FAU makes their debut in Netflix’s “Swiped” and Disney’s “Safety.”

FAU’s Boca Raton Campus and football team were both featured in films that have made it on to Netflix and Disney Plus. “Swiped” is a film about a popular college student who asks his roommate to develop a hookup app that allows couples to meet with no conditions. “Safety” is a film about a college student who decides to take care of his little brother, after his mother enters rehab because of her drug addiction.

“Swiped” 

“Swiped” is a 2018 movie starring Noah Centineo and Kendall Ryan Sanders. A lesser-known fact is that the movie was filmed at FAU’s Boca Raton campus.

Ann Deborah Fishman, director of the film said, “I was impressed by the beautiful campus [at FAU]. I contacted Diego Meeroff, [marketing director of FAU from 2013-2019], and he and FAU were very gracious and accommodating.”

Before choosing FAU as the main campus, Fishman considered Massachusetts as the main location for her film due to the vast majority of college campuses the state has. However, she chose to stay in Palm Beach County, where she and her crew resided.

“We were given free rein at one of the freshman dorms for [about] 7 days [at FAU], which is where we filmed all of the dorm scenes and most of the exterior campus scenes,” Fishman said.

“Safety” 

In this 2020 Disney movie starring Jay Reeves and Corinne Foxx, FAU’s football team is featured in a game against the Clemson Tigers that occurred on Sept. 2, 2006.

When asked about the legality of using FAU’s name, Dexter LaMont, director of trademark licensing and marketing, said, “We are currently looking into this now. To my knowledge, we have not been contacted or granted permission to include our name, likeness, or image.”

Sophomore music education major Annie Yacoub said that she did not know about FAU’s involvement in these films, yet she feels very proud to hear that FAU has made it to the big screens.

“I… think that it’s really cool that we were provided with these amazing opportunities and I can’t wait to see what comes from working with these talented people,” said Yacoub.

Junior social work major Michelle Rivas said that she recently watched the film “Safety” and was excited to see FAU’s football team being featured. However, she has not watched the film “Swiped” but feels prideful to see her school in several films.

“FAU isn’t a big university to be mentioned or involved in a movie, so it’s exciting to have your school mentioned,” said Rivas.

Rivas said she believes the involvement with FAU on these films will bring great publicity to the school. 

“[‘Safety’] would probably bring more publicity to our football team and maybe sponsors to the sport or school in general,” she said. 

Rivas says she enjoys seeing well-known actors in settings that she sees every day at FAU.

She adds on saying it’s great to see your school on a film and have that feeling in you of “I go there.”

“Swiped” is now streaming on Netflix and “Safety” is on Disney Plus.

Katherine Ambrosio Villegas is a contributing writer for the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected].