While attention is sharply focused on the coming of hdtv, one emerging, interactive entertainment company is ‘busy plotting the new-media revolution.’ At least that’s what an eerie, computer-generated voice exclaims when you reach the answering machine of Toronto-based Smiley Guy Studios.

Rather than focusing on upping the audio/video quality of tv, Smiley Guy Studios is instead taking the first steps toward making fully interactive, original sitcoms on the Internet.

‘We’re creating a hybrid between video games and sitcoms,’ says cofounder Denny Silverthorne, who along with partners Adrian Carter and Jeremy Diamond formed Smiley after graduating from the Canadian Film Centre’s new media design program less than one year ago.

It was at the cfc that the three smiley guys conceived, designed and produced the prototype for The Seen, their first ‘sit.com,’ which they are currently developing into a 13-part, 2D animated series for the Net.

Geared at a 16- to 35-year-old audience, the show follows temp worker Mark Ryder from job to job and offers innovative opportunities for viewers to participate. One episode, for instance, sees Ryder working as a hamster wrangler for the show Hammy Hamster and incorporates a rodent-corralling game for the viewer to play. Each episode will also have an e-commerce component, so fans can buy brand merchandise as they go.

‘We think people are moving toward interactivity. Video games make more money than the film industry. People like to do things while they’re being entertained,’ says Silverthorne, who welcomes competition as he and his partners strive to create a new genre.

But so far the Smiley Guys have yet to find a distributor and are in need of production money. ‘The problem is that there aren’t distribution companies on the Internet. mtv.com is not really a tv station. They have content, but they’re just starting up,’ says Silverthorne, adding, ‘the biggest challenge is getting sites that want content and want to pay for it.’

The budget for each 10-minute episode, created with Macromedia’s Flash and Director, is roughly $150,000. Currently the guys are just finishing off a demo, which includes a two-minute interstitial.

They are also developing a web horror anthology, the grave.com, and continue to bring home the bacon through their service work, which includes developing specialty media content for companies such as Alliance Atlantis Communications and Odeon Films (virtual movie theatres), Industry Canada (an interactive speech for Kim Campbell), Kellogg’s/Nintendo (a web version of a tv ad) and the MicroAge Network (an e-ad).