Latasha M. Ford with Awards Buzz had the wonderful opportunity to catch up with Cian O’ Clery, the brilliant creator behind “Love on the Spectrum.” This conversation was not only a celebration of the show itself but also of its incredible five Primetime Emmy award nominations for 2025!
This year’s nominations, which include Outstanding Casting, Outstanding Cinematography, Outstanding Directing, Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program, and Outstanding Picture Editing for its third season, are particularly noteworthy as they match the total number of nominations the series received in the previous two years combined. These accolades truly underscore the continued impact and well-deserved recognition of “Love on the Spectrum.”
For those unfamiliar, “Love on the Spectrum” is a heartwarming Netflix reality series that beautifully portrays the dating lives of young adults on the autism spectrum. It offers an insightful look into their experiences with romance, relationships, and personal growth, highlighting both the challenges and triumphs as they navigate the dating world. The show has gained significant popularity by focusing on individuals with autism as they seek love and companionship, often with others on the spectrum. What makes this already ward-winning series “Love on the Spectrum” truly stand out is its authentic portrayal of each individual, focusing on their personal growth, unique perspectives on love, and diverse experiences.
It’s far more than just a dating show; it’s a genuine celebration of love, connection, and self-discovery, offering a valuable and uplifting perspective on the lives of individuals on the autism spectrum. Check out the full interview below:
– Cian Congratulations! You’re already a 3x Emmy award winning star… What does yet another Emmy nomination mean to you?
Thank you! It’s always such an honour to be nominated for the TV industry’s most prestigious awards, and it’s something we are all humbled by. To have the show nominated for five awards this season is really exciting. Being recognised by our peers and Academy members like this is something we would never take for granted. Personally, I’m so happy for our nominated editors, casting producers and DOP, and for our cast! To me, a casting nomination is a nomination for the cast too.
– In what ways would you say your life has changed and evolved since the show (“Love on the Spectrum”)?
I would say that professionally things have changed a lot. Before the first U.S. season, I was a local Australian director and showrunner, not really known to the larger industry. The success of the series has opened a lot of doors for me, and I’ve had meetings with some of the best producers in the business who are interested in working with me. It’s really rewarding to have people seeking me out and wanting to collaborate based on my creative storytelling skills. For a long time, I worked in the TV and film industry in non-creative junior roles. I was Baz Luhrmann’s driver on the film “Australia” when I was in my thirties, so I always appreciate the fact that my career has blossomed significantly in recent times.
– May I ask about the birth of this project, how did it come about?
I was working with Northern Pictures and Karina Holden on a documentary series about people with disabilities looking for employment, and in the process of casting for and making that show, we spoke to hundreds of young adults on the autism spectrum. Many of the people we spoke to were not just wanting to find work, they were wanting to find love, and many hadn’t even been on a date. There was a lot of support for neurodiverse people in the employment space, but little to none in the dating and relationship space. It felt like a space to shine a light on and offer support in the process.
I had also worked on many reality TV dating shows prior to my work with Northern Pictures and had always wanted to make something that felt a bit more real, honest and truthful. After developing the idea, we pitched Love On The Spectrum to our national public broadcaster in Australia and were lucky enough to make the series!
– Why was it important for you to bring “Love on the Spectrum” to the U.S.?
The opportunity to bring the series to the U.S. was a great way to continue to highlight the diversity of the autism spectrum to a bigger audience! Admittedly we were nervous about it, given the love people had for the Australian series. Fortunately, we found incredible cast members whose stories have really resonated and helped the series to get bigger (and some say better) each season.
– What has the journey been like sharing these complex stories with the world?
It’s been a wild ride, especially for the cast! They’ve become so admired and adored by fans around the world, and it’s great to see people embracing them for just being their authentic selves. People often tell us their lives have been changed by being part of the series, and that’s such a lovely thing to hear.
– Let’s talk about creative approaches! In what ways are you intentional about creating continuous uniqueness into new seasons and each episode?
