\n\tAs with many a book adaptation, author Elle Kennedy<\/a> didn\u2019t want to get her hopes up too high when her Off Campus series rights were first optioned before the COVID pandemic set in, but the final product of a deal made right before the 2023 Writers Guild of America Strike has finally skated onto Prime Video<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tBased on her first book in the series, The Deal, Season 1 of Off Campus follows singer songwriter Hannah Wells (Ella Bright) and hockey team captain Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli) an unlikely pair who strike up a fake dating agreement that leads to real feelings. Co-showrunners Louisa Levy and Gina Fattore helmed the adaptation of the book that started it all. Beneath the light romance arcs lie serious themes, like Hannah\u2019s and Garrett\u2019s individual past struggles \u2014 rape and domestic violence, respectively \u2014 which they continue to contend with as young adults in college at the fictional Briar University, whose sports teams compete against some Ivy League schools in Kennedy\u2019s books.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cBecause the issues were so heavy for Hannah and for Garrett, you can\u2019t just have them suddenly jumping into bed in chapter one, right? It was really important for me to have them have this friendship that was rooted in trust and go from there,\u201d Kennedy told Deadline. \u201cThey really needed that slow burn in order for those issues to get dealt with in a sensitive and respectful way.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tHannah and Garrett join the ranks of other famous TV and film couples who have been through such a scheme, like Lara Jean Song Covey (Lana Condor) and Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo) in Netflix\u2019s To All The Boys I\u2019ve Loved Before films and Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) and Simon, Duke of Hastings (Reg\u00e9-Jean Page) in Season 1 of Netflix\u2019s Bridgerton. Prime Video also has the film adaptation of Ali Hazelwood\u2019s The Love Hypothesis<\/a>, starring Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman, on the horizon.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI\u2019ve never thought about why I love it, I just do. Probably because, in most fake dating situations, it\u2019s two people who would never be together. It\u2019s probably mostly the opposites attract part of it [that] people resonate with because it\u2019s these two people who make no sense [together],\u201d the author said of the trope. \u201cIn The Deal, she\u2019s this music student and he\u2019s a hockey player. How are they gonna find common ground? It\u2019s the tension between these two personalities. That\u2019s probably why I\u2019m drawn to it.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIn the below interview, Kennedy \u2014 who has YA thriller Thornbird coming in June and her newly revealed Bad Idea installment set in the Off Campus and Briar U universe coming November \u2014 talks about her involvement as a producer on the show, a big change that made sense to her in the adaptation, her approach to expanding the Off Campus universe after writing The Deal as a planned standalone and much more.<\/p>\n \n\tDEADLINE: Did anything stand out to you about what Louisa and Gina loved, how they wanted to change things?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tELLE KENNEDY: <\/strong>My biggest thing, I don\u2019t want to say the word concern, but my biggest requirement was, I really want to keep the vibe of the series so what people [felt] when they\u2019re reading the books, I want them to feel it [from the show]. That is focusing on the dynamics with the characters, the relationships, the banter, the bromance, Hannah and Allie\u2019s best friendship and how supportive they are.<\/p>\n \n\tI didn\u2019t want to lose any of those elements. I think that after having seen all the screeners, and having the premiere, the energy with a live audience, that\u2019s what they felt when I when I wrote the books and what I wanted them to feel. I got that sense that they felt [those things] when they were watching it. I think it turned out great.<\/p>\n \n\tThese characters are special. It\u2019s like a found family. They love each other. They rag on each other. That\u2019s the same vibe I wanted. I wanted people who watch the show to feel like they are at Briar U and they are friends with these people. I think we succeeded.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tBelmont Cameli as Garrett, Jalen Thomas Brooks as Tucker, Antonio Cipriano as Logan, Stephen Thomas Kalyn as Dean in OFF CAMPUS<\/p>\n \n\tDEADLINE: It\u2019s been over a decade since the first book came out. What do you think of the changes made in the show? Has it changed how you see the stories compared to how you felt when you first wrote the books?