These days, reality television is all about fulfilling the dream come true for the winning contestant. We have small town beauty pageant winners turned Top Models, struggling aspiring singers turned overnight singing Idols, and even mid-level managers turned major business executives thanks to Donald Trump. And now, even the behind-the-scenes budding film directors will have a chance to fulfill their childhood dream.
This coming May, the new reality show "On the Lot" created by Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett will premier on FOX. The show features 16 undiscovered directors and challenges them to create a short film each week. The incentive: A one million dollar film development deal with DreamWorks.
The competition will air two nights a week and the each of the filmmaker’s fate will be determined weekly by the audience votes. Beginning the first week, a one-hour episode "Film Premiere" will debut the aspiring directors short films. At the conclusion, audiences will have a chance to vote and the next night, the half-hour show "Box Office" will air the results.
The 16 promising filmmakers will be divided into teams and will produce the short films weekly based on a chosen genre, everything from comedies to dramas, romance to sci-fi, and horror to thrillers. They will face challenges of time constraints, minimal budgets, and dealing with writers, the cast, and the crew. Hollywood will suddenly be a reality.
Once the short films are premiered, each film and its respective director will be critiqued before a live audience by three judges. The judges include one top motion picture executive, one major film critic, and one guest judge each week. The guest judge will be a respected film director that specializes in one of the genres featured that week. All of these critiques will only go only so far though, since it is truly the viewer’s opinion that is valued the most.
Already the show’s competitors have been catching the eyes of Hollywood. One of the budding film directors, Brian Ochab agrees the show has already helped him significantly. I’ve been getting calls from people in the industry…it’s a good sign". In addition to his short film submission, "Pitching Loose Women", a 45-second introduction was also required. Brian designed a 1966-type Batman introduction complete with many of the fun and familiar aspects of the T.V. show. Says Brian, "It was something different and unpredictable. Hopefully the film and the intro will show a resourceful filmmaker who goes the extra mile and has a vision…the kind of filmmaker who knows exactly what do with a development deal".
Ochab, whose short film can be viewed online at the "On the Lot" website ( https://films.thelot.com/films/25670) along with the other hopeful candidates, will only continue to grow more popular once the show airs May 16th. While only one of the film directors will be declared the winner of the show, all will certainly be experiencing the opportunity of a lifetime as they premier their own films on national television. Who knows, maybe America will find its next Steven Spielberg?
"On the Lot" will premier May 16th on FOX. For more information on the show please visit www.thelot.com
