Conception In 2002, Schwartz met with
Joseph "McG" McGinty Nichol and
Stephanie Savage of production company
Wonderland Sound and Vision. They told Schwartz they wanted to create a television show based in McG's hometown of
Newport Beach. Savage suggested producing a police or extreme sports
21 Jump Street-style show, but Schwartz knew little about the genre. Having had experience with people from Newport Beach during his time at the
University of Southern California, Schwartz came back to them with his own characters. The show was pitched to Fox and
Warner Bros in August 2002. Fox targeted a summer launch for the show, and
Doug Liman was brought in to direct the premiere after McG withdrew due his scheduling conflicts with ''
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle''. The show was confirmed for the
2003–2004 schedule in May, and an August 5, 2003 broadcast date was selected in June.
Casting Casting directors Patrick J. Rush and Alyson Silverberg began casting the main roles eight to ten weeks before filming began, with input from Schwartz, McG and Savage. Rush and Silverberg were later nominated in the Dramatic Pilot category of the
Casting Society of America's
Artios Awards. In February 2003,
Peter Gallagher became the first actor cast, playing
Sandy Cohen.
Kelly Rowan auditioned five times before being cast as Sandy's wife,
Kirsten, in March 2003. Rush found the role of Ryan Atwood particularly hard to cast, as the producers wanted the "perfect" actor.
Benjamin McKenzie was only invited to audition for the role after
Warner Bros. made them aware of the actor following his unsuccessful audition for a
UPN sitcom. McKenzie joined the cast in March 2003. He lacked working experience and later described his selection as "a tremendous leap of faith" on the producers' part. The role of
Seth Cohen was derived from Schwartz's experiences at the University of Southern California as a "neurotic Jewish kid from the East Coast in a land of water polo players".
Adam Brody first read for the part of Ryan, but found the bad-boy image did not suit him.
Mischa Barton, who had met McG on
Fastlane, portrayed
Marissa Cooper. She was cast in February 2003.
Tate Donovan, who played
Jimmy Cooper, was cast in March 2003. Clarke and Bilson joined as regular cast members later in the season.
Chris Carmack, who played
Luke Ward, was credited as a guest star for the episode;
Filming , a primary filming location for the show Although the show is set in Newport Beach, financial penalties imposed for filming outside the "
Thirty Mile Zone" forced production to the
Manhattan Beach,
Los Angeles County region. The scenes set in Ryan's hometown of
Chino were filmed in Los Angeles. The Cohen family home was shot on location in
Malibu. A mock pool house was built for use in the pilot, and taken down after filming completed. The Cohen's home was recreated on a soundstage at Raleigh Studios in Manhattan Beach for filming during the rest of the series; external shots of the house remained in use. The fashion show was filmed at the
Wilshire Ebell Theatre; though it did not advance the story, Schwartz described it as necessary to show the world in which the characters lived. The party at Holly's beach house following the fashion show was filmed at a beach house in Malibu over three consecutive nights. == Broadcast and distribution ==