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tKENNEDY: <\/strong>I have a soft spot for this series because it was my first foray into younger characters, like college age. So it\u2019s always going to be a nostalgic thing. My feelings for it haven\u2019t really changed. It\u2019s not like they\u2019ve evolved in a different way. It\u2019s almost like this series, whenever I revisit it, it gives me that same joy, and it\u2019s just such a fun world to be in.<\/p>\n \n\tIn terms of 10 years ago, yeah, obviously we\u2019ve updated some things. In the books, when I first wrote them, they were using taxis, there was no rideshare, just little things like that. It\u2019s fun to see it modernized.<\/p>\n \n\tIn terms of changes, I think there are some cool ones. Probably my favorite big change would be changing Justin. In the book, he is a football player. In the show, he\u2019s a musician, and Josh just plays him so well. I think that made a lot of sense to [cast him] as Garrett\u2019s foil, someone that Hannah would be attracted to. She\u2019s got her musician and then her jock that she would never fall for. Those kinds of changes I felt made sense.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tJustin (Josh Heuston) in OFF CAMPUS <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLiane Hentscher\/ Prime<\/p>\n \n\tDEADLINE: Music is a big element in the show. Did you recommend any songs for the series?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tKENNEDY: <\/strong>I love that they got Remi [Wolf] to do a live [concert]. That was really cool. For the most part, the songs that are in the books, I\u2019m a fan girl of One Direction, so I\u2019m just gonna put in things I like, and I love Lady Gaga. I thought, \u201cIt would be great if we can use these. But if we can\u2019t, that\u2019s fine.\u201d And I think that some choices, the ones that I have heard, have been really fun.<\/p>\n \n\tDEADLINE: When you were writing The Deal, did you envision the stories of Garrett\u2019s teammates, or were you just thinking it would be a one-off? How did that evolve?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tKENNEDY:<\/strong> I go into almost every series thinking it\u2019s going to be a standalone. And I don\u2019t know how I have not learned my lesson at this point, because before that, I wrote many things that I thought were gonna be standalones. I had a romantic suspense series. I was like, \u201cIt\u2019s just one book, and it ended up being eight.\u201d I had a Navy SEAL thing that was gonna be one story, and then it ended up being 10.<\/p>\n \n\tWhenever I start a new world, my goal is, I just want to write one fun story, and then usually there will be side characters, or someone that I introduce, where it\u2019s either I fall in love with them, or my editor will. My editor\u2019s a huge fan of Logan. She\u2019s like, his number one fan. She\u2019ll fight you for him. She lost her mind, she was like, \u201cWhat do you mean it\u2019s one book? We have to see [his story.] So after The Deal, there were just too many good side characters that people wanted to see, so it ended up being way more books than I expected. And I\u2019m not mad about it. I love it.<\/p>\n \n\tDEADLINE: We are all curious about<\/strong> which couple will be the focus of season two. I know you probably can\u2019t say if you know or not. India Fowler has been cast as Grace<\/a> Ivers, so that\u2019s exciting.<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tKENNEDY: <\/strong>Yeah, I can\u2019t speak to Season Two yet. I haven\u2019t seen any scripts or anything either, so I\u2019m going to be as surprised and excited as everybody else. I know some things, but I won\u2019t share them. All I can say is it\u2019s going to be really, really exciting to see the other characters start to get time at center stage. The Grace casting is super exciting. I saw Antonio and India\u2019s screen test together, and it\u2019s like they stepped out of the books. I got chills. I loved it. I\u2019m so excited to see her join the cast.<\/p>\n \n\tDEADLINE: As a producer, what was your involvement? I\u2019m sure you went to set. How much did they pull you into the process? How much did you want to be involved?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tKENNEDY: <\/strong>I have no experience with this, so I was learning everything for the first time. Amazon is an expert in the TV landscape, so they know what works, what doesn\u2019t work. I wasn\u2019t in the writers room, but I did have conversations with them, so I knew what was going on and where the series arcs were going.<\/p>\n \n\tIn terms of set, I went up for my set visit. I got to see Malone\u2019s and the dorm, the off-campus house. It was so surreal seeing all this stuff and seeing how much work goes into it.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-deadline-2019\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.jpg\")
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