On the Lot an Awesome TV Offering
On the Lot an Awesome TV Offering by Roxanne McDonald
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Absolutely brilliant, fresh, compelling as a real-world process is revealed. |
As a writer and film buff, I have been waiting for “On the Lot” since the first announcement. Finally, the show with more than singular components and more than myopic formatting has arrived…and by way of a most satisfying premiere, at that.
Some are saying that it adds nothing new to the already overpopulated reality TV world or to the how-we-do-it film industry shows already in existence. Sure, “On the Lot” is another “Project Greenlight,” but also departs from that format by showing the competition on the way to the
green-lit stage. That is, the “On the Lot” competition, if you ask me (and I know, you didn’t), reveals more reality than, say, a show that locks twelve people in a torture chamber to see how long they can survive. “On the Lot”, while, granted, creating unrealistic time-limits for a challenge, still issues the essential process tasks of a director going for the golden gig.
For instance, the competition, in episode one involving the first challenge and cuts of 14 hopefuls, saw judges Carrie Fisher (most well-known as Star Wars’ Princess Leia), Gary Marshall (actor and producer, but also renowned director of such pieces as Pretty Woman), and Brett Ratner (X-Men, The Last Stand, and several other box office hits) fielding pitches for a given storyline, one of five randomly distributed:
A slacker applies to the CIA and gets accepted
A man watching TV sees his own face—as either wanted or missing
A mouse is abducted to be used as a lab rat, and he/she plans escape
A priest meets the woman of his dreams just as he is about to be ordained
A crate from a military base is delivered to a house in suburbia
Ratner interviews that it is exciting to see films by directors discovering their style, but he especially looks forward to the directors who are the storytellers.
First up is Mark McClain, who bombs from utter nervousness.
The judges are kind, but after he leaves the stage, Marshall says this is going to be hard, and Fisher adds that it is going to be heart-breaking, for she can’t even choose a lobster in the restaurant.
Another director wannabe does a pitch about comparing melons in a supermarket, sex, and projectile vomiting, and Ratner (or Marshall) says it was more like a pitch for an SNL skit than a movie.
Andrew Hunt delivers a super pitch, with great presence, like that of a really good college professor, and Ratner asks if he can pitch his next film for him. Fisher says he is so good, so confident, he inspires confidence; and Marshall goes for his wallet, saying it was that good.
Jeremy Corray is so excited he goes into the pitch with what he tells us is thunder in his back pocket and lightning in his front…, but is so hyper and all over the place with his pitch about an uberslacker that Ratner says he was distracted by the pitch and Fisher tells him it was difficult to discern if he was wanting to make an impression rather than unable to contain himself.
And Will Bigham is shown giving what the judges called a “good, strong pitch” that Ratner says is very commercial…and that’s good.
The fifty (out of 12,000) who made it to the lot are as follows (according to the “On the Lot” official website and the premiere episode). Then, I have marked those names I know of who made it to the second installment or who were eliminated in the first round, and have added last names I could catch.
I apologize if I didn’t get some info, and will update as soon as there is more definite (and accurate) info. [I know there has already been some fussing and frustration over lack of notification, missing thumbnails, etc., so I prefer not to be chastised for an incomplete piece, here. Just hold on. I was so damned excited and impressed I didn’t get all the notes I could have gotten…and the first episode did not necessarily identify all the contestants who made it to round two.
Anyway…..
Phil A., 40, director and writer from New York City
Shawna B., 36, assistant producer at a movie trailer house, born and raised in Los Angeles, CA
Mark B., 29, editor, director and poker-player living in Los Angeles, CA, originally from McLean, VA
Jarett B., 29, music-video and commercial director, born and raised in Northport, NY
MADE IT TO ROUND 2: James Breese, 34, freelance writer and director living in Bristol, England
MADE IT TO ROUND 2: Will Bigham., 31, film editor, originally from Canyon, TX, currently living in Glendale, CA
MADE IT TO Jessica Brillhart, 22, computer specialist, grew up in York, PA, currently living in Brooklyn, NY
MADE IT TO ROUND 2: Jarrett C., 24, graduate student living in Los Angeles, originally from Virginia Beach, VA
ELIMINATED ROUND 1: Jeremy Corray, 30, creative services manager for an animation distribution company, from St. Louis, MO, raised in Highland, IL
ELIMINATED ROUND 1: Michael C., 22, freelance commercial director from Bloomfield, MI, currently residing in Chicago, IL
Opie Cooper, 31, creative director raised in Biloxi, MS, currently living in Jackson, MS
Karla Jean D., 25, tape operator living in Atlanta, GA, originally from Lynchburg, VA
Tamela D’Amico, 27, singer, actress and filmmaker living in Los Angeles, raised in Deer Park, NY
Jason Epperson, 30, owner of film production company, born and raised in Winchester, KY
Matthew E., 24, director, born and raised in Los Angeles, CA
MADE IT TO ROUND 2: Sam Friedlander., 27, web producer, living in Santa Monica, CA, raised in Westchester, NY.
