Production Begins on Blueprint’s The Dating Guy

TORONTO/LOS ANGELES, April 5: Blueprint Entertainment and marblemedia
have started production on their flash-animated series The Dating Guy.

The 13 half-hour episodes tackle relationships from the perspective of
people in their twenties. Created by marblemedia partners Mark Bishop and Matt
Hornburg, and developed with TELETOON Canada, the series exposes the everyday
struggles of four friend’s attempts at finding love. The series is slated to
premiere in March 2009 on TELETOON as part of the teen/adult programming block,
The Detour on TELETOON, available in
both English and French.

The new cartoon will be
extended online in the form of an experience that parodies popular
social-networking sites, with an assortment of interactive and user-generated
features.

Along with executive
producers Bishop and Hornburg from marblemedia and John Morayniss and Frank
Saperstein from Blueprint, the creative team includes Frank van Keekan who comes on board as series showrunner
and executive producer; Joe Sherman as director; and Marilyn McAuley as
supervising producer. House of Cool will handle pre-production and
designs, while Smiley Guy Studios will produce the animation.

“From the first pitch,
TELETOON recognized the potential of The Dating Guy to have broad appeal
with our teen and adult audience,” commented Michael Goldsmith, the director of
original content for TELETOON. “In partnering with marblemedia and Blueprint
we’re confident in delivering a hilarious home-grown hit that sends up dating
and romance with a blend of satire and comedy that will resonate with Detour fans.”

—By Ned Berke