‘Love On The Spectrum’ Co-Creator Cian O’Clery On Carrying The “Huge Responsibility” Of Autism Representation & What’s In Store For Season 4

The love continues to grow stronger for the five-time Emmy-winning Netflix series Love on the Spectrum. Based on the Australian series of the same name, the docu-reality show, co-created by Cian O’Clery and Karina Holden, follows a neurodiverse group of people on the autism spectrum as they navigate the world of dating and relationships.

Season 3 features returning fan favorites Tanner, Connor, and James, alongside favorite returning couples Adan and Dani and Abbey and David. Newcomers Peri and Madison also join the cast. From the self-encouraging pep talks to finding the courage needed to ramp up to the first kiss, this series continues to highlight endearing moments of vulnerability and doesn’t shy away from the challenging moments of trying to find a soulmate. This time around, Love on the Spectrum garnered five total nominations, which include a first nomination for cinematography. “There’s a lot of dating shows that are competitions or quite salacious or quite populated by really hot Instagram model types – not that there’s anything wrong with that,” O’Clery told Deadline. “But I think that just having real people dating and their stories being told in a way that is truthful and honest, without any winners or losers or eliminations, is something that is hopefully, refreshing for people, and they enjoy that as well as our incredible cast. The people that we’ve cast in the series, whose stories we’ve been telling, are just awesome people.”

Below, O’Clery opens up about neurodivergent representation and the fun of filming the many stages of love.

DEADLINE: What is the biggest difference in adapting your Australian show for the U.S.?

CIAN O’CLERY: Well, I think the beauty of it and what has been great for us is that there isn’t a lot of difference actually. We haven’t really changed our methodology in terms of how we make the show. We haven’t added any new bells and whistles to make it a U.S. version. We’ve been able to stick with what the show was originally, and that’s great; we are appreciative of it, and Netflix has been supportive. We have a bigger canvas now, and we are shooting all over the U.S., which gives us an interesting diversity of characters to explore. But yeah, I think the beauty of it is that we haven’t changed a lot in terms of how we make it or how we put it together.

DEADLINE: You’re flying around the U.S. from places like Santa Ana to New York to Georgia to Florida just this past season alone. How long does it take you to make one season?

O’CLERY: Am I able to talk about this? Probably in loose terms [laughs]. So, we have a fairly long shoot period, but with less shoot days per week. We have a set amount of shoot days, but we stretch that over, say, four months to make sure that we have enough time to be able to tell people’s stories in a real, honest, and truthful way so that we do have actual time passing in between our visits. It means we’re spending a lot of time in the air, flying back and forth. Many shows will simply go somewhere, shoot everything, and then leave. We consider it a docu-reality series because it involves a lot of documentary elements.  We start telling somebody’s story, we have no idea where it’s going to go. We have no idea how much time we’re going to spend filming with them. So, it’s all about the fact that we begin with these people, and we start to tell their stories, and their stories take us where they take us.

DEADLINE: There are some heartfelt, tear-jerking moments this season. I know it’s Season 3, but I’m wondering how you’re processing these very emotionally intimate moments that you capture.

O’CLERY: I mean, I am still [touched by these moments]but I’m also very focused on what I’m doing as well. It’s hard because I’m holding a shot at 200 mil at F2.8, filming something, as well as trying to think in director mode, as well as experiencing amazing moments. But this is how I’ve worked for a long time, so I’m used to doing that and having to make sure I’m really nailing a shot because I know that at the end of the day, it’s so important to capture these moments well.

It can be tough and tricky, but it’s amazing to film such special moments. Connor and Georgie in the rain, that was tough. It’s raining, it’s outside. That was hard to do. But you know what? We’re excited that we were nominated for cinematography this year. I’m happy with that because we put a lot of effort into making things look nice, despite having a tiny crew, no lights, no gaffers, and essentially nothing. And it’s nice to have a show that isn’t just big, beautiful drone shots being nominated for cinematography. So, we’re really honored to be named on that list.

DEADLINE: How do you decide what the audience sees versus all the things we don’t see during a date?

O’CLERY: It’s just the process of editing, and that’s where we’ve got incredible editors that we work with on this series that I’ve worked with, a couple of them, for a long time on a lot of different shows. We have great editors and storytellers and, of course, myself and Karina [Holden] and everybody who is also involved in that process. It’s about figuring out how to tell the best story that engages the audience and represents that person’s truth and experience on their dating journey. We do all of our post-production back in Australia. I’ve got three editors working already, and I’m on my last shoot day here on Season 4. Diving deeper into the edit and putting all the stories together is a fun part of the process, but also a lot of stress and very rewarding [laughs].

DEADLINE: As the orchestrator of this series that continues to grow, has the pressure and responsibility of representing the voices of people on the spectrum increased, or does it feel more like a well-oiled machine?