MADE IT TO ROUND 2: Hilary Graham, 37, stay-at-home wife and mom who lives in Francestown, NH, and raised in Chelmsford, MA
Kenny G., 39, director, writer, producer, born and raised in Los Angeles, CA
MADE IT TO ROUND 2: Phil Hawkins., 22, born and raised in Manchester, England, works as a freelance director
MADE IT TO ROUND 2: Andrew Hunt, 31, promo producer from Minneapolis, MN, raised in Pittsburgh, PA
ELIMINATED ROUND 1: Rahim Jamal, 25, freelance editor/director, born and raised in Los Angeles, CA
MADE IT TO ROUND 2: Trever James, 24, film editor, currently living in Los Angeles, CA, and raised in Great Falls, MT
Shalini K., 30, freelance director, raised in Hartford, CT, currently living in Brooklyn, NY
MADE IT TO ROUND 2: Mateen K., 41, teacher, currently living in Los Angeles, CA, raised in the Bronx, NY.
MADE IT TO ROUND 2: Gil Kruger, 23, development associate living in New York City, raised in Verona, NJ
MADE IT TO ROUND 2: Claudia LaBianca., 28, painter and graphic artist, born in Bagheria, Sicily, Italy, currently lives in Miami, FL.
MADE IT TO ROUND 2: Zach Lipovsky, 23, special effects editor from Vancouver, BC, Canada.
MADE IT TO ROUND 2: Kenny Luby., 28, freelance director and painter, born and raised in Owego, NY.
Justin L., 24, digital post-production engineer, born and raised in Orange County, CA
Dean L., 36, writer/director, living in Los Angeles, CA, originally from New York City
MADE IT TO ROUND 2: Brent McKorkle, 34, freelancer producer, born and raised in Dallas, TX
Mark McLain, 22, film editor, born and raised in Dyer, IN
ELIMINATED ROUND 1: Ramsey Mellette, 34, production sound mixer living in Los Angeles, CA, raised in Denver, CO
Tamika M., 33, freelance production supervisor, living in Los Angeles, CA, originally from Miami, FL
MADE IT TO ROUND 2: Marty Martin., 26 creative director of a multimedia company, born and raised in Seattle, WA
MADE IT TO ROUND 2: David May, 23, admissions counselor living in Santa Ana, CA, but grew up in Aurora, CO.
Abigail S., 37, capital campaign coordinator, living in Los Angeles, originally from Toronto
Amy S., 21, freelance director living in Los Angeles
MADE IT TO ROUND 2: Hannah Sink, 23, freelance producer/director born and raised in Raleigh, NC
Hilari S., 40, independent filmmaker living in Los Angeles, CA, raised in Chicago, Atlanta and NYC
MADE IT TO ROUND 2: Jeff Siebenick, 30, freelance editor, living in Los Angeles, CA, originally from Toledo, OH
Jeff S., 27, filmmaker and waiter living in San Diego, CA, originally from South Lake Tahoe, CA
Kai S., 39, actress living in Los Angeles, CA, originally from Toronto, Ontario, Canada
MADE IT TO ROUND 2: Randy S., 29, freelance director/editor from New York City
MADE IT TO ROUND 2: Shira-Lee Shalit, 38, acting teacher, born in Johannesburg, South Africa, now living in New York
MADE IT TO ROUND 2: Adam Stein., 29, freelance film editor, born in Miami, FL, currently living in Los Angeles
MADE IT TO ROUND 2: Daniel T., 26, special events coordinator living in Los Angeles
MADE IT TO ROUND 2: Adam W., 24, freelance camera operator from Birmingham, AL
ELIMINATED ROUND 1: Mikki W., 39, filmmaker originally from Sacramento, currently living in Los Angeles, CA
MADE IT TO ROUND 2: Carolina Z., 36, commercial director, originally from Santander, Spain, currently living in Los Angeles, CA
Again, my apologies to the others who are not marked as in or out, and my kudos to a great, great reality TV competition show. Absolutely riveting for those of us who know the horrors of collaboration or the terrors of having to pitch to beg for money, or for those of us who just love film and are interested in the film-making process.
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