the performers.”

Another statement, attributed solely to Schuyler but issued with the joint statement, reads as follows: “From the beginning, it was important to me, and to the whole Degrassi team, to do what we could to set our young performers up for success. The cast was paid much more than $50 a day. We also created and contributed on their behalf to a retirement fund and a scholarship foundation that provided them with opportunities for counselling and supported them into the future.”

Launched in 1979, Desgrassi is a groundbreaking hit Canadian franchise that follows students at the fictional Degrassi High School and addresses issues that teens face in real life, like teen pregnancy, AIDS and suicide. Lead show The Kids of Degrassi Street was followed by spinoffs including Degrassi High (1981), Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001) and Degrassi: Next Class (2016).

A version of this story originally appeared in Kidscreen‘s sister publication Realscreen.