On the Lot

If you want to see a good find a director through reality TV television show, skip this one all together and watch Project Greenlight. Or maybe even paint drying would be more interesting. They start out with fifty candidates vying for a spot directing a movie with a million dollar budget. They should have broken it down to twenty candidates before the show went on the air. There is just way too many people to keep track of. You don't care when people are sent home because you really don't know anything about them. Also Steven Spielberg produces but nowhere to be seen. They also dug up Carrie Fisher and Gary Marshall from the depths of Hollywood. Bret Ratner is also there pretending to be some kind of authority. If they were gonna make a not very good cop-buddy with one hundred crappy sequels than I say call Bret. Avoid at all costs!!

I love my movies. I come out of the cinema with lots of opinions and theories (some good - some bad) and my friends tell me to shut up already.

Here we have a bunch of aspiring producers (some good - some bad) having their short films completely taken apart by well known directors each week.

What more can I ask for? Can wait each week to see what new ideas there are. Even the bad ones aren't that bad because they end in 2 minutes.

I pity those that are around me when I'm watching this - like my friends and family say "shut up already and watch the show!"

50 amateur filmmakers are brought to Hollywood to compete for a million dollar contract at Dreamworks. Garry Marshall, Carrie Fisher, Brett Radner, and others are the judges over its run. The first episode has the contestants making pitches. The remaining 36 split into groups of 3 to make a short film. 12 are eliminated but the next challenge for the remaining 24 was not aired. Episodes 3 and 4 show and judge one minute shorts by the final 18. The rest of the episodes has the show reduced and cheapened to burn off the remainder once a week.

This tries to be a sincere competition show like Project Runway for movie directors. The first episode is problematic because it's not fun. There are too many people and few of them draw in the audience. Pitch meetings are not cinematic and do not provide great reality TV material. The first episode is a complete bust. The second episode is better and Zach Lipovsky's special effects wizardry is really the highlight. The whining and fighting do not always work. The show struggles to figure out the formula. It's a lot of hit and miss. A few shorts are actually interesting and wonderful but there is a lot of crap to dig through. The show kept losing viewers and it's slow grinding TV death.

This show is actually not that bad. But I did actually expect something more original from Spielberg. On Yahoo!, in the statistics section, they said that this show only had a sixth of the viewers from American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance. Because of Hollywood's reputation, not many people are going to be interested in the reality show behind it because all they can do is pick up the nearest tabloid.

However, for aspiring filmmakers or producers or editors, etc... this show actually will help a lot after you look past the drama. Things from terminology to techniques can be reaped from this show.

My prediction is that On The Lot may not have the most viewers, but will have the most loyal.

Anyways, about the show itself, it's not that different from American Idol or SYTYCD. The only things different I could find is that there is no English judge (though Brett Ratner is pretty much the American version of Simon), there are a lot more challenges in one show, and they skipped the audition process (for good reason, who wants to see hours upon hours of seriously crappy videos?) Watch this if you are a drama addict, or is interesting in seeing into the directing business. But don't see it if you're looking for a unique reality talent search show. (oxymoron...)

I'm not completely blown away with this new Reality Series. However, I do like watching the films these new film makers come out with. Some of these guys really have talent. The films have been entertaining & obviously a lot of work has gone into them. The only thing holding this series back is... #1 the host - she's terrible. She brings nothing to the series & most of the time is flat. She is no Ryan Seacrest. #2 the judges - Carrie Fisher is most of the time... irritating.. She has gotten better toward the end of the series but for God's sake - please come up with better criticism then... I like you I think your talented I just didn't like the film. Then there is Garry Marshall - he definitely has the background but if I hear one more "It was _______ who said" Good grief man, do your kids roll their eyes every time? The guest judges have been the best part. Especially the ones who offer real criticism. Try this type of shot or rework the script because this line didn't work or your filming too close etc. Carri & Garry both need to listen to them more. On the whole I think this works. However, if they do another - get rid of the hostess & replace Garry or Carrie.