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Kabir Chopra’s “Swiped To Death” Messy Realities Of Online Dating
Kabir’s words: Dating in New York is unlike dating anywhere else in the world. You have millions of singles who are looking for the same thing as you are, but somehow everybody is left dissatisfied. I asked myself “why?” I’ve tried my fair share of dating apps, and while I’ve met some nice, good-hearted people, I’ve also had some strange experiences. The most notable trend was girls who “ghosted” after the first date and just ignored all my calls and texts. I knew I couldn’t have been the only one. I started asking my friends if they’ve had similar experiences, and the response was overwhelming. They also shared stories of their dates lying about being single, getting extremely drunk on the first date, or showing up older, balder, or heavier than their pictures. I wanted to explore the way dating apps have changed the way we meet people. So, I took the stories that had the strongest narrative and started writing the first season of Swiped to Death. I wanted to share these stories and explore the messy realities of online dating, to show how technology has changed the way we interact with each other – so we can learn how to date better and hopefully one day, meet that special someone.
Logline: Two newly-single South Asians try their luck on a dating app and go on a series of dates that leave them emotionally and textually scarred. Based on true stories.
Synopsis: Swiped to Death explores the messy realities of online dating from both a male and female point of view. The series follows two newly-single South Asians in New York as they try their luck on a dating app.
The series follows Jay (Kabir Chopra) and Farah (Reema Sampat) as they go on a new date with a new character. Every episode is based on a real-life date that went terribly wrong. Will they find love? Or will it be an endless game of swiping?
Production Notes: In 2016, Swiped to Death had its first table read at the Tamasha performing arts festival in New York where it received the award for “Best Table Read”. Filming began in January 2018 where the first two episodes were shot over four days in New York. The episodes were released on September 20th on YouTube and are now available to watch.
More episodes are scheduled to be filmed and will follow Jay and Farah as they go on new dates with new characters. The team will run a crowdfunding campaign to raise the remaining funds to complete the first season.
Kabir Chopra is an actor and filmmaker based in New York. He graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in dramatic writing and has studied at Studio 4
and the Stella Adler studio. Kabir has appeared in several short films, off-Broadway shows and TV series, including Madam Secretary. Recently, Kabir was a co-writer and acted in the horror feature Horror Time, which was executive produced by James Franco and Rabbit Bandini Productions. He is also an award-winning director and his short film Vanilla won 3 awards at the Asian American Film Lab’s 72 Hour Shootout.
Kabir has also written and published an e-Book about online dating called “Poke Me!” which is available on Amazon.
Reema Sampat is an Indian American actress from Houston, TX, currently residing in New York City. She has studied at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade, The Acting Studio, and at Studio 4. Reema has most recently appeared in NBC’s Shades of Blue. She is also a recurring character in season six of Orange is the New Black as Shruti Chambal, the show’s first South Asian inmate. In addition to that, Reema is in season two of Marvel’s Jessica Jones on Netflix. Her feature film work includes Blood Surf, starring Lorelei Linklater, The Pretenders, directed by James Franco, I am Michael, which premiered at Sundance 2015, Reclaim, on Netflix, starring John Cusack, Ryan Philippe, and Jacki Weaver, and The Accident, on Amazon and iTunes.
