Tubi CCO Lays Out Streamer’s Vision for Making Meaningful Original Films: ‘A Cultural Moment’
For Tubi, it was an easy decision to adapt Wattpad novel “Kissing Is the Easy Part” into a full movie after more than 32 million people read it online. And according to one executive, Paris Berelc and Asher Angel’s new rom-com is a sign of what’s to come.
“We’ve got a lot of growing momentum in the young adult space,” Adam Lewinson, Chief Content Officer at Tubi, said to introduce the film at Thursday’s premiere at The London Hotel in West Hollywood. “This could be a very typical been-there-done-that, seen-it-before, but I don’t think that’s what we made.”
“At Tubi, we’re really focused on making movies that aren’t just going to be a movie that you’ve seen before and is disposable; we’re really focused on creating movies that really are meaningful for their intended audience,” he continued. “So for a movie like this, what we want — whether it’s a young woman or young man or someone who sees this movies — for them that it is a cultural moment in their lives. They remember the kiss, they remember the chemistry, they remember everything that happens in the movie and they’ll carry it with them forever.”
“Kissing Is the Easy Part” stars former Disney Channel stars Berelc and Angel as an unlikely pair who discover the hard parts of falling in love during senior year of high school… complete with a “She’s All That”-type scheme. Plus, the charming rom-com is perfectly timed to Valentine’s Day 2026 and stars Jennifer Robertson, Rizwan Manji, Tom Keat, Rosalie Turmel, Mark Ballantyne, Roshahn Dhoré, Hayley Festeryga, Daniel Falk and Sorika Wolf.
The movie from director Fawzia Mirza also follows in the YA footsteps of similar Tubi originals “Sidelined,” “Sidelined 2” and “How to Lose a Popularity Contest.”
Thursday’s red carpet premiere screening featured a flirty afterparty with aura-reading, lipstick-reading, an ice cream science bar, passed apps and a particularly talented DJ in Grace Ktown.
“Kissing Is the Easy Part” premieres Feb. 13 on Tubi.
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