So...the wife and I have been watching the new FOX "reality" show On The Lot. I actually thought about entering this (you gotta be in it to win it), but decided to wait and see what the show is really like (especially after having entered something in two of the three Project: Greenlight runs).
Attempting to apply an American Idol concept to a filmmaking competition where the "winner" gets a million dollar deal at Dreamworks is kind of like applying it to the casting of a Broadway show (and I didn't even see that show...will two unknowns really have the draw to keep a show running on Broadway for long). The funny part is that the people "behind the scenes" in this "contest" have probably never made films they way these contestants are being forced to (anyone think Garry Marshall has ever been told go make a one minute comedy short in a week).
But the folks "playing the game" are up to the task even if it seems like most of them don't quite have the talent.
The first two episodes aired last week actually showed some promise as the top 50 filmmakers were whittled down to 36 after a pitch session (always tough...anyone think Spielberg still makes his own pitches...or Garry Marshall). Those 36 were then put in teams of 3 to create a short film in 24 hours. Each team member got to direct one scene in each short. There was some good drama and tension involved here and at the end of this round we were down to 24 people.
The next challenge was each of these people were given an hour to direct a page of dialog from a script using a full film crew. There would be 6 people eliminated from this leaving us with 18. But we never got to see any of this as the third episode of the show opened with 18 contestants who each had to make a one minute comedy short. So FOX spent 2 hours on Monday night introducing us to each filmmaker, showing their shorts and having the judges comment on them.
Of the 18 shorts there were 4 really good ones, a whole bunch of ones that were either cute or competent and little more, one head scratcher (meaning what was the filmmaker thinking...the character in the film came off more retarded than "nerdy" just as the judges said) and two films that were so off the mark you knew who was going home the next night.
But let it never be said that American voters are predictable. Only one of the truly "bad" filmmakers went home. The other miraculously stayed. The other two who were voted off were foreigners (so much for the international contingent). And the headscratcher of a film wound up in the top 3???
While the show is an interesting attempt at finding new talent to make Hollywood films, I'm not sure this is the best way to do it. But it is kind of fun to watch...if only to make a drinking game out of the flubs, hand gestures and general stupidity of host Adrianna Costa (who did she fuck to get this job...she's easily the worst host in the entire history of the concept of hosting). If you toss in every time Garry Marshall references how we need more women directors like his sister Penny, you'll be drunk off your ass within ten minutes.
I told my wife that if there's a second run of this show next year to push my ass into at least submitting a film. I'm betting FOX will only stick with the entire first run if they're contractually obligated to. It seems Univision has been getting better ratings.
Be seeing you
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