On the Lot - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

On the Lot is a short-lived reality show competition produced by Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg

Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...

and Mark Burnett

Mark Burnett

Mark Burnett is a British television producer and executive producer, based in the United States. He currently is the executive producer of five network television series with seven hours of network programming. Works with which Burnett is associated have won multiple awards and recognition...

. The show, which aired on Fox

Fox Broadcasting Company

Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

, featured filmmakers competing in weekly elimination competitions, with the ultimate prize of a million dollar development deal at DreamWorks

DreamWorks

DreamWorks Pictures, also known as DreamWorks, LLC, DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC, DreamWorks Studios or DW Studios, LLC, is an American film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games and television programming...

. On the Lot premiered May 22, 2007, and aired Tuesdays.

The show was initially hosted by Chelsea Handler

Chelsea Handler

Chelsea Joy Handler is an American stand-up comedian, humorist, television host, actress, model and best-selling author. She currently hosts a late-night talk show titled, Chelsea Lately on the E! Cable Television Network. In 2009 she won a Bravo A-List Award...

but she quit early on - as she later said "I quit because I smelled the disaster happening before it did." She was replaced by Adrianna Costa

Adrianna Costa

Adrianna Costa is an American television personality best known as an entertainment reporter and a reality show host.-Biography:...

.

The structure of the show involved the initial episodes narrowing 50 semi-finalists down to 18 finalists. After the audition stage, the program was a one-hour show where movies were screened ("Film Premiere") followed the next day by a half-hour results show ("Box Office"). Viewers could vote each week for their favorite directors, which resulted in the elimination of the directors with the lowest vote totals. Votes could be made online at thelot.com, in addition to landline calls and Verizon text messages, and was permitted for two hours after the show.

Originally scheduled for separate episodes on consecutive nights, the "Film Premiere" episodes eventually aired on Tuesday nights at 8:00PM/7:00PM CT, with voting results as part of the following week's episode, as of May 31, 2007. The show also aired in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

(on CTV

CTV television network

CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...

), on People+Arts

People+Arts

Liv is an entertainment television channel in Latin America. It is jointly owned by Discovery Communications.The channel was launched in October 1997 as the local version of Travel Channel...

in Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

, on FOX8

FOX8

Fox8 is an Australian cable and satellite channel available on Foxtel, Austar and Optus Television's subscription platforms...

in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, on STAR Movies

STAR Movies

STAR Movies is an Asian movie channel owned by STAR TV and Fox International Channels, subsidiaries of News Corporation.-History:STAR Movies was launched on 1 May 1994...

in Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

, and on STAR World

STAR World

STAR World is an Asian English language cable and satellite television network owned by Star TV and Fox International Channels, fully owned subsidiaries of News Corporation. The channel is the successor of STAR Plus, a subsidiary of News Corporation...

in Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

and Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

. The show also aired on SABC 2

SABC 2

SABC 2 is a South African television channel owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation . SABC 2 broadcasts programming in English, Afrikaans, Venda, and Tsonga.It was created in 1996, after the SABC restructured its television channels...

in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

from July 19 until early August, when it was abruptly removed from the schedule. From the 11 December 2008 SABC 2

SABC 2

begun broadcasting On the Lot once again.

Semi-finalists

The show is self-described as a worldwide search to discover new filmmaking talent. The official On The Lot site gathers 12,000 submissions from all over the world and the submission deadline was February 16, 2007. These 12,000 submissions yielded 50 semi-finalists. Of them, 48 currently reside in the United States (21 of them in Los Angeles, CA) and 40 already work professionally in the film industry. The oldest contestant is 41 years old and the youngest is 21.

Finalists

The eighteen finalists, selected after the initial audition rounds, are:

Will Bigham, 31, film editor, originally from Canyon, Texas
Canyon, Texas
Canyon is a city in Randall County, Texas, United States. The population was 12,875 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Randall County. It is the home of West Texas A&M University and Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum. Palo Duro Canyon State Park is some twelve miles east of Canyon...

, currently living in Glendale, California
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...

