At least partially because we have a son who enjoys creating his own movies, we tuned in to watch On the Lot, a new offering from Fox. After seeing their numbers, it appears we might have been the only ones watching.
The premise of the show is relatively simple. Like any other performance-based reality show, the contestants present their offerings and hope to be the last one standing. The difference here is that the contestants are actually not the performers – they are directing them. These contestants want to make movies.
During the audition round, we meet 50 semi-finalists, who themselves have been winnowed down from some 12,000 applicants. In the audition, the contestants simply need to take their concept and formulate a pitch, which they will then present to the judges, but they do not need to film it during round one. Just getting a concept allows the judges to eliminate 14 of the contestants. Only the remaining 36 will proceed to filming their concepts.
Update: Apparently even the host (Chelsea Handler) does not believe in the concept, as she left the show after the audition rounds, paving the way for a new host (Adrianna Costa).
Update: After several rounds of elimination – which seemed oddly compressed, perhaps because of the show’s sagging ratings – the final director standing was Will Bigham, who wins a one million dollar development deal with Dreamworks. To date, I am not sure if he has actually done anything, or if he was just able to pocket the money.
