Coven Academy is casting a new spell over Disney’s young-adult lineup with a supernatural boarding-school story told in unusually compact chapters.
Created by Tim Federle, the New Orleans-set series premieres Oct. 1 on Freeform. The complete season will arrive the following day on Disney+, Hulu and Freeform on Demand.
The story centers on three teenage witches and their warlock classmates at an elite magic academy where power, dangerous secrets and romantic entanglements collide. As ancient supernatural conflicts threaten their world, the students must decide what they will risk to protect themselves and their city.
A different kind of binge
Episodes run from 10 minutes to no more than 22 minutes, but Federle said the abbreviated format was not designed around assumptions that younger viewers have short attention spans. Instead, the creative team wanted to bring traditional television storytelling into a chapter-based structure.
Federle ran the show with Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer, whose backgrounds include Smallville and Shadow Hunters. The first season’s story unfolds across more than five hours, retaining multiple character arcs, twists and payoffs. Rather than pausing where a cable show might cut to commercials, an episode ends and the next chapter resumes the narrative.
“I think this generation actually will dive into any story in a deep way if they love it,” Federle said, pointing to the continued popularity of series including Grey’s Anatomy and Friends. His goal is for viewers to spend meaningful time with the characters while still making the season highly bingeable.
The series also represents a bet on an original concept rather than an existing book, film or television property. Federle acknowledged that breaking through with something unfamiliar is difficult, but described Coven Academy as new lore that draws on familiar kinds of supernatural and teen storytelling.
The idea emerged after Federle had dinner two summers ago with Disney Kids & Family president Ayo Davis to discuss what could follow his High School Musical reboot. Davis was interested in experimenting with a shorter, fast-moving format, while Federle had long wanted to make a story about witches. He wrote the pilot’s first draft in one night after that dinner.
Federle, who is also connected to the upcoming Romy and Michele sequel, cited his enthusiasm for the era of appointment viewing represented by Charmed and Dawson’s Creek. For the setting, he envisioned a heightened, slightly out-of-time version of New Orleans, pairing Louisiana with a magical boarding-school framework.
Witches, warlocks and vampires
Malina Pauli Weissman stars as Briar, an independent New Yorker who learns that she is a witch. Malachi Barton plays Jake, a charismatic warlock with a dangerous side, while Jordan Leftwich appears as Sasha, an empathic student able to read minds. Ora Duplass plays the irreverent, time-bending Tegan, and Louis Thresher portrays Ollie, a newly turned vampire.
Tiffani Thiessen is Miss Graves, the school’s glamorous and formidable leader. Devon Sawa guest stars as Mr. Cole, a brilliant warlock professor. Swayam Bhatia, Brendon Tremblay, Keegan Connor Tracy, BJ Harrison and Nathaniel Logan McIntyre have recurring roles.
Federle said hundreds, and possibly thousands, of young women were considered for Briar, whose skepticism and humor make her the audience’s way into the magical world. Weissman’s understated audition struck him as unusually authentic. Although audiences may recognize her from A Series of Unfortunate Events, Federle said he had not known her from that series and viewed her as a discovery.
Jake was initially a much smaller character, but Barton’s audition persuaded the team to expand the role. Federle described Barton and Weissman as dependable anchors for the younger ensemble because both had substantial experience working on sets.
Thiessen and Sawa, meanwhile, provide the show’s adult storyline and a connection for Gen X viewers. Federle recalled watching Sawa speak with Barton about becoming famous at a young age before social media, an informal exchange that reflected the chemistry he wanted within the cast.
Season one also adopted a deliberate directing strategy. Federle directed the pilot, followed by an all-female group of directors for the remaining episodes. He wanted female filmmakers shaping a story led by young witches, particularly as Coven Academy marks the first series-regular roles for Duplass and Leftwich. Federle previously used an all-female directing lineup on the third season of High School Musical.
Disney’s YA “white space”
Beyond its supernatural plot, Federle sees Coven Academy as an attempt to retain viewers during their teenage years. He described a gap between audiences who follow properties such as Descendants and Zombies and older viewers who later return to Disney out of nostalgia.
Barton and Bhatia are currently part of the Worlds Collide tour, which features Descendants, Zombies and Camp Rock. With Barton, Federle wanted to offer a darker, grittier role that could allow the actor’s existing audience to grow alongside him.
Federle’s larger hope is that Coven Academy will help establish a pipeline of shows that are “unapologetically YA,” giving viewers another age-appropriate series to discover when they finish the season. Whether that audience stays for more stories remains the central question.
Federle executive produces with Swimmer, Slavkin, Amanda Row and Bronwyn North-Reist. The series is produced by Federle’s Chorus Boy Productions in association with Disney Kids & Family. Its digital teaser trailer features Olivia Rodrigo’s song “Brutal.”