Mindy Kaling Leans Into ‘The Social Network’ To Write ‘The Sex Lives Of College Girls’ — Contenders TV

deadline.com:

Mindy Kaling grew up watching movies like Animal House and appreciated how it captured the revelry and hard partying that goes with college life.

But women were always relegated to vapid roles that involved them running by “topless and screaming,” she admits, which is what drove her to create The Sex Lives of College Girls for HBO Max.“I love college stories and there aren’t that many of them,” says Kaling, who was joined on stage with co-creator/EP Justin Noble Sunday at Deadline’s Contender TV event. “Movies like The Social Network really capture that college environment, those ambitious nerds doing something.

We’re always talking about The Social Network.”Contenders TV: Deadline’s Complete CoverageBefore telling the story of four roommates who navigate their new freedom at the prestigious Essex College, Kaling said she and Noble visited East Coast campuses to see what the kids are like right now.

She and Noble also packed the writers room with women who draw upon their own experiences to help write scripts. Kaling told a story about how one writer came back from lunch one day and unloaded about a very unfortunate hookup in her junior year.“The show is densely filled with observations about being a young woman in college so it makes sense to hire a lot,” continued Kaling about the show’s freshman season. “Being able to be honest about your time in school and your heartbreaks [is important].