Elle Kennedy says the screen version of Off Campus had to keep the pulse of the books. The author, whose series was optioned before the COVID pandemic and ultimately reached Prime Video after a deal struck just before the 2023 Writers Guild of America Strike, said the adaptation worked only if it preserved the banter, the chemistry and the long build that made readers care in the first place.
Season 1 of Off Campus is based on Kennedy’s first novel in the series, The Deal, and follows Hannah Wells, played by Ella Bright, and Garrett Graham, played by Belmont Cameli, as a fake dating arrangement turns into real feelings. Kennedy said the series’ central relationship could not be rushed because the characters carry heavy pasts, with Hannah facing rape and Garrett dealing with domestic violence.
“Because the issues were so heavy for Hannah and for Garrett, you can’t 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,” Kennedy said. She added that the slower pace mattered because the story needed to handle those issues “in a sensitive and respectful way.”
The show is co-led by Louisa Levy and Gina Fattore, with Kennedy involved as a producer, and its arrival gives the author a fresh test as her readership looks to see whether a beloved campus romance can survive the move to streaming. That question matters now because the adaptation has already landed, and fans are no longer guessing about tone or casting — they are judging the finished product.
Kennedy said her main demand was simple: keep the feel of the series intact. “My biggest thing, I don’t 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’re reading the books, I want them to feel it [from the show],” she said. For Kennedy, that meant preserving the dynamic between the characters, the relationships, the banter and the bromance that powered the books, especially in a fake dating setup she has always found hard to resist.
“I’ve never thought about why I love it, I just do,” she said of the trope. “Probably because, in most fake dating situations, it’s two people who would never be together. It’s probably mostly the opposites attract part of it [that] people resonate with because it’s these two people who make no sense [together].” She pointed back to The Deal, saying, “In The Deal, she’s this music student and he’s a hockey player. How are they gonna find common ground? It’s the tension between these two personalities. That’s probably why I’m drawn to it.”
The adaptation lands as Kennedy keeps her own publishing pipeline moving. She said Thornbird, a young adult thriller, is due in June, and a newly revealed Bad Idea installment set in the Off Campus and Briar U universe is slated for November. For readers who came to the universe through Garrett and Hannah, the message is clear: the franchise is not just being adapted, it is still being built.