O’CLERY: It’s still a huge responsibility, and it’s one that kind of befell us as a team–me, Karina, and the team at Northern Pictures. It went from being a little show on an Australian public broadcaster to being this show that’s being seen globally, and I guess probably the clearest representation of autism in the media–that’s a huge responsibility that we don’t take lightly at all. It’s really important for us to try and get it right. I think what comforts us when we do think about that is we’re telling real stories of real people in their voices. It’s them telling us their stories. That’s why we have those lovely master interviews where they’re looking down the barrel, where they’re actually looking at a reflection of me in a mirror system.

That makes us feel good about what’s being put out there, and we also try to cast a diverse range of people whenever possible. But having said that, we don’t say, “Hey, we’re making a new season. We need X, we need Y, and we need Z,” we just put the call out, and it’s the people who come into us that we work with. And from there, we make a short list of who we think is going to be right. Also, I am neurodiverse myself, and I have ADHD, which is in the family. So, I think I identify with many of the experiences people on the show have, particularly in terms of sensitivities. But I’m not saying that means I understand [everything]. The most important thing is to be questioning all the time and asking people what their experience is, because the autism spectrum is so diverse that you can’t make any assumptions about anybody. That’s what we’re hoping the biggest message is in the series. We’re hoping that people don’t make assumptions about someone based on their diagnosis because everyone is completely different.

DEADLINE: Was there a date location that you were very excited to get?

O’CLERY: We filmed at some incredible places. It is getting to the point now where, for Season 3, when we were filming with James again, it was like, God, we’ve used up the best locations in that area [laughs]. The fact that we could film at the Crane Estate, where they filmed Witches of Eastwick. It’s amazing that we’ve been able to film in some of these places because we do not have a big location budget at all. But I think because people love the show, they’re willing to have us a lot of the time. It really adds to the show being able to film at beautiful places and places that are relevant to the people whose story we’re telling. James was so excited to film at the Crane Estate and Hammond Castle. We find beautiful spots and talk to our cast about what dates they want to go on and the kinds of places they’d love to go to. It’s fun when we get to film at some incredible places. If only I could just enjoy them without having all the stress of filming [laughs]. One day, I’ll get back to them as a tourist.

DEADLINE: Between setting up matches for the people on the show and serving as an EP on Netflix’s other dating show, The Later Datersdo you consider yourself a love guru?

O’CLERY: Not at all. I’m definitely not a love guru. It’s funny, but I don’t know. I guess common interest is always something that’s important. Being on a similar wavelength is important, especially when the people we’re filming with are on the spectrum. I think because it’s so diverse, finding similar wavelengths is important. Sometimes we get it right and it’s beautiful when it does.

More about the process behind the scenes, though, it’s just about an individual on an individual basis. So, depending on the person, depending on who the cast member is, we will work with them. Obviously, they’re the first stop in terms of what you’re looking for, what are you hoping for? What kind of person do you think would be right? Sometimes we will work with the parents if they are a big, important part of their lives. We’ll ask who they think might be a good match. Then we put our searching hats on, and we put the call out again in the areas where they live and try to find people who we think they might get on with. That’s the first and foremost, finding someone who we think they will get on, or possibly walk away with a friend if nothing else. But when they do find that romantic spark, it’s amazing to see. Season 3 was incredible. The connections that were formed during the filming period is just amazing. We’re not experts at this. We work from a gut feeling of talking to the matches and getting to know them well and trying to figure them out. We have our little whiteboard with our main cast, and we talk as a team about who we think might be a good match for who, and when we get it right, it’s amazing.

DEADLINE: This show has won five Emmys, and you’re nominated again this year. What do you think people are responding to?

O’CLERY: There’s a lot of dating shows that are competitions or quite salacious or quite populated by really hot Instagram model types – not that there’s anything wrong with that,” O’Clery told Deadline. “But I think that just having real people dating and their stories being told in a way that is truthful and honest, without any winners or losers or eliminations is something that is hopefully, refreshing for people, and they enjoy that as well as our incredible cast. The people that we’ve cast in the series, whose stories we’ve been telling, are just awesome people. They’re interesting, they’re unique, and I think it’s nice to be able to celebrate that. There was just this Netflix Reality Universe Superlative Award thing, and Love on the Spectrum’s cast picked up four out of 10 of those awards. It’s great that people who are autistic and who are now these TV stars that people are loving and appreciating for who they are. It’s really nice to see.

DEADLINE: What does the future of Love on the Spectrum look like? You mentioned Season 4 is nearly finished. I want to see Sonia Wiggins back.

O’CLERY: I don’t know what I can really say. We will continue to explore and tell the stories of some of the people that audiences have grown to love, as well as introducing new people. And I think that’s always what we are interested in doing is always introducing new people and keeping that conversation going about the diversity of the spectrum, as well as telling some of these stories of people we’ve gotten to know who are really developing a lot in terms of their dating and their relationship lives. And who knows, there could be some big steps in future stories in terms of where their love and dating lives go.

[This interview has been edited for length and clarity]