Whole New Thing is a 2005 Canadian drama film directed by Amnon Buchbinder.[1] The film is a coming-of-age narrative about a 13-year-old boy, Emerson Thorsen (played by Aaron Webber) who lives in an isolated straw-bale house with his counter-cultural parents, Rog (Robert Joy) and Kaya (Rebecca Jenkins). However, when Kaya decides that homeschooling provides too little structure for Emerson, she enrolls him at the local middle-school under the tuition of 43-year-old Don Grant (Daniel MacIvor). Emerson, despite displaying a developed intellectual approach to sexuality, discovers the problems that come with developing a crush, and the taboo of this crush being his male teacher.[2]
The script was co-written by Buchbinder and Daniel MacIvor, and was filmed entirely on location in Mahone Bay and Halifax, Nova Scotia, during winter and over the course of 15 days.[2]
The film soundtrack is scored by David Buchbinder, and contains songs by The Hidden Cameras.
The film is distributed by THINKFilm and co-funded by the NSFDC.
Robert Joy received a Genie Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the 27th Genie Awards.[3]