By Gianna Barberia, Lifestyle Editor
“Maddie and Me” began as a fun side project for a group of friends at Northeastern. Four episodes on YouTube, a tweet from Daniel Baldwin and over 1500 views later, the six-part miniseries is slowly becoming a hit beyond the school community.
It all started three years ago when theology major Asif Khan, music industry major Nash Majuru and finance major Vincent Hannley all lived in Melvin Hall their freshman year, bonding over their obsession with cinema. Now, the third-year students have acted on their passions and created a show that Khan said depicts a realistic college romance.
“I’m an international student, so I always thought American university is like ‘American Pie,’” said Khan, who wrote and stars in the series. “It’s nothing like ‘American Pie.’ I wanted to show the genuine college experience.”
The fictional, comedic series centers around Cosmo and Maddie, two college students who meet at a party and slowly develop a budding relationship. Although it is a quirky and funny look on love, it’s not a typical romantic comedy. The three lead, male characters, Cosmo, Ali and Danny, are often seen on the couch in their trashed apartment, trying to figure out what to do later that night. Maddie, the lead female love interest, flip-flops between showing passionate interest and crude indifference toward Cosmo. And Danny is that one guy in every friend group who makes everyone wonder why they’re still inviting him places.
“The central theme is romance, but it’s really a realistic look at college life,” said audio engineer and cast member Majuru. “There’s pop culture references, but it’s not hyperinflated.”
When writing the series, Khan said he made a conscious effort to include both characters and actors with diverse backgrounds—the recently-released episode four, titled “Guy Friends,” contains no actors from the United States.
“Diversity in shows is something you don’t see that very often,” Khan said. “It’s usually, like, six white guys from Connecticut.”
Although the first episode was just released Aug. 13, the group has worked on the series for over a year. Pre-production started in June 2016, with filming ending that November. The series has been in post-production since then, with the group working tirelessly to put it all together.
“It’s an insane amount of work,” Khan said, citing editing as a huge time consumer.
Many of the clips in the series required additional voiceovers, which forced the group to re-record over scenes. Hannley added that time management and scheduling were also big struggles. However, they were able to overcome these struggles with some assistance.
“We had a lot of help from friends,” Majuru said. “We’d ask to use their apartment for filming, and they’d think we’d be there for an hour and we’d actually be there for like eight hours. We have a good support system.”
In the end, the group said all of the hard work was worth it when they saw the final product. Hannley said although they obviously want views, the quality of the work is what matters most to them.
“What’s most important is making something worth watching,” Hannley said.
However, one viewer in particular stood out to Khan—and it wasn’t Daniel Baldwin.
“One person in Texas messaged us—a stranger—and said they really enjoy what we’ve done with the series,” Khan said. “That’s so special.”
Episode five will be released Sunday on YouTube and their Facebook page. The sixth and final episode will be up Sept. 24.