; graduated from Texas Tech
Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University, often referred to as Texas Tech or TTU, is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and originally known as Texas Technological College, it is the leading institution of the Texas Tech University System and has the...

and attended the FSU Film School
Florida State University College of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts
The Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts , located in Tallahassee, Florida, is one of fifteen colleges comprising the Florida State University . The College was founded in 1989...

. Bigham is the winner for 2007
Jessica Brillhart, 22, computer specialist, grew up in York, Pennsylvania
York, Pennsylvania
York, known as the White Rose City , is a city located in York County, Pennsylvania, United States which is in the South Central region of the state. The population within the city limits was 43,718 at the 2010 census, which was a 7.0% increase from the 2000 count of 40,862...

, currently living in Brooklyn, New York; attended NYU Film School
Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts is one of the 15 schools that make up New York University ....
Jason Epperson, 30, owner of film production company, born and raised in Winchester, Kentucky
Winchester, Kentucky
Winchester is a city in and the county seat of Clark County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 16,724 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Lexington-Fayette, KY Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
Sam Friedlander, 27, web producer, raised in Westchester, New York, living in Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
Hilary Graham, 37, raised in Chelmsford, Massachusetts
Chelmsford, Massachusetts
Chelmsford is a suburban town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts in the Greater Boston area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town's population was 33,802. The Census Bureau's 2008 population estimate for the town was 34,409, ranking it 14th in population among the 54 municipalities in...

, stay-at-home wife and mom who lives in Francestown, New Hampshire
Francestown, New Hampshire
Francestown is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,562 at the 2010 census.- History :Incorporated in 1772, Francestown takes its name from Frances Deering Wentworth, the wife of colonial governor John Wentworth. There were 928 residents when the first...
Phil Hawkins, 22, born and raised in Manchester, England, works as a freelance director
Andrew Hunt, 31, promo producer raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

. living in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
Trever James, 24, film editor, raised in Great Falls, Montana
Great Falls, Montana
Great Falls is a city in and the county seat of Cascade County, Montana, United States. The population was 58,505 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Great Falls, Montana Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Cascade County...

, currently living in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
Shalini Kantayya, 30, freelance director, raised in Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...

, currently living in Brooklyn, New York

Mateen Kemet, 41, teacher, raised in the Bronx, NY, currently splitting time between Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...

and Los Angeles, California; attended film school at Chapman University
Chapman University
Chapman University is a private, non-profit university located in Orange, California affiliated with the Christian Church . Known for its blend of liberal arts and professional programs, Chapman University encompasses seven schools and colleges: Lawrence and Kristina Dodge College of Film and Media...
Claudia La Bianca, 28, painter and graphic artist, born in Bagheria, Sicily, Italy, currently lives in Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
Zach Lipovsky
Zach Lipovsky
Zach Lipovsky is a visual effects specialist from Vancouver, British Columbia. He has also worked as a director, actor, writer, and editor in the film industry. Lipovsky was a finalist on the Fox reality show On the Lot ....

, 23, special effects editor from Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

, BC, Canada
Marty Martin, 26 creative director of a multimedia company, born and raised in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
David May, 23, admissions counselor living in Santa Ana, California
Santa Ana, California
Santa Ana is the county seat and second most populous city in Orange County, California, and with a population of 324,528 at the 2010 census, Santa Ana is the 57th-most populous city in the United States....

, but grew up in Aurora, Colorado
Aurora, Colorado
City of Aurora is a Home Rule Municipality spanning Arapahoe, Adams, and Douglas counties in Colorado. Aurora is an eastern suburb of the Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area . The city is the third most populous city in the Colorado and the 56th most populous city in the...

; attended film school at Chapman University
Chapman University
Chapman University is a private, non-profit university located in Orange, California affiliated with the Christian Church . Known for its blend of liberal arts and professional programs, Chapman University encompasses seven schools and colleges: Lawrence and Kristina Dodge College of Film and Media...
Shira-Lee Shalit, 38, acting teacher, born in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

, South Africa, now living in New York
Adam Stein
Adam Stein
Adam Stein is an American film director, writer and editor working in Los Angeles, California.Stein graduated from Harvard University and attended film school at the University of Southern California, with a focus on directing...

