Tinder Renews Original Series ‘Swipe Night,’ Director Karena Evans to Return (EXCLUSIVE)

By Matt Donnelly

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Tinder is having more than just a fling with its first ever original series, “Swipe Night.”

The ubiquitous dating app has renewed the interactive scripted project for a second season, and it has tapped season one director Karena Evans (Drake’s “In My Feelings,” Starz’s “P Valley”) to helm the project. App users can expect it to premiere this summer.

The series not only brought into the content production fold, it also helped play matchmaker for its worldwide users, the company told Variety. The four-episode, first-person adventure clocked millions of viewers, according to Tinder, and increased user matches by 26% and overall conversation on the app by 12%.

Half of Tinder’s users are 18-25 years old, the company estimated. Total users amount to 50 million, according to reports.

“Working on ‘Swipe Night’ was such a fulfilling experience for me. I got to do something that had never been done before and innovate with storytelling to bring a generation of people together. I’m in search of projects that impact, shift or curate a culture and couldn’t be more excited to return for more,” said Evans, who just directed Coldplay’s music video for the single “Everyday Life.”

She joins a creative team of writers, including Jessica Stickles (“Portlandia,” “Another Period”) and Julie Sharbutt (“3 Days”).

“Entertainment has always been a human connector,” said Elie Seidman, Tinder CEO. “We had a theory that our members would find this completely new and innovative experience natural to their Tinder experience–and they did. We couldn’t be more thrilled to bring a new season of ‘Swipe Night’ to Tinder this summer and give our members another opportunity to form connections and start conversations.”

The first season, reported exclusively by Variety last September, manifested as a choose-your-own-adventure game, following a group of lovers and friends on a wild night in Mexico City. Impending doom confronts the group with a series of choices that Tinder users controlled.

Individuals were matched with other users that made similar choices, and, hopefully, sparks flew from there. The company had no comment on a possible cameo from new user Brad Pitt .