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Friday, March 29, 2024

New web series chronicles The Dangers of Online Dating

The Vancouver-shot series launches on YouTube beginning November 23, with a new episode to be released each week

With eHarmony reporting a quarter of all Canadians aged 18-34 have tried online dating, it shouldn’t be a huge surprise someone would create a web series about finding love, well, online.

Filmed in Vancouver, The Dangers of Online Dating is the brainchild of Vancouver-based filmmaker, Brianne Nord-Stewart, who is credited with creating, writing, directing and producing the series. Consisting of nine episodes, the show will premiere on Youtube beginning November 23, with a new episode released each week.

The series follows Paula, a sexual health nurse, who delves into the world of online dating after a year of abstinence with help from both her roommate Molly, and her best friend, Alexandre. It stars Paula Burrows, Stacy Mahieux, and Byron Noble.

In this Q&A we find out more about The Dangers of Online Dating from Nord-Stewart.

This interview has been edited and condensed. It was originally published on OUTtv on November 10, and is reused with permission of the author.

What prompted this project? 

When I started, I felt I needed to keep creating and directing, and a web series I had the resources to shoot was the answer. That, and my friend convinced me that I had to make use of these very undesirable online dating disasters I was experiencing.

Are all the dates based on true stories?

I am sure they are true for somebody, or a version of them are.

In season one, I was definitely inspired by my own experiences, but I took creative liberties in pushing the characters and circumstances even closer to the edge. Season two is more of the grand ‘what if’ scenarios that we wanted to test Paula with.

Will Alexandre ever convince her to explore a lesbian date?

She definitely has some sparks with non-male co-stars in season two.

How did you come to choose Paula’s profession as a sexual health nurse? 

My sister is a nurse who works in a women’s sexual health clinic, and we have had many a conversation about the ins and outs of safe sex, and a lot of the misconceptions people have surrounding sexual health.

I was also inspired by the idea of setting the story in a free LGBTQ+ clinic like the Bute Street Clinic off Davie Street in Vancouver. Somewhere that is inclusive to everyone, and has a diverse revolving door of patients and staff, along with a community outreach program where Paula could instruct, but ultimately learn some things along the way as well.

Will Paula ever find the right person, or do you think this series can last years?

I think this series can last a lifetime.

Even if Paula found “the one”, which I doubt she will, I would probably send him or her away to a far-off land. Paula would then embark on long distance dating and the trials that come with having a Skype relationship with your loved one, and the possibility of exposing an open or non-monogamous relationship.

I also want to see more of Alexandre and Molly’s lives, and ideally bring Paula’s mother or siblings not the mix to really get the tension going.

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