Sponsored content for The Dating Project.

Did America forget how to date? Do we care? For most ages 30 and below the concept of dating seems prehistoric and simply outdated. (no pun intended!)

The rapid growth of technology that has profoundly networked an entire generation together without limitation and has perpetuated a “me” and “now” culture of Insta stories and Facebook lives yet void of important human interactions. Some of these human interactions, like dating, take more method, strategy and real life boldness than we are conditioned for.

Enter The Dating Project documentary. The Dating Project is a groundbreaking and revolutionary Hollywood-produced documentary that provides a snapshot into the thorny American hookup culture stripped of real life relationships built on risk, vulnerability, honesty and face-to-face encounters that connect people to a deeper reality. We are all made for something more! The poignant documentary by MPower Pictures, Paulist Productions and Family Theater Productions is produced by Megan Harrington and Catherine Fowler-Sample which was released theatrically (Pureflix) this past spring is now available on DVD at Walmart and Target, and digitally at iTunes and Amazon.

Harrington and Sample understood the ache of singlehood in today’s culture as single young women (Sample is now married) and searched for a contemporary way to expose the culture for what it was – losing an entire generation to the hookup culture, pursuing fleeting body connections without heart and soul connections.

The documentary tracks five single people ranging in ages from 20s to 40s who are looking to make meaningful connections in an age of swiping left or right.

In this quest to tell a story from the single person’s perspective, the producers discovered a contemporary heroine on the campus of Boston College – Dr. Kerry Cronin. Over a decade ago, Cronin heard about the prevalent hookup culture on campus and thought “this is crazy.” Cronin began to teach her students the art of dating for extra credit and her now famous dating assignment took off like wildfire. Dubbed the “Dating Doctor,” Cronin unpacks the dating assignment and provides the virtues and tactics for successful “low stakes dating.” For the first time, the how-to’s by Dr. Cronin are presented beyond the collegiate halls of dating 101 and are available for everyone to benefit from.

Bobby Angel, a youth minister, theology teacher  and contributor to the Ascension Press companion study guide to The Dating Project  DVD said, “We all have a desire for intimacy, to see another and be seen by them, to know another and be known by them. It is arguably the deepest ache of the human heart, that yearning for communion.”

Angel goes on to say, “Part of the brilliance of The Dating Project is its challenge to reclaim a detached form of dating. This dating is a true ‘getting to know’ the other person without the pressure of assuming marriage from the first date, or at the other extreme a meaningless hook up.”

Maybe you are single and have not been on a date in months or even (ahem) years or know a friend, sibling or loved one that is just busting out all the wrong dating moves! Then, this documentary is the “cultural avalanche” that might inspire them to step out, take a risk and get the courage to #DateDifferently.  As Dr. Cronin says, “It’s just a date, not a marriage proposal.” It’s time to grab some popcorn, this movie and take The Dating Assignment for yourself. Find out more at TheDatingProjectMovie.com.

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