Imagine being set up by your pet, who then proceeds to become the reason for your happy relationship. The plot of Puppy Love, made by Nick Fabiano and Richard Alan, revolves around something very similar and stars Lucy Hale and Grant Gustin in the main roles.
Puppy Love made it to theatres in August 2023 and is actually inspired by one of those short movies Buzzfeed used to come out with back in 2015. With Greg Gilienna being the writer and people from Buzzfeed also helping the production out, Puppy Love turned out to be a sweet romantic movie worth watching.
While the plot of Lionsgate’s Puppy Love does have similar elements to the short film, it’s much more complex and shows us more about Nicole and Max’s cute relationship. The lighthearted storyline centers on Nicole and Max, an extroverted real estate agent and shy IT worker, who are forced into a relationship by their pets, Chloe and Channing Tatum.
Puppy Love: About The Film
Max is a germaphobe who’s forced into keeping a pet by his therapist, who wants him to try new things. Nicole, on the other hand, finds a stray dog that just seems attached to her, so she decides to keep him. Both of them are active on dating apps and find each other through it.
Nicole and Max’s date doesn’t go well, as Nicole is fun and outgoing, while Max is reserved and doesn’t like people invading his space. However, what they didn’t know was that Chloe and Channing mated, and they were going to be co-parenting their grand-puppies soon.
This somehow becomes the reason Nicole and Max get to know each other, eventually falling deeply in love. Aside from Lucy as Nicole and Grant in the role of Max, the cast of Puppy Love consists of Nore Davis in the role of Sid, Christine Lee as Shay, and Al Miro as Hunter Fosterini.
Puppy Love: Filming Locations
Most of the filming for this wholesome pet romance took place in British Columbia, the most beautiful province filled with diverse geography. Some parts of Seattle were also used. With cinematography by Stephen Chandler, filming began sometime in the summer of 2022 and ended right before fall.
British Columbia, Canadian Province:
While Puppy Love was filmed in various locations around British Columbia, one of the most recurring ones was Vancouver, which is considered the province’s largest city. Vancouver not only has the most modern-looking skyline, but it’s also home to scenic places that offer multiple locations for filming anything.
Since Puppy Love takes place in a city, we see residential locations around Vancouver often in the film. Places like Harbour Center are easily recognizable from random shots in Puppy Love. The place where Max and Nicole meet for their first date is most likely the large public park, Stanley Park, located in Vancouver’s northwestern parts.
Aside from this Lucy Hale movie, other projects that were filmed in Stanley Park include Upload, It, Good Luck Chuck, and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. While Vancouver was the main filming location for Puppy Love, places like Kelowna also made it into the movie. It looks like the latter parts of Puppy Love may have been filmed here. Most of the crew, including Lucy Hale, were seen posting pictures from the wrap-up with Kelowna as the location.
Kelowna lies in the Southern Interior of British Columbia and is the third largest place in the province, right after Vancouver. Kelowna is not short of picturesque locations, ranging from lush green forests to pristine blue lakes. The PetSmart that Max and Nicole visit in Puppy Love is the one located at 1500 Banks Rd Unit 102, Kelowna.
Besides being known for its wine production, Kelowna is a modern, vibrant place filled with exciting outdoor activities and shops, which are then surrounded by scenic mountains and lakes all around. What makes Kelowna even more special is its lower costs of living.
The funds that are provided by British Columbia for filming there also make it an attractive place for filming such smaller production-based films, although that doesn’t make Puppy Love any less good. Other films and TV shows that have been filmed in Kelowna are Daughter of the Wolf, Blackway, Fido, and Numb.
Kelowna also seems to be a popular location for romantic comedies, as movies similar to Puppy Love, such as A Romance Wedding, A Vineyard Romance, and Love in Winterland, were also filmed there. Places like Seattle also made it into the film, such as the Discovery Park, which Nicole says is her safe space. At present, Puppy Love is available for streaming through Prime Video in limited places.
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