Quiet On The Set...

I had just received a phone call from an associate about a new show called, "On The Lot". Well, it's not really a "New" show, but to the viewing public it's going to be fun to watch.

Another Reality Show
Yes. This particular show, co-produced by Stephen Spielberg (The reality show grasp has him now), is about filmmaker hopefuls that will compete against elimination for a grand prize of a million dollar development deal with DreamWorks - already, that's an amazing reward for an aspiring filmmaker. Of course, a million dollars is not much in today's creative landscape, however the idea is that a new filmmaker will be able to get a foot in the door and begin a new dream career.

Over the past several months contestants were encouraged to upload their mini-masterpieces to the website and according to the Fox website stats, there were over 12,000 submissions from more than 30 countries around the world.

Following The Dream
I perused the list of some 50 semi-finalists and just under half are residing in L.A. (Not a big surprise). Further, 40 out of the 50 are already working professionally in the film industry (Again, not a big surprise).

So, does that mean that only people in L.A. knew about the contest? Are people outside of L.A., not working in the film industry, just not interested in a film career? Maybe I am reading more into this than I should, but considering I attended film school in Seattle, Washington, I am always interested in success outside of what would be considered "The norm". Incidentally, there is one contestant on the list from Seattle - make me proud!

The regular one-hour "Idol" style show will feature the movies submitted by the candidates, which could be as entertaining as watching YouTube or AcceptableTV (VH1) for an hour. Then, the next night called the "Box Office" will be the results show - you will also have an opportunity to vote for your favorite flicks, as well.

Will the show be a hit? That's up to you to decide. At any rate, it will provide mainstream exposure for new filmmakers. Sure there is the web, but really can you create a successful career as a movie mogul based solely on the web? TV is where it's at, but I'm biased...

The show will air Tuesday (May 22, 2007) on Fox.