''Radio Rebel'' is a 2012

teen drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

based on a novel titled ''Shrinking Violet''. The movie premiered on Disney Channel in the United States on February 17, 2012 and YTV in Canada on March 9, 2012. The movie was produced by MarVista Entertainment and Two 4 Money Media, in association with YTV and Disney Channel. The movie was directed by

Peter Howitt Peter Howitt (; born 5 May 1957) is a British actor and film director. Biography Early life Howitt was born on 5 May 1957, the son of Frank Howitt, a renowned Fleet Street journalist who, in 1963, broke the infamous Profumo Scandal by get ...

, written by

Erik Patterson Erik Patterson is an American screenwriter, television writer, and playwright. Life and career Erik is a graduate of Occidental College and the British American Drama Academy. His plays have been produced by Playwrights' Arena, the Los Angeles ...

& Jessica Scott. It stars

Debby Ryan Deborah Ann Ryan (born May 13, 1993) is an American actress and singer. She started acting professionally onstage at the age of seven, and was later discovered during Disney Channel's nationwide search for new talent. Ryan's work for Disney Ch ...

Merritt Patterson Merritt Patterson is a Canadian actress. She had her breakout role in 2013 on the ABC Family ''Pretty Little Liars'' spin-off series ''Ravenswood'' then went on to play Ophelia Pryce in the E! television series ''The Royals'' (2014-2015). Me ...

Adam DiMarco Adam DiMarco (born ) is a Canadian actor. He has played recurring roles in the Syfy series '' The Magicians'' (2016–2020) and the Netflix series '' The Order'' (2019–2020). In 2022, he portrayed Albie Di Grasso in the HBO series ''The White ...

, Sarena Parmar and Nancy Robertson. The film follows a shy girl (Ryan) who goes undercover with a radio persona that allows her to express her true feelings. Her identity is put at risk when her school principal (Robertson) threatens to expel the young girl following a life of mischief.

Plot

Shy, awkward Tara Adams attends Lincoln Bay High and secretly runs the most popular podcast in Seattle, Radio Rebel, unbeknownst to her friends Audrey, Larry, and Barry. Tara's crush Gavin and his friend Gabe make up a band called The G's, and hope to perform at prom. Tara's stepfather Rob, who runs Seattle's biggest radio station SlamFM, asks Tara about Radio Rebel in an attempt to bonding with her. Tara's identity as Radio Rebel is subsequently revealed to him and her mother Delilah. When Rob invites her to host her podcast at SlamFM. Tara has doubts about her job at SlamFM, but is inspired by another radio host, DJ Cami Q, whom she befriends. Audrey and Tara's friendship becomes strained as Tara has to continually decline invitations to hang out; Tara eventually reveals her identity to Audrey. Gavin leaves a copy of his band’s demos in the drama room, which Tara takes and plays on her next show, encouraging the student body to start spontaneously dancing to release any pent-up emotions. However, Principal Moreno threatens to expel anyone caught listening to Rebel. Cami Q shows up at school with a recording of Rebel stating that she is taking back the music that Moreno took away, resulting in Moreno expelling students that withhold information regarding Rebel's identity. Eventually, Rebel is nominated for Prom Queen; Tara refuses to accept the crown, wanting to preserve her anonymity. When Tara doesn't reveal herself to Moreno, Moreno cancels the prom, sparking protests occurring outside of SlamFM. With Cami's help, Tara and Audrey sneak inside and persuade listeners to express their true feelings. After a montage of hateful reviews, the next day, Tara announces her plans to hold a "Morp" (prom spelled backwards) in retaliation of the prom's cancellation. Tara's rival Stacy begins to suspect that Tara is Radio Rebel, and holds a house party at the same time as Radio Rebel's next podcast. Tara attends while Delilah and Cami hold the podcast using voice recordings. Stacy's personal assistant Kim manages to infiltrate SlamFM and obtain evidence that Tara is Radio Rebel. At school, Gavin quits The G's, fed up with Gabe's superficial and egotistical personality. Stacy locks Tara in the janitor's closet and threatens to release Kim's recording to the school. Tara agrees to sponsor Stacy's campaign in exchange for her secret being kept. Gavin finds out about this and rebuffs Stacy's invitation to the Morp. On the day of the Morp, Moreno keeps an eye out for Rebel as Cami announces the Prom Queen. When Rebel is granted the title, Tara overcomes her fears and reveals herself as Radio Rebel. When Moreno announces she is expelling Tara, more students come forward and declare that they are also Radio Rebel. Unable to expel the entire student body for supporting Tara, Moreno reluctantly storms off in defeat. Tara hands Stacy the crown, leading them to end their rivalry. Gavin performs a song dedicated to Tara before dancing with her.