, 29, freelance film editor, born in Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...

, currently living in Los Angeles
Carolina Zorilla de San Martin, 36, commercial director, originally from Santander, Cantabria
Santander, Cantabria
The port city of Santander is the capital of the autonomous community and historical region of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain. Located east of Gijón and west of Bilbao, the city has a population of 183,446 .-History:...

, Spain, currently living in Los Angeles
Kenny Luby, 28, freelance director and painter, currently living in Owego, New York
Owego (village), New York
Owego is a village in and the county seat of Tioga County, New York, USA. The population was 3,911 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Binghamton Metropolitan Statistical Area...

Elimination chart

|colspan="2" align="right"|
!Final 18
!Final 15
!Final 12
!Final 10
!Final 6
!Final 5
!Final 4
!Final 3
|-
!Place
!Contestant
!colspan="8" align="center"|Result
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="palegoldenrod"|1
|Will Bigham
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|Top 3
|align="center" bgcolor="PeachPuff"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="palegoldenrod"|Winner
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="palegoldenrod"|2
|Jason Epperson
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|Top 3
|align="center" bgcolor="PeachPuff"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightCyan"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightCyan"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="palegoldenrod"|Runner-Up
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="palegoldenrod"|3
|Adam Stein
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="palegoldenrod"|Elim
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="palegoldenrod" rowspan="1"|4
|Sam Friedlander
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightCyan"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightCyan"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="palegoldenrod"|Elim
|bgcolor="666666"|
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="palegoldenrod" rowspan="1"|5
|Zach Lipovsky
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|Top 3
|align="center" bgcolor="PeachPuff"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="palegoldenrod"|Elim
|colspan="2" bgcolor="666666" style="border-top:none;"|
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="palegoldenrod" rowspan="1"|6
|Andrew Hunt
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightCyan"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightCyan"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightCyan"|
|align="center" bgcolor="PaleGoldenrod"|Elim
|colspan="3" bgcolor="666666" style="border-top:none;"|
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="palegoldenrod" rowspan="4"|7-10
|Mateen Kemet
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="PeachPuff"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightCyan"|
|align="center" bgcolor="PaleTurquoise"|Elim
|colspan="4" bgcolor="666666"|
|-
|Kenny Luby
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightCyan"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightCyan"|
|align="center" bgcolor="PaleTurquoise"|Elim
|colspan="4" bgcolor="666666" style="border-top:none;"|
|-
|Hilary Graham
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="palegoldenrod"|Elim
|colspan="4" bgcolor="666666" style="border-top:none;"|
|-
|Shalini Kantayya
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="palegoldenrod"|Elim
|colspan="4" bgcolor="666666" style="border-top:none;"|
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="palegoldenrod" rowspan="2"|11-12
|Shira-Lee Shalit
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightCyan"|
|align="center" bgcolor="PaleTurquoise"|Elim
|colspan="5" bgcolor="666666" style="border-top:none;"|
|-
|David May
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightCyan"|
|align="center" bgcolor="palegoldenrod"|Elim
|colspan="5" bgcolor="666666" style="border-top:none;"|
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="palegoldenrod" rowspan="3"|13-15
|Jessica Brillhart
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="LightSalmon"|Elim
|colspan="7" bgcolor="666666" style="border-top:none;"|
|-
|Marty Martin
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="PaleTurquoise"|Elim
|colspan="6" bgcolor="666666" style="border-top:none;"|
|-
|Trever James
|align="center" bgcolor="LightGoldenrodYellow"|
|align="center" bgcolor="palegoldenrod"|Elim
|colspan="6" bgcolor="666666" style="border-top:none;"|
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="palegoldenrod" rowspan="3"|16-18
|Phil Hawkins
|align="center" bgcolor="palegoldenrod"|Elim
|colspan="7" bgcolor="666666" style="border-top:none;"|
|-
|Claudia La Bianca
|align="center" bgcolor="palegoldenrod"|Elim
|colspan="7" bgcolor="666666" style="border-top:none;"|
|-
|Carolina Zorilla de San Martin
|align="center" bgcolor="palegoldenrod"|Elim
|colspan="7" bgcolor="666666" style="border-top:none;"|
|}>

