Syfy’s TZGZ Orders Animated ‘The Summoner’

Syfy’s TZGZ weekly late-night animation block has given a straight-to-series order to “The Summoner,” with an order for 10 three minute episodes from Stoopid Buddy Stoodios and writer, actor and New Yorker cartoonist Charlie Hankin. “The Summoner” is a 2D-animated series based on the short film from Hankin about Rory and his challenging roommate. The logline: Rory, in his 20s and living on his own for the first time, has found himself in a small two-bedroom with the Summoner, a magical alien with the power to summon any object to his present location. While sounds potentially useful, the Summoner has a tenuous grasp of English and only summons the most useless stuff.

“’The Summoner’ is a perfect example of how we’re experimenting with content for TZGZ by continuing to add smart stories from unique voices, but also playing with different formats and new animation styles, like Charlie’s distinctive hand-drawn look,” said Jon Cotton, VP, Short-Form Animation & Alternative Formats for SYFY. “Working with Stoopid Buddy Stoodios on this project was a no-brainer, given their track record for creating some of the buzziest adult animation out there.”

The series is executive produced by Seth Green, Hankin, John Harvatine IV, Matthew Senreich, Eric Towner and Chris Waters.