Dragons’ Den Canada executive producer Stuart Coxe took top honours, and a cheque for $33,000, at this year’s MIPFormats Pitch event in Cannes.

The Toronto-based Antica Productions founder was awarded top honours for his Looking for Love format, a multi-platform reality series that pits matchmakers against the sophisticated high-tech algorithms of online dating sites to discover who’s best at spotting Mr. or Mrs. Right.

“What [the judges] wanted was something that would travel across a lot of countries, and I think love is universal,” Coxe told MIPBlog following his win.

The victory comes with the $33,000 development coin from Warner Bros. International Television Production, and the U.S. studio’s stamp of approval.

Coxe said working with Warner Bros. could mean the difference between the success and failure for the concept.

“It’s really interesting to work with a company like Warner Bros. because they have so many markets that they play in. Having a big company like [them] behind us allows the idea to be given its best possible chance to find an audience,” he insisted.

Besides Dragon’s Den, Coxe’s other TV credits include Next Great Prime Minister, Wipeout Canada and Make the Politician Work.

Photo: Warner Bros.’ Andrew Zein, Stuart Coxe of Antica Productions and Lucy Smith of Reed MIDEM / MIPblog