Here is what he had to say:

IAR: To begin with, coming off of the initial success you had with Catfish (the movie), why did you decide that you wanted to turn it into a TV series?

Nev Schulman: I was starting to get emails from people. They were saying that they saw the movie and really enjoyed it, but more often than not they were from people who were really reaching out to me and saying, “Wow, your film moved me because I had a similar experience. I spent some time involved with someone over the Internet who I never met. I was close to meeting them but it never happened, and I never heard from them again. I’ve been so curious and sad that I never got to put closure to that period of time and that emotional experience. Your film really helped me come to terms with it for better of worse and thank you for allowing yourself to be exposed in this way and for sharing this story.”  So I guess I’ve become, not a spokesperson, but the image of the online dating relationship guru. I joke about it because if there is anybody that you shouldn’t go to for advice it’s me because I’m the one who obviously was the biggest fool. But there is something about my going through the experience and coming out the other side in one piece. I had an experience that I would say was positive. It didn’t end the way that I had hoped but we ended up finding a really positive way to end it. I think it inspired people to say, “I’m too scared and too nervous to pursue my story the way you did but you did it and it turned out so well, so maybe I can reach the same result.” So the show sort of came to me because I was getting all these emails and I was sharing them with my brother, Henry, and our producers Andrew (Jarecki) and Mark (Smerling), and we started thinking that there must be a way that we can connect with these people and actually help them. Because if my story turned out to be this interesting, I’m sure theirs' will too. We’re documentary fanatics and we just think that real life, real people, and an interesting story is fascinating. It gives people a chance to tell their story and I think people will like it. So we put together this idea, we partnered with Relativity Media who bought the film, and shopped it around and MTV was really excited about it.

What is the actual premise for the show, and what can fans of the film expect from the new series?

Schulman: The premise of the show is, having gone through the experience of an online-relationship-turned-mystery-road-trip adventure, which is what Catfish was, I will now be in a position to facilitate other people’s Catfish adventures. So someone will reach out to me and say, “I’m really into this guy, we’ve been talking online for months. He lives far away, we can’t afford to meet but we definitely want to, I think he is the one. Can you help?” So I’ll get the email, I’ll contact the sender via Skype, or cell phone, go wherever they live, and they’ll tell me their story all about their relationship. They guy or the girl will fill me in from their perspective. Then I’ll take them to a far away place to meet the person that they’ve been talking to. I’ll connect them for the first time in real life to discover, uncover, and reveal who they really are and have that essential face to face opportunity to be with one another for better or worse. My role will not only be as the facilitator of them meeting up but more importantly a mediator. Someone who is there to act as an in between should things get difficult or too emotional, to not take sides and judge but to just simply be there to offer advice.

So you are not only the host but also a counselor in a way, is that right?

Schulman: Yes. I realized this when the Catfish experience started to grow after Sundance but part of the reason that … and again I would never call myself an expert in anything except that I’m a salesman, I have a business, and I’m good at talking. But the reality is, and I say this very jokingly, my life experiences have been very mixed. I’ve been in a lot of trouble in my life and I’ve really learned about what it means to apologize, what it means to be humble. I’ve had incredible support from my friends and family. So in some ways I think, although I am not a trained counselor, I’ve had a lot of counseling from professionals in my interesting and unusual twenty-seven years of life experience, which has led me to a place where I really think I can connect with people. I generally want to connect with people, I care about people and I want to help. So not only am I a guide physically for people to meet but also hopefully emotionally for what ever they end up discovering, which of course I will be discovering with them. A big part of the show is that I’m completely excluded from the casting side of things. So I will actually have no idea where I’m going, or whom I will be meeting until it happens.

So you won’t be involved in casting at all?

Schulman: Well reality television obviously has developed a reputation through the years of being salacious and not a lot of people view reality TV as actually having any formal grounds in reality anymore. It feels very manipulated and obviously staged. So a big part of me agreeing to be the host of a reality show was that not only would we have a lot of artistic control on how the show looked and felt, but that I was actually going to do everything I could to make sure that the experience was real, not only for the people involved but for myself as well. So as far as casting goes I’m not included. The idea is that I will read an email that was sent to me, and I read it for the first time on the show. I will then call the person for the first time, and what I hear from them is what I will know and I won’t know anything different until we show up on the doorstep of the person we are going to meet. So my reactions are also genuine and I’ll go through whatever surprise, or happiness, or sadness anybody else on the show is going through too.

So will it be shot similar to the film and have that same specific look?

Schulman: We want every cut to be there for a reason. We’re relying on the fact that a generation of people are a lot smarter and have a higher interest in storytelling than they usually do in this sort of gross entertainment. We’ve seen that with the tremendous response to our film. Young people I never would have thought would see the film or even like it, like it so much that they email me about it, Facebook me, and Tweet about it. So I think there is a real shift in the kind of content that people are looking for. It’s a much more genuine, authentic, and an emotional type of TV show.

Who is the ideal person to be on the show and what do you think is the benefit of that person going on a show like this and as you did, so bravely sharing their life and relationship with the world?

Schulman: Right, that’s a perfect question, thank you. The reason that I’m excited about this, I mean really excited about this, is because I get to give people an opportunity to really accept themselves. Obviously I’m a part of it, in the last ten years my generation has become increasingly involved, and to some degree we’ve created and defined ourselves by our personalities online, our profiles and our avatars. A lot of that is wonderful. We’ve made wonderful connections, seen and heard about things that we otherwise wouldn’t have. But for many people the life that they lead on the Internet, which can be exciting, interesting, and can be filled with hopes and dreams that are perhaps outside of the actual range of their situation, is a big distraction and keeps them from living their real lives. We saw this with my film, and with the stories that I hear from other people who have been through similar experiences. So what I’m excited about is that I think this show will give people an opportunity, people who are struggling with their identities, who are uncomfortable with their own skin, who have never had the opportunity to have someone listen to them, it will give them an opportunity to really just have someone hear what they have to say, to listen to them, accept them, and then engage them on an even playing field. So what I’m hoping to do is take two people, under whatever circumstances they have been communicating, put them together and give them a chance to really be themselves. To really own that, be comfortable with themselves, and see that who you really are is a tremendous, amazing, unique and incredible thing. You don’t have to pretend on the Internet, you just have to find someone in the world who will be looking for someone like you and there are a lot of people like that. So in a sort of TV sappy way I’m really just trying to give people an opportunity to be themselves and realize that that is terrific. If you can accept who you are, that’s great because the world needs more people that are comfortable being themselves.

What’s the timetable for the show? When do you begin shooting and when do you think the first episode will air?

Schulman: Best as I can say, we’re hoping to go into production in March, and we’re shooting twelve episodes. Each one takes a week to shoot so that’s twelve weeks. I think MTV is hoping to start airing the show sometime this summer.

You’re actually responsible for coining a new phrase in the American vernacular: “Catfish,” which is now commonly used to describe someone who lies about themselves on the Internet. So have you been surprised by the incredible cultural impact of your film?

Schulman: Actually, its funny and I’m glad that you reminded me. As of Friday, Catfish was officially announced by the Department of State as one of twenty-nine films selected every year to represent the cultural educational advancement of the United States through film and art. So amazingly, and to our great honor, Catfish was selected for that. That was a huge surprise but an awesome honor. So yes, I get emails everyday from teachers and students who have watched the film in their media literacy class. The reach of the film and the impressions that it has had on people is inspiring and it’s been a thrill to be a part of it.

Catfish: The TV Series is currently casting and is scheduled to air on MTV later this year. 

For more information on this thoughtful, intriguing look at the nature of identity in a time of ubiquitous social media, head over the series' official Facebook page, or check out the show on Twitter and Tumblr.

And if you'd like to fill out an application to be featured on an episode of the new series, please click here. 

Full Disclosure: Catfish: The TV Series is produced by Relativity Real, which is owned by Relativity Media, iamROGUE's parent company.