

–SO-M recently had the honor to visit the set of ABC Family’s new comedy, “10 Things I Hate About You with some fellow online media (pictured above with producer/writer Carter Covington). We had the chance to sit down and talk with various cast members and also producer/writer Carter Covington. We’ll be posting things all week from our set visit.

Below, get to know a little more about the show with exclusive insight from Carter. Find out how he got involved and how they cast the roles for the show. Check back later this week for more with Carter.
On how he got involved in the project & development: I worked with ABC Family about five years ago when I was just starting out as a writer. I had written a pilot called āJust a Phase.ā And it was kind of like a Wonder Years, set in the ā80s, in the south. It started a relationship with ABC Family. I sold them another pilot that we shot that didnāt go to series, and then I ended up working on Greek for two seasons.
And so last summer, I worked with Gil Junger, who directed the movie and directed the pilot. He directed another pilot that I had with ABC Family, and he also directed the Greek pilot, and I worked with him on Greek. We really got along. And it was sort of this, likeāI would always ask him about 10 Things. I was such a huge 10 Things fan, and Iād be like, āOh, my God,ā and, āWhat was Heath Ledger like,ā and, you know, āHow did you cast Julia Stiles?ā I mean, I was just always wanting to sort of knowāAnd the pilot kind of grew out of that. I mean, it was kind of, itās been ten years, and Iād always wanted to do a show about high school. I mean, I grew up loving John Hughes movies, like loving. And no oneās ever really kind of captured that spirit to me in a series.
On casting the role of “Patrick Verona”: We had the hardest time casting that role. And on the page, when I had sat down to write it, I had said, āOkay, this character cannot be anything like Heath Ledger. Like, it needs to be a different sort of version of the teen heartthrob.ā I like the Outsiders sort of dangerous guy angle because I think thatās really important, but I kept thinking of Jordan Catalano from My So-Called Life.
We kept casting, we kept casting, and we kept casting. And I called the network. I said, āI think we need to, like, expand out of LA. Like, Iād really like to see if thereās anyone in New York and anyone in Canada.ā And so we had some casting directors.
And Ethan [Peck] went on tape and I was, like, going, āNah, nah,ā through all these auditions. And he just walked on screen, and the first word out of his mouth I was like, āWhat?ā [Laughs] āWhose voice is that?ā And I didnāt know anything about his grandfather or anything like that. I didnāt know that he came from this past.
We flew him out for the final audition with the network, so Iād never met him in person until the day he was auditioning. And it was just like a no-brainer.
Read the rest of this post and out how they cast the rest of the roles HERE. Check back tomorrow for more with Carter about the show, writing, and more!
Photos: Courtesty of Adam Rose/ABC Family