By Sarah Danielzadeh
The holidays can be a magical time of year anywhere, but there is something special about spending Christmas in New York. Netflix’s romantic comedy series “Dash & Lily,” which premiered last month, transports the television viewer away from the 2020 doldrums and into a New York Christmas love story.
Associate director of the Carsey-Wolf Center, Emily Zinn, in conversation with director and executive producer of Netflix’s “Dash & Lily,” Brad Silberling.
Brad Silberling, director and executive producer of Dash & Lily, is a UCSB English alum and joined the Carsey-Wolf Center for a behind-the-scenes view of the series, an adaptation of the novel “Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares,” written by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn. The virtual talk was moderated by Emily Zinn, associate director of the Carsey-Wolf Center.
“I wanted this series to be more timeless and more evergreen than just a good piece of Christmas programming,” said Silberling.
The plot of the eight-part series centers on a red book of dares that’s left for a stranger at Strand Book Store in Manhattan by Lily (Midori Francis), a shy teenager who has never experienced romantic love.
When Dash (Austin Abrams), a New York City local who despises Christmas, finds the red notebook hidden between other books, he becomes intrigued by the author’s writing style and pop culture references. The two communicate by leaving clues and dares in the notebook, which they pass back and forth at various locations throughout New York City.
Lily (Midori Francis) and Dash (Austin Abrams) at a Christmas Eve party in New York in the Netflix series ”Dash & Lily,” produced by UCSB alumnus Brad Silberling.
Silberling said he was drawn to the series by the multiplicity of voices in the show. “What struck me was not only the actual voices of the characters, but also the personas they were projecting in their writing,” Silberling said. “You’ve got two young people who, even though they consider themselves luddites, are lovers and students of the written word.”
Silberling compared Dash and Lily’s notebook communication to social media today, particularly texting. Just as texting allows people to decide how they want to present themselves and allows the time to carefully formulate responses, Dash and Lily deliberately contemplate each of their next clues and messages. “In a way, I’m getting to play with four different characters,” Silberling said.
The series is quite similar to the novel, but one key change is that there is more racial diversity in the show. Lily is Asian and Boomer, Dash’s best friend, is Black. Silberling said that these changes just made sense. “Not just being racially blunt, but leaning into the diversity of New York City was really important,” he said.
“Dash & Lily” was Silberling’s first experience shooting in New York and he believes he had the advantage of an outsider’s perspective. “The idea for me was yes, what is it like living there if that’s your home and you step inside the holiday markets? I’m going to both appreciate the visual splendor, but I’m hoping to make it more experiential than just shooting postcards,” he said.
New York City at Christmas, as featured in Netflix’s “Dash & Lily,” produced by Brad Silberling, who recently spoke to UCSB Film and Media students and faculty.
Filming began in October 2019, but SIlberling had to revisit the city that December to shoot for a number of days when Christmas decorations began going up. “I remember sitting there watching the truck deliver the huge tree at Washington Square Park, waiting for it to be done so we could shoot just hours later. We had to wait for the city to Christmas-fy itself,” he said.
Silberling ended his talk by saying it is a bittersweet feeling to watch “Dash & Lily” amid the strangeness of the COVID-19 social isolation. The post-production work became the most difficult aspect as Silberling was unable to meet the show’s other producers in person. “We had to have our own long-distance romance in the post-production process,” he said.
Because the characters are not together physically until the end of the series, and because they are separated emotionally, Silberling believes there must be something reassuring about their relationship today. “In a way, maybe we were anticipating the experience, just by the nature of the story’s obstacles,” he said.
Sarah Danielzadeh is a fourth year English major and Professional Writing minor. She is a Web and Social Media intern for the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts.