'Off Campus' creator Louisa Levy on bringing BookTok’s favourite hockey romance to life
The creator of Prime Video’s new hockey romance talks music, chemistry, and why the 'Off Campus' adaptation is bound to receive the same love as the books.
Based on Elle Kennedy’s bestselling romance novel series, Off Campus is already shaping up to be one of this year’s biggest young adult adaptations. The Prime Video series follows an elite college hockey team and the women around them as they navigate love, heartbreak, friendship, and growing up. The first season, releasing on May 13, is an adaptation of The Deal. It follows songwriter Hannah Wells, who hates hockey, and Garrett Graham, Briar University’s star player, played by Ella Bright and Belmont Cameli, respectively.
The Prime Video series has been created by Louisa Levy, who worked on mystery dramas like The Flight Attendant and Death and Other Details. Ahead of the show’s global release, we caught up with Levy to talk about adapting a BookTok favourite, creating a comforting college romance world, and the emotional moments on set.
Talking about shifting from mystery dramas to a romance series, Levy says she was craving something lighter and more comforting. “I love every show I've ever worked on for different reasons. I love those mysteries. They scratch a certain itch for me narratively, but there's something so heartwarming and lovely about the young adult romance, or I guess in our case, new adult romance, because it's a little spicier than young adult. I wanted an escape in my television that I am watching, and so it was really fun to write something where I could just disappear into this happy, positive, optimistic, joyful world of young people finding themselves in college and finding their loved ones.”
With the books already having a massive online fandom, especially among BookTok readers, Levy believes that the fan response only made the experience more exciting. “I love our fans. They are so passionate and so eagle-eyed in the best way. It makes it really fun for us as writers to plant things because we know that they are going to find them. They have already picked up on things in the trailer that I didn't expect them to!"
Hockey romance continues to have a huge pop culture moment, with Heated Rivalry being the last big thing, and Levy is fully here for it. “I am just so excited that there's more hockey romance in the world. There should be even more. There are so many football shows out there, so why can't we have more hockey shows?”
She also opened up about casting the show’s leads and why Bright and Cameli immediately felt right for Hannah and Garrett. “They are so perfect! Ella was just Hannah. She fell out of the book and was extraordinary. And with Belmont, my co-showrunner, Gina and I had an interview with him on Zoom, and he just was Garrett Graham. We put the two of them in a room together and sparks just flew.”
When asked how the series plans to connect with audiences globally, especially in countries like India, where the books already have a strong reader base, Levy says the characters are the real hook. “The books already appeal to a global audience. They are aspirational, and the romances are so relatable. Each of these guys is so different, and each of our women is so different, so it gives people an opportunity to find their favourites and latch onto them. That's the key to a TV series that makes you want to tune in every week. You fall in love with the characters like they are your friends.”
Levy also hinted that music will play a major role in the show’s identity. “The music is one of the things I am most proud of. If you can discover some new songs and artists through the show, then I would love that. We have got some fun playlists coming out curated by the cast, but we'll also have a lot of musical moments happening in the show.”
And while she was careful about spoilers, Levy did share one memory from filming that still stays with her. “When we wrapped the season, Ella was shooting by herself. The entire cast had already been wrapped earlier that day, and they stuck around for her because they are all such good friends. The second we wrapped, they all rushed to her and celebrated, and everyone was cheering and crying and laughing. It was bittersweet because we were so proud of what we had done, but we were also so sad because we wouldn't be doing it anymore together.”
Off Campus also stars Josh Heuston and Mika Abdalla, and is slated to premiere on Prime Video on May 13, 2026.
Lead image: Getty
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