Radio Rebel

Tara Adams is a high school senior so shy that speaking up in class or even writing on the board in front of her classmates is a struggle. Alone in her room, though, with headphones on, she becomes someone else: the confident, anonymous host of a radio show that wins over students at her school. Her secret is complicated by the fact that her stepfather owns the station that carries her broadcasts, and by a principal who wants the mysterious voice silenced. As her show grows more popular, Tara finds that keeping her identity hidden has become harder than revealing it.

Peter Howitt directed this 2012 television film, which sits between Reasonable Doubt and his earlier comedies such as Johnny English and Sliding Doors. He wrote the screenplay with Erik Patterson and Jessica Scott, and Kim Arnott produced. Debby Ryan leads the cast as Tara, alongside Sarena Parmar, Adam DiMarco, Atticus Mitchell, Merritt Patterson and Allie Bertram among 24 credited performers.

The film runs 90 minutes and mixes comedy, drama, family and music. It was produced in Canada and the United States by MarVista Entertainment and Two 4 The Money Media. On TMDB it holds a rating of 6.2 out of 10 from 852 votes, a middling but engaged response for a youth-oriented TV movie.