Audition rounds

The judges for the audition rounds were Carrie Fisher

Carrie Fisher

Carrie Frances Fisher is an American actress, novelist, screenwriter, and lecturer. She is most famous for her portrayal of Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, her bestselling novel Postcards from the Edge, for which she wrote the screenplay to the film of the same name, and her...

, Brett Ratner

Brett Ratner

Brett Ratner is an American film director, film producer and music video director. He is best known for directing the Rush Hour film series, The Family Man, Red Dragon, X-Men: The Last Stand, and Tower Heist. He was also a producer on the Fox drama series, Prison Break.- Early life :Ratner was...

, and Garry Marshall

Garry Marshall

Garry Kent Marshall is an American actor, director, writer and producer. His notable credits include creating Happy Days and The Odd Couple and directing Nothing In Common, Pretty Woman, Runaway Bride, Valentine's Day, and The Princess Diaries.-Early life:Marshall was born in the New York City...

.

In round one, the 50 semi-finalists were each given one of five loglines, and had approximately twelve hours to expand the idea into a full story and pitch the idea to the judges. After all of the pitches were delivered, 14 contestants were eliminated.

In round two of the auditions, Jon Avnet

Jon Avnet

Jonathan Michael "Jon" Avnet is an American director, writer and producer.-Early life:Avnet was born in Brooklyn, the son of Joan Bertha and Lester Francis Avnet, a corporate executive and electronics distributor. He attended Great Neck North High School in Great Neck, New York...

filled in for judge Garry Marshall

Garry Marshall

. The remaining contestants were given 24 hours to write, shoot, and edit a two-and-a-half-minute short film based on the theme "out of time". The contestants were asked to divide themselves into groups of three, and each of the group members was responsible for directing one of the three scenes of the film at one of the three filming locations. Each contestant was judged individually based on his or her movie scene. After this round, 14 contestants were eliminated.
In round three, each of the 24 remaining contestants was given one hour with a professional set and film crew to shoot a given page of script. Almost none of this final challenge was aired on the televised episode, but short selections of the task and judgment footage were included in several outtake clips on the show's official site. After the announcement of the show's winner, all of these clips were posted on the website. The one-page shorts were categorized into four different scenarios: the rotunda, the law library, the cop bar and the bedroom. The eliminations went unaired, as the finalists had been chosen by the time the next episode aired live.

Week 1

The first challenge for the 18 finalists was to create one-minute comedy shorts. The Film Premiere episode aired each contestant's full short, as well as a short interview/bio shot during the filming of the short. The Box Office show will result in the three directors with the lowest vote totals being eliminated. The judges for week 1 of the finals were Garry Marshall

Garry Marshall

, Carrie Fisher

Carrie Fisher

, and D. J. Caruso

D. J. Caruso

Daniel John "D.J." Caruso is an American director and producer. Caruso has directed the films Disturbia, Two for the Money, Taking Lives, The Salton Sea, Eagle Eye and I Am Number Four. He has also directed television episodes for shows such as The Shield, Over There, Smallville, and Dark Angel...

Weeks 2-4

See also: On the Lot Films - Week Two, On the Lot Films - Week Three, and On the Lot Films - Week Four

On the Lot was reduced to one episode per week beginning June 5, only appearing on Tuesdays. This move has been said to "cut production costs."

For weeks 2-4, five of the remaining 15 contestants were selected to screen a short no longer than three minutes, filmed in five days; however, it has been disputed whether or not this is in fact true, as these films were the "personal submission films" from the auditions (which were passed off as new films without comment). The one of the five with the least audience votes was eliminated. The results were shown on the next week's episode, while the next set of five films were screened.

