Sam Boyd On Creating ‘Love Life’ for HBO Max

Sam Boyd, the creator of HBO Max’s Love Life, joins the Water Cooler Podcast to discuss his creation, working with Anna Kendrick, and being the flagship comedy for the streaming service.

HBO Max premiered in late May without the hefty stable of new series originally planned. Thank the COVID-19 shut down for that. Fortunately for HBO Max and showrunner Sam Boyd, the Anna Kendrick-starring comedy Love Lifewrapped its final scene just in time to premiere with the heavily publicized streaming service. That catapulted the series and its creator, Sam Boyd, into the limelight.

Love Life follows Darby (Anna Kendrick) as she navigates early adulthood, dating, and love. It doesn’t simply focus on romantic love; it also allows time for friendship and Darby’s complicated relationship with her mother (Hope Davis). The theme of the series is a character study of a young woman whose life is shaped and molded by those around her. Led by charismatic and thoughtful lead performance by Anna Kendrick and a blisteringly great supporting performance from Zoë Chao, Love Life was extremely well received when it initially premiered. So beloved that HBO Max opted against the originally scheduled gradual rollout. Instead, they quickly released the entire series in batches of three.

Love Life creator Sam Boyd joins the Water Cooler Podcast to talk about how he created the series and how he partnered with star Anna Kendrick to further develop Darby. He also talks about how much of Sam Boyd, himself, exists within the series. Finally, he talks about working with HBO Max and whether or not he felt any anxiety at being the launch comedy for the streaming service.