I started a dating show
I'd love you to watch it, and be on the next episode
Love is a gift I hope everyone receives. So much so, I’ve always wondered how I could help more people find it.
I helped friends build dating profiles they used when they met their spouses. But I wanted to help strangers, too. Specifically, I wanted to follow my guilty pleasure and start a dating show. I discussed this with my friend, Caitlin Nielson, years ago. Then I drafted a pitch deck. And then one day this summer, I decided it was time.
I pitched Reel Love — a social-first blind dating show where real people show their real selves — not performative profiles, but the evidence of their true lives… the inside of their homes — to Cindy Gallop. And she was in.
We got a few dozen brave applicants. I chose five and we set up a day to film them, in their real apartments, culminating in a date at a wine bar in Williamsburg.
I work in marketing, but my earliest career was in festival production. On the days leading up to filming, I felt a familiar bone-level nervousness that reminded me of being twenty years old in Los Angeles, orchestrating a quarter-of-a-million-person waterfront event. I was doing something new, and it could fail. I could fail.
But Cindy, my friend Alex, and I went around New York City filming strangers without a hitch. Everyone enjoyed the process. And, without spoiling the end, I think it had a positive effect on the participants, too.
When I got back home that night, I ate a jammy steamed pudding that my husband, Joe, and our eldest, Henry, had made while I was gone all day. I cried that night with my family around. I was grateful to have a hot treat and their sweet love to come home to. That instead of being alone in Los Angeles, I could share my relief, my fear, my pride, with a family.
And maybe, through this project, one day, a couple more people might have that kind of love and support, too.
Or maybe it’ll just entertain someone. Or remind someone that they’re more than just a well-crafted profile — they’re a human who has more sauces than they need, and can fill a whole drawer full of their favorite cheeses.
And without further needless reminiscing, please enjoy the first episode of Reel Love. It’s broken into seven short segments that were shared on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook from Monday to Sunday of last week. I’d be honored if you watched it, liked it, commented on it, shared it, etc.
And while you’re on the other apps, feel free to connect with me, and Happy Endings.
Meet Matthew
Meet Claire
Meet Elyssa
Meet Zora
Meet Emily
Who Will Matthew Choose?
Part one:
Part two:
The Date
Last night, after I published the final segment, we ate another homemade steamed pudding. This time, they made a cocoa one. My friend Ravena joined us. After dessert, we bathed the boys. We called my grandma on FaceTime. We danced.
I’m really proud that we made a thing! But nothing beats family life (friends are included in that, duh).
If you want to find real love, apply to be on Reel Love. Maybe one day I’ll do something cool with the Happy Endings chat, too.
What an AMAZING idea Abby!!!! I’m SO proud to know you! Judi
Hurray! Love your celebration of love!