The Off Campus book series, written by Canadian author Elle Kennedy, has been a must-read since the first book, The Deal, was published in 2015 and became an international bestseller. This week, Prime Video will release Season 1 of the TV show Off Campus (premiering May 13), an adaptation of the first book in Kennedy’s series, and there’s so much for existing fans and newcomers alike to love.
Starring Ella Bright, Belmont Cameli, Stephen Kalyn, Mika Abdalla, Antonio Cipriano, Jalen Thomas Brooks, and Josh Heuston, the story is set at the fictional Briar University in Massachusetts. That’s when music major Hannah (Bright) and hockey team captain Garrett (Cameli) make a deal that Hannah will help Garrett study for their philosophy class, and she can use him to make her crush, Justin (Heuston), jealous.
But things get more complicated when this deal evolves into some real sparks flying between Hannah and Garrett.
The ‘bounty board’ of favourite ‘Off Campus’ moments
But Off Campus is so much more than a steamy YA romance story. These characters aren’t just growing into adulthood and experiencing romance; the story tackles sexual assault, abuse, trauma, sexual pleasure and sexual agency.
On top of that, fans of Kennedy’s books have deep connections to the material. That means the pressure was on the show’s creator and showrunner, Louisa Levy, to maintain what fans love about the Off Campus universe, adapt Kennedy’s text in only eight episodes for Season 1, and introduce this world to a whole new set of fans. And she delivered.
“We had some non-negotiables that, without it, it would fundamentally change the story,” Levy told Yahoo Canada in an interview in Brazil. “We weren’t ever going to change anything fundamental.”
“Then there are so many other things that we wanted to try to fit in, but we have eight episodes, and we also need to introduce you to other characters too, because we’re setting up not just a season, but a series. And so in the writers room, we actually had what we called a ‘bounty board’ where we put a list of all of our favourite moments, and we put low dollar amounts next to them based on how hard we thought they would be to get in the show. And we did our best to get as many of those in as possible, even if it was in ways that you might not expect.”
How ‘Off Campus’ pays homage to beloved rom-coms, but stays unique
What’s particularly impressive about Levy’s approach to the Off Campus adaptation, along with the rest of the crew, is how the show is shot and edited.
There’s an exciting energy to every scene, a really delicious build-up of tension, and then release in each episode. The show also uses visual elements like split-screen images to craft moments reminiscent of some of the most beloved rom-coms, such as (500) Days of Summer, Rules of Attraction, Indiscreet and When Harry Met Sally.
“First of all, I have to call out our phenomenal editors. They’re so good, all of them. And of course, our directors are wonderful too,” Levy highlighted. “Silver Tree directed our pilot, and she set that tone. It was really important to her and to me, as a creator, to build a visual language of our show that, if you look at a few frames of it, you’re like, oh, that’s Off Campus. So it didn’t just look like any other show.”
“The split -creen was a big part of that and building that split-screen world, it has its roots in rom-com. It’s When Harry Met Sally. … So we are paying homage to the rom-coms of the past in the visual style of the show, but also hopefully creating something brand new.”
Description: Logan (Antonio Cipriano), Garrett (Belmont Cameli), Dean (Stephen Thomas Kalyn), and Tucker (Jalen Thomas Brooks) in OFF CAMPUS (Liane Hentscher/ Prime)
(Liane Hentscher/Prime)Training like a star hockey player
There are two other elements that are critical for Off Campus Season 1 — hockey and music.
While Toronto actor Stephen Kalyn, who plays Dean Di Laurentis in Off Campus, played hockey before joining the show, that wasn’t the case for his costar Belmont Cameli, who takes on a character who’s supposed to be the best hockey player on the university’s team.
“My experience was zero, and it was so challenging when I started out. I’m an athlete. I’ve played sports my whole life, but hockey was just not one of them. So I started training basically right when I got the job in [Los Angeles] with a great coach, and then when we got to Vancouver, we did boot camp for a few weeks with the guys,” Cameli shared. “And so by the time we started filming, I knew how to skate, which was great for me. That was awesome. I can go forwards, I can go pretty fast, and I can stop. … That felt like a real achievement.”
“Now it’s a year later, and we’ve been back to Vancouver once for a couple more weeks to train this spring. And I’m incredible now. It’s actually nuts. I’m teaching Stephen Kalyn things every day that he never knew, my favourite little Toronto boy, and he’s just, I think, grateful to have me out there.”
But just like Dean and Garrett, Kalyn had some fun taking a jab at his costar’s hockey skills.
“He genuinely, from the bottom of my heart, sucks,” Kalyn said. “But he works really hard. … They’ve all gotten much better.”
Hannah (Ella Bright) in OFF CAMPUS (Liane Hentscher/Prime)
(Liane Hentscher/Prime)Making the most important ‘Off Campus’ music moments shine
For Ella Bright, she didn’t particularly consider herself a singer before the show, but Hannah’s musical aspirations are crucial to Off Campus, where we see Bright perform a range of songs, from karaoke to acoustic tunes with guitar or piano, and original songs written specifically for the show.
“I was so lucky to have so many very patient people around me, and an amazing music teacher,” Bright said. “I feel really proud.”
“If you told me a year ago that this is what I’d be doing, and I would have these songs that I got to sing, and they were original, I’d be over the moon. … And I’m very stubborn, and I was like, ‘I don’t want to have a hand double.’ So even though it took a lot of time, I feel very proud [that] all the parts that you see me play are myself.”
“Music’s such a massive part of the books. … I just loved it. I had so much fun with the whole music team and with Ella as well. We got really close, really quick, just doing piano lessons together and realizing we’re both going to have to sing acoustically in front of people,” Josh Heuston, who plays Hannah’s crush, and fellow musician, Justin, said in a separate interview.
A compelling story with a clear identity and direction, paired with an incredibly talented cast that oozes charisma and chemistry, Off Campus has the makings of the next big TV phenomenon, following in the footsteps of Kennedy’s book series.