Save First Kill Campaign

Netflix's First Kill created by Victoria Schwab stars Sarah Catherine Hook, Imani Lewis, Elizabeth Mitchell, Annunziata Gianzero, and more.

1st episode (First Kiss) Description:

Under pressure from her parents to swap her blood pills for the real thing, Juliette sets her sights on new girl Cal, who has her own family stress.

2nd episode (First Blood) Description:

The shocking aftermath of Noah's party sparks more questions than answers. Juliette's mother jumps to conclusions. A monster zeroes in on Cal's family.

3rd episode (First Fight) Description:

Juliette bites off more than she can chew ahead of her big night, while Cal feels a knot of unease as her family prepares for a risky vampire hunt.

I had the pleasure of obtaining a very unique interview with someone who is not only a First Kill fan but also a part of the #SaveFirstKill community. Vocal readers, please enjoy our interview.

Please tell us about the “Killers” social media group, your involvement, and how it came about.

Save First Kill: “First Killers” or “Killers” are what we call the people within the fandom. Through watching First Kill we’ve been able to connect and build a beautiful community and family with one another. Even before the show was canceled, people would tweet, laugh, and even cry about the show, because it allowed them to see themselves, or a version of themselves represented on television. After the cancellation, the community that was formed became even stronger because everyone was coming together for one common goal and purpose, which was to save this beautiful show with so much diverse representation. Within two days of the show’s cancellation, there was already a ‘Save First Kill’ billboard team in place, and that was only just the beginning of the entire #SaveFirstKill campaign.

What sparked your interest in watching “First Kill” on Netflix?

Save First Kill: Surprisingly, the first thing that brought my attention to First Kill were the comments that were circulating online after its initial release. I hadn’t heard much about the show, nor had I seen the trailer, but once everyone started watching it, they couldn’t stop talking about it on social media. During its release day, there were so many different comments discussing how good the storyline was, and how much diversity and representation the show had to offer, that I couldn’t stay away and had to watch it immediately.

However, although there were all of these comments raving about how good the show was, I still had no idea what it was actually about, so I decided to watch the trailer. After watching the trailer and seeing the actual premise of the show, I was sold and completely onboard with supporting it. First Kill being about both vampires and lesbians brought me back to my childhood, which is when the movie Twilight had just come out. At the time I was just a confused little kid, but I undoubtedly remember watching it and having a huge crush on Kristen Stewart, just like most other lesbians did. However, First Kill was different from Twilight, it made me feel seen and heard, which is exactly what I had been missing when I was growing up.

After that, I instantly connected with the show and that was before I even pressed play, but after I started watching it, I just couldn’t stop. I remember sitting on the couch for like eight hours straight, just so I could finish the show. The people in the First Kill fandom view it as way more than just some show, it’s a way for us to connect and finally celebrate the fact that diverse stories are finally taking center stage on our television screens. At the end of the day, we don’t want just breadcrumbs being thrown our way, we want positive on-screen representation to go along with great content.

What kept you watching throughout the series?

Save First Kill: I watched the entire show with so much excitement, and I couldn’t keep the smile from being plastered on my face. Every episode has a very strange, but exciting turn of events, that most people won’t anticipate. Everything that happens is completely unexpected and it keeps you sitting at the edge of your seat throughout the entire eight episodes. That’s why it’s so important for people to stick around and watch to the very end because there’s a huge plot twist that you’ll never see coming!

Obviously, as most people could tell from the trailer, there’s also a teen adolescent forbidden romance between the two female lead characters, which is truly groundbreaking to see onscreen. That particular aspect of the show brought so much comfort to not only me, but to many other LGBTQIA+ people around the world. Another fantastic thing about First Kill is how complex the characters are.

There isn’t a single character that is 100% pure evil, so it makes you question whether some of their actions are morally right or wrong. There’s always history behind every action that is taken, so it’s important to examine it from different perspectives. Consequently, the aspects of both love and hate are closely aligned together, and the moral compass discussion is very present throughout the series, which is honestly what makes the show so interesting and captivating to its audience!

How did you feel when you learned the series would not be renewed?

Save First Kill: I was completely and totally devastated. It truly felt like I had just had my heart ripped from my chest, and I had no control over it and couldn’t stop it from happening. The one show that I had turned to for comfort, especially in my moments of despair, wasn’t being renewed and it made me feel awful. The day the show got canceled, the fandom united together in a Twitter Space, and a lot of fans opened up and offered up their hearts.

They told their stories and discussed how much the show had saved them, changed them, and helped them accept themselves. Everyone in the Space listened as we all cried together and tried to collectively heal our shattered hearts. I felt so hopeless and weak during the first two days after the show’s initial cancellation, but after those feelings subsided, I knew that I had to get to work. I just couldn’t picture us giving up without having a proper resolution to the storylines, not even for a second.

Any updates about the group you would like to share?

Save First Kill: Yes, of course, I’d be happy to share some of those details with you. So far, it’s only been three months since First Kill was released, yet the passion and renewed energy that both current fans and new ones have for the show continues to grow stronger every single day. The billboard celebrating and thanking the cast, executive producer, and showrunner, that was placed in Times Square on August 20th, was just the beginning of our entire campaign.

We also had a massively successful #SaveFirstKill booth at this year’s Clexacon, but that was all considered a part of the initial stages of our campaign. Since then, we’ve now advanced to another stage, which we refer to as Campaign 2.0. Since the billboard and Clexacon, our team has just continued to grow and expand, with even more people wanting to get involved in order to help save this beautiful show.

As the campaign continues to move forward, there will be a lot of good surprises in store, so please keep following us on this journey, because you will not be disappointed. Our team has already begun planning and discussing what comes next for us, so just know that the work hasn’t stopped and we are just getting started.

What would you like to say to the cast and crew of “First Kill”?

Save First Kill: First of all, beyond anything else, we, as fans of the show, want to say, THANK YOU! You’ve changed our lives forever, in the most positive of ways, more ways than you could ever imagine. Besides just playing your onscreen characters, who we’ve grown to love; we love you beyond that as well, we love every single one of you as human beings. There’s an undeniable fact about fans from the queer community, and it's that no matter what, regardless of whatever you do in the future, this fanbase will follow you and continue to offer you our love and support forever!

From the top to the bottom, both cast and crew of First Kill have been amazing, and we see all the love you have not only for the show, but for us as fans as well. The fact that the love we have for you is so easily reciprocated, is touching and heartwarming and it means the absolute world to us. We constantly think about how lucky we are to have been gifted this amazing cast and are immediately overcome with happiness.

Honestly, and I could probably say this a million times, but all of you coming together to work on this amazing show has changed our lives forever. We can’t wait for the show to be picked up for another season, so we can see all of you together on our screens once again. We also want to remind you that we are some of the most passionate fans in the entire world, and we don’t give up, ever! This will never be just another show to us, all of us have become a family, and we fight for our families.

How can we follow you on social media?

Save First Kill: All of our official accounts are managed by various different members of our team because we all organize and work together so that we can support one another. You can follow along and get updates about our campaign by going to our official website www.savefirstkill.com, as well as following all of the official social accounts listed at https://linktr.ee/savefirstkill.