 "Photo: BJ Barretta")
Loyola's most popular student-produced television show is being given a new lease on life by a college television network that will launch into the dorms of over 100 campuses later this month.
"Fate Date," Loyola's reality dating show, was a campus phenomenon, instantly creating Loyola celebrities and topping TGN 70's (since renamed WLOY-TV) charts during its 15-month, eight episode run.
"Fate Date" creators and Loyola alumni Alan Danzis, '02, BJ Barretta, '03, and Joe Salvati, '04, have been asked to create a "Fate Date" pilot for The University Network (TUN), a nationwide college network that will reach 15 million viewers and rival stations such as MTVU.
If the pilot is successful, new episodes of "Fate Date" filmed at TUN schools across the country could become a regular on the station's line-up as soon as late 2005.
"Here we are, a year after the show ended, all with good jobs and almost out of nowhere, here comes the chance of a lifetime with TUN," said Salvati, who is also the show's head writer. "If they told me two years ago that we'd still be talking about 'Fate Date' in late 2004, I honestly would have laughed at them. But hey, this is the real deal. We're back."
Although TUN is not currently available on Loyola's campus, the "Fate Date" team hopes that their inclusion on the network may help to change that. They also hope to return to Loyola later this fall in order to film the pilot episode.
"We brought this show back for the original fans, and what better place is there to cast the pilot than where it all started," said Danzis, the team's public relations director. "This is a homecoming for us, and we just can't wait to get started."
The premise of the pilot will remain the same, with two students chosen to go out on a blind date.
The writers hope to hold auditions on campus as early as next month.
"We had great turnouts after the original pilot aired in February 2002," Salvati said. "And we're hoping to shatter records now that we're coming back, more than two years later, ready to go national."
Although the principle of the show remains the same, those involved stressed that with the help of a new production company and editing team, "Fate Date" will be better than ever.
"The reincarnation of 'Fate Date' on TUN is going to be kick-ass," Barretta said. "Our team as a whole has become even more experienced in our fields since leaving college, and we have surrounded ourselves with the right professionals to do a high-quality show."
The team hopes to include more than just Loyola contestants on the pilot.
"We want this pilot to have nothing but Loyola student music," Danzis said, "So if bands are looking for exposure to 15 million-plus viewers, they definitely should e-mail me at adanzis@verizon.net."
The pilot, as well as future episodes, will advertise the campus it is shot on and aim to realistically portray life on campus.
On most campuses TUN is not a closed-circuit television station, therefore, it will also be available to high school students, recent college grads and anyone else in the area surrounding TUN campuses.
Half of TUN's in-house programming will be co-produced with college students majoring in film and television; the rest is produced completely by college students.
"We're really excited about this opportunity," said Barretta. "TUN is a perfect fit for both our show and our team. We are hopeful 'Fate Date' quickly becomes an integral part of TUN's lineup in 2005."
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