Cast

as Tara Adams, a shy schoolgirl who secretly adopts the radio personality Radio Rebel. *

as Stacy DeBane, the school's

queen bee A queen bee is typically an adult, mated female ( gyne) that lives in a colony or hive of honey bees. With fully developed reproductive organs, the queen is usually the mother of most, if not all, of the bees in the beehive. Queens are developed ...

and

mean girl Meanness is a personal quality whose classical form, discussed by many from Aristotle to Thomas Aquinas, characterizes it as a vice of "lowness", but whose modern form deals more with cruelty. Classical formulation In his dictionary, Noah We ...

who is obsessed with being the Prom Queen. *

as Gavin, a member of The G's and Stacy's former prom date who is Tara's love interest. * Sarena Parmar as Audrey Sharma, Tara's best friend who helps hide her secret identity. * Nancy Robertson as Principal Moreno. * Allie Bertram as Kim, Stacy's best friend. * Mercedes de la Zerda as DJ Cami Q, the popular radio DJ who is Tara's good friend at SLAM FM. *

Atticus Mitchell Atticus Dean Mitchell (born 1993) is a Canadian actor and musician. He is best known for his roles as Benny Weir in the television film ''My Babysitter's a Vampire'' and series of the same name, and Gabe in the film ''Radio Rebel''. Early life ...

as Gabe, an ambitious wannabe rockstar, lead singer of the band The Gs. *

Martin Cummins Martin Cummins (born November 28, 1969) is a Canadian actor known for his role as Ames White in '' Dark Angel'' and as Nick Boyle in '' Poltergeist: The Legacy''. Life and career Cummins went to Seaquam Secondary School in the town of North De ...

as Rob Lynch-Adams, Tara's stepfather who runs SLAM FM. *

April Telek April Amber Telek (born April 29, 1975) is a Canadian actress. Early life and career Telek was born and raised on the North Shore of Vancouver, British Columbia. In Japan, she pursued her modeling career and won a Shiseido Cosmetics contract for ...

as Delilah Adams, Tara's mother. * Iain Belcher as Barry, one of Tara's best friends and Larry's twin. * Rowen Kahn as Larry, one of Tara's best friends and Barry's twin.

Production

When ''Shrinking Violet'' was adapted into a movie, certain elements were altered, including the character Teresa being renamed Tara and her radio personality being changed from Sweet T to Radio Rebel. The movie was directed by Peter Howitt and was shot in Canada, with principal photography taking place during the summer of 2011 in Vancouver. The scenes in the school, and some scenes at "SlamFM," were filmed at Meadowridge Independent School in Maple Ridge,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. The script was written by Erik Patterson and Jessica Scott. Michael Jacobs, Robyn Snyder and MarVista CEO Fernando Szew executive produced the film with Kim Arnott and Oliver De Caigny. "We are confident that 'Radio Rebel' features the same elements that made our first production a huge success including a tight, fast-paced and comedic script and an all-around talented cast, plus several original songs that will be sure to delight teens across the globe," Szew explained. Debby Ryan recorded two songs to promote the film: a cover of

The Go-Go's The Go-Go's are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. Except for short periods when other musicians joined briefly, the band has had a relatively stable lineup consisting of Charlotte Caffey on lead guitar and keyboar ...

' "

We Got the Beat "We Got the Beat" is a song by the American rock band the Go-Go's, written by the group's lead guitarist and keyboardist Charlotte Caffey. The band first recorded the song in 1980 for a single on UK-based Stiff Records, and later rerecorded it ...

" and a collaboration with Chase Ryan and Chad Hively called "We Ended Right".

Promotion

The movie was accompanied by a week-long lineup called ''We Got the Beat Week'' consisting of new music videos and music-themed Disney Channel series and movies.

Soundtrack

The ''Radio Rebel'' soundtrack album was released on February 21, 2012 by

Walt Disney Records Walt Disney Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label releases soundtrack albums from The Walt Disney Company's motion picture studios, television series, theme parks, and traditional studio albums produced by its ...

Track listing

Reception

The movie earned 4.3 million viewers on its premiere night.

Broadcast

The film aired on Disney Channel in the United States on February 17, 2012. It premiered on March 9, 2012 in Canada on YTV, on June 1, 2012 on

Disney Channel UK and Ireland Disney Channel was a British and Irish television kids channel owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company (UK) Ltd. It was aired from 1 October 1995, to 30 September 2020. A one-hour timeshift service called Disney Channel +1 was available ...

, on June 17, 2012 on

Disney Channel Asia Disney Channel was a pan-Asian pay television kids channel owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia; part of The Walt Disney Company Asia-Pacific. It began broadcasting in Taiwan on 29 March 1995, until its main launch on Ja ...

, on July 6, 2012 on Disney Channel Australia, and on June 16, 2013 on Disney Channel South Africa.

References

External links

*
Who is Radio Rebel?
{{Peter Howitt 2012 soundtrack albums 2012 television films 2012 films English-language Canadian films American teen comedy films American comedy television films Canadian comedy television films Films about radio people Films based on American novels Films directed by Peter Howitt Canadian teen films 2010s teen comedy-drama films Films set in Seattle Films shot in Vancouver Drama film soundtracks 2010s American films 2010s Canadian films