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Fox's On the Lot, a new reality show from Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett, searches for Hollywood's next top director. Here are the five things you need to know before the camera starts rolling tonight at 9 pm/ET. 1) On the Lot is like YouTube meets American Idol… at least that's how Mark Burnett thinks of it. YouTube and Idol are the constant reference points for Survivor and Apprentice exec producer Burnett, who brainstormed the idea for On the Lot over a meal with the
Fox's On the Lot, a new reality show from Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett, searches for Hollywood's next top director. Here are the five things you need to know before the camera starts rolling tonight at 9 pm/ET.
1) On the Lot is like YouTube meets American Idol… at least that's how Mark Burnett thinks of it. YouTube and Idol are the constant reference points for Survivorand Apprentice exec producer Burnett, who brainstormed the idea for On the Lot over a meal with the show's other executive producer, Steven Spielberg. Close to 12,000 aspiring directors submitted films, and the top 50 will compete for a development deal at Spielberg's company, DreamWorks. The deal doesn't guarantee that the winner will see his or her movie in theaters next summer, but it's a lucrative foot in the door. They'll receive $500,000 up front, plus another $500,000 to option scripts and get to work. "In the YouTube universe, we're seeing more and more young filmmakers who have proven to be talented and exciting," Burnett says. "We're going to give one of them an incredible shot."
2) Filmmaking can be complicated… and so can reality shows about filmmaking. On Idol, thecontestants sing and youvote. On The Apprentice,they do a task and theDonald fires somebody. ButOn the Lot, in its early shows,is a little trickier, with avariety of tasks designed totest the skills needed by adirector. The top 50 start bypitching a film concept to apanel of judges. The top 36contestants are dividedinto 12 groups of threeand given 24 hoursto shoot a three-pagescene. Four of thegroups are eliminated,and the remaining 24 eachshoot a short usingprofessional actors onone of five sets.After six moreeliminations, thetop 18 each makea one-minutemovie, which will be aired. At that point, thepublic begins voting for itsfavorite, and the processbecomes simpler. "Everyweekend millions ofAmericans vote with theirwallets by choosing whatmovies to see," Burnettsays. "On this show they'revoting with the phone."
3) Carrie Fisher is not Simon Cowell… but she kind of likes him. For the initialepisodes, the judges consistof actress and writer Carrie Fisher and directors GarryMarshall (Pretty Woman),Brett Ratner (X-Men:The Last Stand) andJon Avnet (Fried Green Tomatoes). Fisher is aroundfor the duration, but theother judges will changethroughout the series. Aswith Idol, the judges critiquebut don't make the decisionsonce viewers begin voting.If there's a designated"Simon" on the panel, it won'tbe Fisher. "I don't want to bethat!" she says. "I've stayedin relationships for yearsrather than break up withsomeone, because I'd like toavoid confrontation. Whowants to reject someone?But I think Simon is playinga role. It's very unpleasantfor the people he'sdoing that to, but I hear he'sa very nice man. In fact, Imet him once and he seemedpleasant enough."
4) They're looking for the next Brett Ratner… not the next Robert Altman. It's allabout boffo box office. "Thepublic is choosing," Burnettsays. "Let's face it, if thepublic has chosen this personafter 13 weeks of watchingtheir films, then they'vereached a big, general audience.Somebody may be anartistic, avant-garde filmmaker,but if nobody pays tosee their movies, it's notgonna work. Look at howmany TV shows have failedmiserably. I mean, look at30 Rockor Studio 60— verywell made, I enjoy them, butthey [didn't do well]."
5) There's no place for backstabbing and conniving in Hollywood… at least that's what Mark Burnett wants to believe. Burnett's otherreality shows often showcaselying, double-crossing andother morally dubious behaviorthat would seem naturalamong ambitious youngsterslooking to land an agent, aLexus and a house in Malibu.This time, though, he's notpredicting any new Omarosas."I don't think there'll be anyof that backstabbing," heinsists. "You don't see thaton American Idol. Hey,there are always personalities,and you like some peoplemore than others. But in theend, this is about the films."
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