In week three, three of the five contestants from who showed films in week two were declared safe. Trever James and Hilary Graham had to wait until the end of the show to see who would be eliminated. In week four, the five contestants who showed films in week three were told, at the start of the show, who had been eliminated.

Joining regular judges Carrie Fisher

Carrie Fisher

and Garry Marshall

Garry Marshall

, were Michael Bay

Michael Bay

Michael Benjamin Bay is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing high-budget action films characterized by their fast edits, stylistic visuals and substantial practical special effects...

for week two, David Frankel

David Frankel

David Frankel is an American director, screenwriter and executive producer. He is the son of Max Frankel, a former executive editor of The New York Times...

for week three, and Wes Craven

Wes Craven

Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, perhaps best known as the director of many horror films, particularly slasher films, including the famed A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, featuring the iconic Freddy Krueger character, the...

for week four.

Weeks 5-6

See also: On the Lot Films - Week Five and On the Lot Films - Week Six

In weeks five and six, the contestants were split into two groups of six. The first group was tasked with making two-minute comedy shorts in five days, while the second group's shorts were of the horror genre.

In contrast to the previous screenings, clips from the production of these films were aired showing fellow contestants visiting each set, thus ensuring that the films were in fact produced during the show period.

Mark Waters was the guest judge for week five, and Eli Roth

Eli Roth

Eli Raphael Roth is an American film director, producer, writer and actor. He is known for his role as Donny "The Bear Jew" Donowitz in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds for which he won both a SAG Award and a BFCA Critic's Choice Award...

was the guest judge for week six.

Weeks 7-8

See also: On the Lot Films - Week Seven and On the Lot Films - Week eight

In weeks seven and eight, the contestants remained in the same groups as the previous weeks. The first group of five was tasked with making shorts based on the theme, "when two worlds collide". The second group's shorts were action films. Two contestants would be eliminated each of these two weeks.

Luke Greenfield

Luke Greenfield

Luke Greenfield is an American film director. Greenfield was born in Manhasset, New York and was raised in Westport, Connecticut. He is best known for directing The Animal and The Girl Next Door. In July 2007, he appeared as a guest judge on the filmmaking reality show On the Lot...

was the guest judge for week seven and Antoine Fuqua

Antoine Fuqua

Antoine Fuqua is an American film director. He directed the film Training Day as well as Tears of the Sun, King Arthur, Shooter and Brooklyn's Finest...

was the guest judge for week eight.

Week 9

In week nine, the final six contestants were tasked with making romantic comedies. Brad Silberling

Brad Silberling

Bradley Mitchell Silberling is an American television and film director. He is married to the actress Amy Brenneman, who he met on the set of NYPD Blue and with whom he has two children, Charlotte Tucker and Bodhi Russell...

was the guest judge for week nine.

Week 10

In week ten, the final five contestants were tasked with making films featuring automobiles for "Road Night." Jerry O'Connell

Jerry O'Connell

Jeremiah "Jerry" O'Connell is an American actor, best known for his roles in the TV series Sliders, Andrew Clements in My Secret Identity, Vern Tessio in the film Stand by Me, Charlie Carbone in Kangaroo Jack, and Detective Woody Hoyt on the drama Crossing Jordan...

was a special guest star, and Gary Ross

Gary Ross

Gary Ross is an American writer, director, and actor. He is best known for directing Pleasantville and Seabiscuit, both of which featured Tobey Maguire in the lead role...

was the guest judge. Penny Marshall

Penny Marshall

Penny Marshall is an American actress, producer and director.After playing several small roles for television, she was cast as Laverne DeFazio in the sitcom Laverne and Shirley...

filled in for regular judge Garry Marshall

Garry Marshall

Week 11

In week eleven, four remaining contestants were tasked with making films inspired by the contest-winning logline

Log line

A log line or logline is a brief summary of a television program or film, often providing both a synopsis of the program's plot, and an emotional "hook" to stimulate interest.-Uses:There are two principal uses for loglines:...

: "A man wakes up, rolls out of bed and finds himself in a dress...but can't remember what happened the night before." This week's guest judge was F. Gary Gray

F. Gary Gray

Felix Gary Gray is an American music video and film director.-Life and career:Gray began his career in 1992 with his music video for Ice Cube's "It Was a Good Day." The video, a literal adaptation of the lyrics, was critically well received. He would go on to direct subsequent videos for Ice Cube,...

Season finale

In the first half of the season finale, the three remaining contestants were each asked to choose two of their films to show (after the show had announced the week before that there would be new finale films). Jason Epperson showed Eternal Waters and Sweet. Will Bigham showed Glass Eye and The Yes Men. Adam Stein

Adam Stein

Adam Stein is an American film director, writer and editor working in Los Angeles, California.Stein graduated from Harvard University and attended film school at the University of Southern California, with a focus on directing...

showed Dough: The Musical and Army Guy.

A week later, in the second half of the finale, all fifteen eliminated contestants returned and the three finalists each chose their favorite film by an eliminated contestant. Adam chose Die Hardly Working by Zach Lipovsky

Zach Lipovsky

Zach Lipovsky is a visual effects specialist from Vancouver, British Columbia. He has also worked as a director, actor, writer, and editor in the film industry. Lipovsky was a finalist on the Fox reality show On the Lot ....

. Will chose Under the Gun by Hilary Graham. Jason chose Catch by Mateen Kemet. At one point, the host announced the crash of the voting website, which meant that only phoned-in votes would count. Then, Adam was eliminated. Host Adrianna Costa

Adrianna Costa

Adrianna Costa is an American television personality best known as an entertainment reporter and a reality show host.-Biography:...

asked the judges who they thought should win the competition and Carrie Fisher

Carrie Fisher

chose Will, and Garry Marshall

Garry Marshall

chose Jason. Will became the winner. The last minutes of the show showed Will arriving at the gates of DreamWorks

DreamWorks

and being met there by Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg

himself. Spielberg praised a few of Will's films and it ended with them walking through the gates of DreamWorks together.

Cast

The following actors have appeared in two or more short films over the course of the series:

Tatyana Ali
Tatyana Ali
Tatyana Marisol Ali is an American actress and R&B singer, best known for her childhood role as Ashley Banks on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air...
David Burtka
David Burtka
-Background:Burtka was born in Dearborn, Michigan, grew up in Canton, Michigan, and graduated from Plymouth-Salem High School in 1993. He trained in acting at Interlochen Center for the Arts, obtained his Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Michigan and had further training at the William...
Erin Cahill
Erin Cahill
Erin Jessica Cahill , is an actress best known for her role as Jen Scotts on the television series Power Rangers: Time Force. Appeared at Power Morphicon 2010 in Pasadena, CA....
Richard Carmen
Richard Carmen
Richard Carmen is an American character actor. He is known for his leading role in the 2007 Sundance film Zoo where he played the main character's brother. Richard also appeared in two short films featured on the Fox reality series On The Lot and a role in the 2009 horror movie Zombies of Mass...
Jonathan Chase
Greg Collins
Bayne Gibby
Mark Feuerstein
Mark Feuerstein
-Career:Feuerstein got his break-through on television as a recurring character on the daytime soap opera Loving. When director Nancy Meyers was casting What Women Want, her daughter recognized Feuerstein from Practical Magic and insisted that her mother cast him...
Patrick Kerr
Patrick Kerr
Patrick Kerr is an American television actor. He is probably best known for his recurring role as Noel Shempsky on Frasier...
Frederick Koehler
Frederick Koehler
Frederick Koehler is an American actor best known for his role as Chip on Kate & Allie as well as Andrew Schillinger on the HBO drama Oz.- Film work :* Death Race 2 -- Lists* Death Race – Lists...
Joy Osmanski
Joy Osmanski
Joy Kathleen Osmanski is an American actress. Her best known role to date is that of the role of Darcy on The Loop.-Career:Osmanski voices "Julie" on the FOX animated show Allen Gregory...
Randall Park
Randall Park
Randall Park is an American comedian, writer, and actor.Park was born and raised in Los Angeles, California in the U.S., to Korean parents. Park graduated from Hamilton High School's Humanities Magnet Program...
Rich Pierrelouis
Kimberly Scott
Kimberly Scott
Kimberly Aileen Scott is an American actress.-Life and career:Scott was born in Texas. She attended school at Texas A&M University-Kingsville and the University of Texas before earning a post-graduate degree from the Yale School of Drama.She has appeared in films such as The Abyss, Gross Anatomy,...
Ben Seton
Lin Shaye
Lin Shaye
Linda "Lin" Shaye is an American film, theatre and television actress.-Early life:Born in Detroit, Michigan, Shaye is the daughter of Dorothy , a homemaker, and Max Mendle Shaye, a painter and supermarket owner. Her brother is film executive Robert Shaye...
Eric Stonestreet
Eric Stonestreet
Eric Stonestreet is an American actor, known for his starring role as Cameron Tucker on the ABC comedy Modern Family. Stonestreet has received critical acclaim for his performance in Modern Family and won the 2010 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his...
John Symonds
Jackie Tohn
Jackie Tohn
Jaclyn "Jackie" Tohn is an American actress and musician. She is also known for taking part in American Idol season 8 making it to Top 36 on season 8...
Janet Varney
Janet Varney
Janet Varney is an American comedic actress best known for being the current hostess of TBS's Dinner and a Movie.-Early life:Varney was born in Arizona...
Reginald VelJohnson
Reginald VelJohnson
Reginald VelJohnson is an American actor of film, stage and television, well known for his role as Carl Winslow on the sitcom Family Matters, where he was the only cast member to appear in every single episode. He also portrayed LAPD Sgt...
Todd Waring
Todd Waring
Todd Waring is an American actor, best known for reprising the Tom Hanks roles in both the TV series version of Nothing in Common as well as the TV movie Splash, Too...
Travis Wester
Travis Wester
Travis Wester is an American pianist and actor who got his start in the film industry by playing the part of Austin Sanders in Beverly Hills, 90210. He is perhaps most well known for playing the character Jamie in EuroTrip...
Kirk Zipfel

Ratings

The premiere episode of On the Lot followed highly rated American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...

, but failed to hold a majority of the Idol audience. Lot had a 6.2 rating/ 9 share from 9-10 p.m., retaining just 38 percent of Idols audience, followed by a loss of 39 percent at 9:30 p.m. (7.7/11 to 4.7/ 7).

The second episode followed another Fox network reality hit, So You Think You Can Dance. However, like its premiere, the ratings did not hold up after the lead-in show ended, losing half of Dances audience. On the Lot had a 2.1/6 share.

The third episode was two hours long and did not have a lead-in show like the first two episodes. The Fox Network and Univision

Univision

Univision is a Spanish-language television network in the United States. It has the largest audience of Spanish language television viewers according to Nielsen ratings. Randy Falco, COO, has been in charge of the company since the departure of Univision Communications president and CEO Joe Uva...

tied for fourth for the entire night at 1.8/3, behind CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

, ABC

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

and NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

, respectively, which mostly aired reruns. For the targeted audience, Lot averaged a 1.3 adults 18-49 rating, according to Nielsen overnights, placing fifth in its first airing in its regular timeslot, behind even Univision.

Fox

Fox Broadcasting Company

tried a different approach for the fourth episode, having it lead-in for the season finale of ratings hit, House
House (TV series)
House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...

. Viewership for Lot was 4 million, or a 1.8/6 share. Coupled with House, Fox had the highest viewership on Tuesday, averaging more than 10 million viewers.

The fifth episode was another attempt at coupling Lot with House, which resulted in worse ratings than the previous week. Fox averaged 5.6 million viewers for the night, third behind NBC, which was tops with America's Got Talent
America's Got Talent
America's Got Talent is an American reality television series on the NBC television network, and part of the global British Got Talent franchise. It is a talent show that features singers, dancers, magicians, comedians, and other performers of all ages competing for the advertised top prize of...

and Deal or No Deal
Deal or No Deal
Deal or No Deal is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which was the Dutch Miljoenenjacht produced by Dutch producer Endemol. It is played with up to 26 cases with certain sums of money...

, and CBS, which aired reruns of NCIS
NCIS (TV series)
NCIS, formerly known as NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, is an American police procedural drama television series revolving around a fictional team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which conducts criminal investigations involving the U.S...

. Lot had 3.3 million viewers for its hour-long broadcast of five three-minute flicks.

The sixth episode, which joined Lot with Hell's Kitchen was the first showing that had less than three million viewers. Lot had 1.2/4 share, or 2.8 million viewers, behind top-rated America's Got Talent

America's Got Talent

America's Got Talent is an American reality television series on the NBC television network, and part of the global British Got Talent franchise. It is a talent show that features singers, dancers, magicians, comedians, and other performers of all ages competing for the advertised top prize of...

and the NBA Finals

NBA Finals

The NBA Finals is the championship series of the National Basketball Association . The series was named the NBA World Championship Series until 1986....

.

According to Nielsen overnights, Lot dipped even lower on its seventh episode, with only a 1.0 rating, tying it with ABC's shows Fast Cars and Superstars and George Lopez
George Lopez (TV series)
"The George Lopez Show" redirects here. For the late-night program hosted by the same comedian, see Lopez Tonight.George Lopez is an American sitcom starring comedian George Lopez...

. NBC had a commanding lead the entire night, thanks to hit show Talent.

For its finale and the announcement of the winner, the reality series saw a slight bump as it moved up to 1.1/4 in the 18-49 demo, although the net remained well behind the other major broadcasters in the 8 o'clock hour.

Reception

Initial criticism was that the show focused on director quarreling instead of broadcasting the directors' audition short films. In addition, the judges were faulted for not providing helpful criticism.

The show host Adrianna Costa

Adrianna Costa

Adrianna Costa is an American television personality best known as an entertainment reporter and a reality show host.-Biography:...

has been criticized for not being engaging enough. It seemed to critics she had trouble reading her cue cards.

Vote for the Worst

Vote for the Worst

VoteForTheWorst.com is a website that is devoted to voting for the worst, most entertaining, most hated or quirkiest contestants on the Fox Network television series American Idol...

was encouraging people to vote for Kenny Luby to become "The LotMaster".

Despite criticisms for the show's lack of organization, some critics responded favorably to the show. It has been said that the judge's panel adds color, prestige and drama. Others have said that Lot proves that "quality reality TV does exist."

Criticisms have mostly been about the format of the show, as opposed to the directors themselves, who have received praise for skill, elegance, and laugh-out-loud humor.

Different formats, seasonal issues, and the contestants' reactions have made it clear that the three minute films featured in weeks two, three, and four were made before the Top 50 contestants were picked. They appear to be the three-minute films, made in a week, that originally got them cast in the Top 50. The reason behind this is unclear. According to an interview with Jason Epperson, the contestants already know who they are up against, and what week their film will be shown.

In July 2007, Jeff Lippencott and Mark T. Williams of Ah2 Music

Ah2 Music

Ah2 is based in Los Angeles, California. Ah2 was founded in 2003 by American born composers Jeff Lippencott and Mark T. Williams to provide music themes and underscores for television and film....

were nominated for an Emmy

Emmy Award

An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards

59th Primetime Emmy Awards

The 59th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California on September 16, 2007 and were televised live on Fox at 8:00 p.m. EDT for the first time in high definition...

for episode 102A.

External links

Official site at the Wayback Machine
Wayback Machine
The Wayback Machine is a digital time capsule created by the Internet Archive non-profit organization, based in San Francisco, California. It is maintained with content from Alexa Internet. The service enables users to see archived versions of web pages across time, which the Archive calls a "three...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.