‘Love Is Blind’ Producers Pay Homage to ‘Dawson’s Creek’ With New High School Reality Series ‘Sweethearts’

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Kinetic Content, the company behind hit shows like ‘Married at First Sight’, ‘Love Is Blind’, and ‘The Ultimatum’, is exploring love stories from a younger perspective. The latest unscripted series on Prime Video, titled ‘Sweethearts’, focuses on six high school couples in Charleston, North Carolina, who must make a decision: either continue their relationship post-graduation or part ways. These teenagers are hoping to find their lifelong partner early.

Kinetic CEO Chris Coelen expressed enthusiasm about engaging a younger demographic for the series he’s working on.

Coelen shares with EbMaster that each series they create touches on genuine, significant issues at various life stages. Although he didn’t have a high school sweetheart himself, he understands the intense emotions and perceived gravity of decisions at that age. He explains, “Will you attend a different school? What does that mean for your future? As you mature, is your partner helping or hindering your growth? The teenage years are filled with such tension, yet they’re also exciting and captivating. That’s what sparked the idea: It feels like there’s an inherent deadline – by autumn, you need to make a decision.

Each story unfolds in the charming city of Charleston, South Carolina. The decision to set it there was made early on, as Coelen notes, “there’s a unique charm about it that echoes ‘Dawson’s Creek'” – then they proceeded with casting the couples. As is customary, they utilized social media for recruitment and had a local team in South Carolina.

The added layer in this show was working with the parents teens’ parents.

As a film enthusiast, I truly embrace the concept of incorporating the parents’ perspectives within the narrative – making them an integral part of their children’s lives and stories. Although the children are the primary drivers, the parents play a pivotal role in this journey as well.

Filming with younger individuals often has a distinct vibe, but many participants were accustomed to working with cameras. They seem very natural and comfortable recording themselves. This self-filming aspect has become much more integrated into people’s daily lives compared to a decade or fifteen years ago.

Amazon MGM Studios is responsible for creating the show titled ‘Sweethearts’. The executive producers of this production are Coelen, Eric Detwiler, Paul Moore, Sunny Franklin, Lucy Bennett, Vivian Choi, and Scott Teti.

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2025-02-15 21:21