Thinking about it, there are a lot of ‘rules’ I like to follow when it comes to the way we shoot and edit the series that may not stand out, but that I think add to the overall feel of the viewing experience.
The way we shoot for example — I don’t like to use ‘bells and whistles’ like drone shots, shooting with a gimbal, and we don’t use any lights, except for the one ‘master interview’ we film at the very beginning of each person’s story. This is for both creative aesthetic reasons (maybe I’m a bit of a purist), but more importantly, especially regarding lights, etc., when we film people we don’t want them to feel like they are on a ‘set’. We film a lot in people’s homes, and we want them to feel comfortable and real. So filming handheld with small cameras with the natural light of the situation helps people to just be themselves. When it comes to date locations, I always recce them first, and try to find places that will look beautiful and special without the need for extra lights and equipment. We also keep our shooting crew to a bare minimum, which also helps people feel comfortable and at ease.
When it comes to editing, we make sure that as the ‘scenes’ come together we don’t drive the story via interviews, which a lot of shows tend to do. It’s my job when shooting to make sure that everything is there in actuality that can tell a story without the need to jump out to an on-the-fly interview with someone. When we do hear from people in an interview, we work it into a place that feels like a natural break, so we don’t feel like we’re jumping out of an intimate scene and interrupting the flow. It can be tough to tell stories like this, but it’s important to us and we’re happy we have been able to do it in a way that seems to work. Of course having very talented editors working with us helps!
Casting is such an important part of this show, and myself and the producing team do all the casting ourselves. This brings with it an intimate experience for the people we speak to (and ultimately end up filming with), as often they’ve been speaking to and developing relationships with the same people on our team from the get go.
– Is there a specific individual, couple, and/or romantic love story that stands out most to you? Or even a specific season or episode?
The beauty of the series is that each person’s story is so different and shines in its own unique way. Having said that, I do think Season 3 really stands out. The romantic connections that were made across the series, the wonderful new main cast members in Madison and Pari, and the overall look and feel of the season does feel special.
– We are now making our way onto Season 4 of the show! Congratulations. Where are we in production? Anything you can share?
Thank you! We just finished filming recently and are deep in the editing process. The way we edit the show is different from a lot of other productions. We edit each individual story first, then we start to weave the stories together once we have a sense of where each story might fit and how it might play out across the series. With Season 4, what I can say is that we will continue to tell the stories of some returning cast who people know and love, as well as meeting some new single love seekers. And we may see some relationships taking bigger steps forward.
– Do you get into fan reactions at all? If so, what are your thoughts around fan reactions and how viewers are receptive to the show?
As a program maker, it’s always a really vulnerable experience waiting to see how people react to what you’re putting out into the world. We’ve been very lucky to have made a show that people really seem to love, and the reactions have been better than we could have ever imagined. As well as what we might read online via reviews, social media, or hear from people via word of mouth, I receive countless messages from people (both autistic and neurotypical) thanking us for telling these stories and bringing such awareness about autism to the world. So many people write to me expressing how the show has inspired them or someone they love to put themselves out there and step into the dating world. Madison herself was inspired by watching the series and connecting with Abbey’s story, and it’s so great to see her now find love for herself.
– What matters most to you as it relates to representation of not only the individual’s personal story but the foundational aspect of the show?
The most important thing I think the show is doing (and can do) is helping audiences around the world realise how incredibly diverse the autism spectrum is. After watching the series and getting to know all of our wonderful and diverse cast, I don’t think anyone could make any assumptions about somebody who may be autistic based on a diagnosis.
– Before I let you go, what are your hopes leading up to the 2025 Emmys? We are literally weeks away.
Awards nights are always quite nerve-wracking, but we try to come into it thinking that being nominated alongside so many great shows is a wonderful thing, and if we win any statues, that’s just a lovely bonus!
—Season 3 Official Trailer:
