When Brianne Nord-Stewart shot the first season of The Dangers of Online Dating in 2012, online dating was still widely considered an alternative way to meet potential lovers instead of the established norm it is today.
Granted, more people were doing it than ever before, but “they weren’t talking about it,” says Nord-Stewart, who will premiere not one but two seasons of her comedy web series on Nov. 23.
These days, “online dating is definitely a part of our social fabric,” observes Nord-Stewart, an emerging filmmaker of shorts (Beat Around the Bush) and web series (Young & Reckless) who took home the Encore Vancouver Newcomer Spotlight Award from Women in Film and Television Vancouver this past June.
“Everyone’s done it, or is doing it, or a friend of theirs has done it,” says Nord-Stewart. “It’s a game or a source of entertainment for people now: you use the app and you get the instant gratification that comes from if you do have a match.”
The Dangers of Online Dating deep-dives into the trials and tribulations associated with online dating in a world where the rules seem to change every minute. The web series stars Paula Burrows (Motive, The Killing) as Nurse Paula, a sexual health nurse with a fear of casual sex consequences who catapults into the world of online dating after a year of sexual abstinence.
With the help of her roommate Molly (Stacy Mahieux, Complexity), Paula finds a parade of seemingly respectable men to join her for new adventures; over the course of the series, best friend Alexandre (Byron Noble, Fargo) pushes Paula closer to the kinky and farther away from increasingly outdated rules of sex and dating.
“I made Paula a nurse because my sister is a nurse in sexual health, and also I thought it was a good conflict for somebody going out in the world of online dating to know some of the consequences of being sexually active, whether casual sex or not,” says Nord-Stewart.
Here’s where the plot thickens: when plotting Nurse Paula’s zany journey, Nord-Stewart mined from her own life.
“There were more than a few instances [where people misrepresented who they were], and I started telling people about it, and one of my friends said, ‘Brianne, you have to make a show about this,’ and my reaction was, ‘Fuck no, I’m not writing about,’” laughs Nord-Stewart. Reel People doesn’t do spoilers, but one of Nord-Stewart’s most memorable dating experiences that made it to The Dangers of Online Dating involves religion (in an episode entitled “Date, Pray, Eat”).
“I took a lot of creative liberties to exaggerate certain things or change certain things about characters to heighten the conflict, to make more conflict, or to give them characteristics that are more humorous,” says Nord-Stewart.
Nord-Stewart doesn’t think the world of online dating is intrinsically dangerous or negative; for some, it’s been a wholly positive game-changer. “On one hand it’s much more curated and focused, and for the people who are niche and looking for something niche, it’s easier for them to find it,” says Nord-Stewart.
“For other people, it just seems like a giant ocean of despair.”
Nord-Stewart filmed the first season of The Dangers of Online Dating in 2012 and the second season earlier this year. Although online dating technology has changed significantly since 2012 (think mobile apps), the biggest difference between the two seasons concerns the inner world of Nurse Paula, says Nord Stewart.
Says Nord-Stewart: “The first season was really, ‘Look at all of these crazy people that Paula is going out on dates with, and it’s a hard world out there,’ and then the second season it really is that Paula is the crazy person on the dates.”
The Dangers of Online Dating isn’t the only web series that Nord-Stewart is launching this week. She’s also rolling out Sex, With Paula, a companion web series in which the Nurse Paula character discusses topics she encounters in her work as a sexual health nurse.
“There are things that people don’t talk about, and that is still the taboo part of the show and the world of online dating and sex,” says Nord-Stewart, noting that ignoring certain sexual health symptoms can lead to serious, and often irreversible, health crises. “Even on the set, when we were filming in the clinic, a few of the crew members were like, ‘Maybe I should go get tested?’”
• The first and second seasons of The Dangers of Online Dating will screen in their entireties at a launch party at the Penthouse Nightclub on Nove. 23; that same day, new episodes of The Dangers of Online Dating and Sex, With Paula will start hitting YouTube each week. The series will also be available on TELUS Optik TV. Subscribe on youtube here and follow @DOODtheseries for announcements.
