From David and Susan’s witty encounter on the golf course in “Bringing Up Baby” (1938) to the iconic aquarium scene in “Romeo + Juliet” (1996), audiences have been charmed by meet-cutes since the inception of the romantic comedy genre. This trope is the centerpiece of director Karen Morey’s debut feature “Meet Cute in Manhattan,” which follows Jason (Terence Chen), an aspiring actor searching for his big break. An awkward run-in with architect-hopeful Nora (Kendall Leary) leads to the duo pretending to be a couple for a commercial only casting people in established relationships. As they navigate their career paths and newfound relationship, the lines between pretend and real feelings begin to blur.

I had the pleasure of watching an early screening of the film, as well as interviewing Chen, Leary, and Morey about their creative process from preproduction to release day.

While speaking with the team behind “Meet Cute in Manhattan,” I could sense how much passion every cast and crew member poured into this film. From the sound to the screenplay to the visual direction, every aspect of the final film offered a very real, raw, and refreshing perspective. 

“Jason yearns for something,” Chen said. “And I think with Nora, he finally finds that. No one moves to New York without a dream. Everyone that’s here is yearning for something bigger. They want to be great; they want to do something incredible, and so I feel even that energy of being on set every day, we’re trying to create something great.” 

The story is written as a narrative of a film within a film; in the movie, Jason pitches the script of his romance with Nora to a team of executives in hopes of it being picked up by a studio. In our interview, Morey shared that this unique element is a reflection of Chen’s personal experiences in the acting world. 

“This film is really about him and his process of being an Asian actor and not getting the roles he wanted, to getting this entire team together and getting this film off the ground.”

In addition to starring as Jason, Chen is an executive producer and a co-writer of the film. Chen and Morey’s script was a collaborative effort that spanned six months and two coasts; Chen described the screenplay as “smart, witty, and romantic, all at the same time.” 

As I watched the finished film, Chen’s description made perfect sense. From social media influencer Chloe’s (Amanda Shi) fast-paced quips to the cleverly-placed pop culture references and, of course, Jason and Nora’s heartwarming romance, I thought the script was consistently humorous, modern, and touching.

The movie is peppered with references to classic rom-coms, including an extended montage that directly pays homage to pivotal scenes in rom-com history from “Lady and the Tramp” (1955) to “When Harry Met Sally” (1989). So, naturally, I asked the creative team what their favorite movie reference was. 

Morey cited Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land” (2016) and its vivid color palette as the prime inspiration for her film’s visual style, as well as how Jason and Nora’s dreamer tendencies mirror those of Mia and Sebastian. 

Chen’s pick was “Sleepless in Seattle” (1993), drawing inspiration from Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan’s “palpable sense of yearning” for “Meet Cute in Manhattan,” despite the two actors sharing the screen for all of 15 minutes. Leary was most fond of their shoutout to the iconic Vespa scene in “Roman Holiday” (1953), although she noted the soft spot in her heart for “10 Things I Hate About You” (1999) and wanted to include a nod to it as well.

While the film was centered around well-worn tropes, the cast features actors from diverse backgrounds, adding a fresh element to the genre. “Frankly, I think that’s one of my passions,” Chen told me. “In New York, there are so many talented actors, and our biggest thing is, we have this budget, let’s find undiscovered gems.”

Chen himself majored in neuroscience and political science at Rutgers University; Leary simultaneously works as a bicoastal disability rights activist in addition to being an actress; and Shi has worked in finance on two different continents. The diverse make-up of the cast helped flesh out the film’s environment, helping each character come across naturally. 

Another one of my favorite parts of the film was the music, which was deliberately chosen to bring the film’s atmosphere to life — Sonca Nguyen and Thomas Baden, a music and sound team based out of St. Louis, worked with Morey to finalize a distinct sound for the film. Not only did they compose the score for the entire film, they also co-wrote some original songs to accompany Jason and Nora’s love story. I thought this added a personal touch to the movie’s sound that might not have been as effectively replicated using licensed music.

Meet-cutes can take on many forms — for example, Morey’s parents had theirs playing volleyball during their first week at Northwestern University. But I think Leary put it best: “Sometimes you just need to bump into somebody in a coffee shop and have your life turned upside down.”

Jason and Nora’s story felt very true to life, and their starry-eyed idealism was a joy to watch. “Meet Cute in Manhattan” is currently available to stream on VOD via Prime Video.