On the Lot

On the Lot
File:On the lot.png
Starring	Chelsea Handler (host - audition episodes) Adrianna Costa (host) Carrie Fisher (judge) Garry Marshall (judge) Brett Ratner (judge) Jon Avnet (judge)
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	4 as of May 29, 2007
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Original release
Network	FOX
Release	May 22, 2007 – present

On the Lot is a reality show competition produced by Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett. The show, which airs on FOX, features filmmakers competing in weekly elimination competitions, with the ultimate prize of a million dollar development deal at DreamWorks. On the Lot premiered May 22, 2007, and airs twice a week.

The official On The Lot site gathered 12,000 submissions from all over the world . These 12,000 submissions yielded 50 semi-finalists. The contest structure is similar to that of American Idol, with the initial episodes narrowing those semi-finalists down to 18 finalists. After the audition stage, the program will comprise of a 1-hour show where movies are screened ("Film Premiere") followed the next day by a half-hour results show ("Box Office"). Viewers can vote each week for their favourite directors, which will result in the elimination of the directors with the lowest vote totals. Votes can be made online at thelot.com, in addition to landline calls and Verizon text messages, and is permitted for two hours after the show.

The "Film Premiere" episodes are scheduled to air on Monday nights at 8:00PM/7:00PM CT (except on May 28, 2007 when it is scheduled to air an hour earlier), and the "Box Office" episodes, on Tuesday nights at 8:00PM/7:00PM CT. The show is also aired in Canada (on CTV),, on FOX8 in Australia and on STAR World in Asia.

Contestants

Semi-Finalists

The show is self-described as a worldwide search to discover new filmmaking talent . The 50 Semifinalists were:

• Phil Allocco, 40, director and writer from New York City
• Shawna Baca, 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
• James Breese, 34, freelance writer and director living in Bristol, England
• Will Bigham, 31, film editor, originally from Canyon, TX, currently living in Glendale, CA
• Jessica Brillhart, 22, computer specialist, grew up in York, PA, currently living in Brooklyn, NY
• Jarrett Conaway, 24, graduate student living in Los Angeles, originally from Virginia Beach, VA
• Jeremy Corray, 30, creative services manager for an animation distribution company, from St. Louis, MO, raised in Highland, IL
• 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 Davis, 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
• Sam Friedlander, 27, web producer, living in Santa Monica, CA, raised in Westchester, NY
• 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
• Phil Hawkins, 22, born and raised in Manchester, England, works as a freelance director
• Andrew Hunt, 31, promo producer from Minneapolis, MN, raised in Pittsburgh, PA
• Rahim Jamal, 25, freelance editor/director, born and raised in Los Angeles, CA
• Trever James, 24, film editor, currently living in Los Angeles, CA, and raised in Great Falls, MT
• Shalini Kantayya, 30, freelance director, raised in Hartford, CT, currently living in Brooklyn, NY
• Mateen Kemet, 41, teacher, currently splitting time between Oakland and Los Angeles, CA, raised in the Bronx, NY
• Gil Kruger, 23, development associate living in New York City, raised in Verona, NJ

• Claudia La Bianca, 28, painter and graphic artist, born in Bagheria, Sicily, Italy, currently lives in Miami, FL
• Zach Lipovsky, 23, special effects editor from Vancouver, BC, Canada
• Kenny Luby, 28, freelance director and painter, born and raised in Owego, NY
• Justin Lutsky, 24, digital post-production engineer, born and raised in Orange County, CA
• X. Dean Lim, 36, writer/director, living in Los Angeles, CA, originally from New York City
• Brent McCorkle, 34, freelancer producer, born and raised in Dallas, TX
• Mark McLain, 22, film editor, born and raised in Dyer, IN
• Ramsey Mellette, 34, production sound mixer living in Los Angeles, CA, raised in Denver, CO
• Tamika Miller, 33, freelance production supervisor, living in Los Angeles, CA, originally from Miami, FL
• Marty Martin, 26 creative director of a multimedia company, born and raised in Seattle, WA
• David May, 23, admissions counselor living in Santa Ana, CA, but grew up in Aurora, CO
• Abigail Steinberg, 37, capital campaign coordinator, living in Los Angeles, originally from Toronto
• Amy S., 21, freelance director living in Los Angeles
• Hannah Sink, 23, freelance producer/director born and raised in Raleigh, NC
• Hilari Scarl, 40, independent filmmaker living in Los Angeles, CA, raised in Chicago, Atlanta and NYC
• Jeff Seibenick, 30, freelance editor, living in Los Angeles, CA, originally from Toledo, OH
• Jeff Speed, 27, filmmaker and waiter living in San Diego, CA, originally from South Lake Tahoe, CA
• Kai Soremekun, 39, actress living in Los Angeles, CA, originally from Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Randy Slavin, 29, freelance director/editor from New York City
• Shira-Lee Shalit, 38, acting teacher, born in Johannesburg, South Africa, now living in New York
• Adam Stein, 29, freelance film editor, born in Miami, FL, currently living in Los Angeles
• Daniel Tenkman, 26, special events coordinator living in Los Angeles
• Adam W., 24, freelance camera operator from Birmingham, AL
• Mikki Willis, 39, filmmaker originally from Sacramento, currently living in Los Angeles, CA
• Carolina Zorilla de San Martin, 36, commercial director, originally from Santander, Spain, currently living in Los Angeles, CA

Of the 50 semi-finalists, 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.

Elimination chart

The following contestants were chosen as finalists. Placements are listed in elimination order, and alphabetically by first name until eliminated:

Week:		5-29	6-5
Place	Contestant	Result
	Adam Stein
	Andrew Hunt
	David May
	Hilary Weisman Graham
	Jason Epperson	Top 3
	Jess Brillhart
	Kenny Luby
	Marty Martin
	Mateen Kemet
	Sam Friedlander
	Shalini Kantayya
	Shira-Lee Shalit
	Trever James
	Will Bigham	Top 3
	Zach Lipovsky	Top 3
16-18	Carolina Zorilla de San Martin	Elim.
	Claudia La Bianca
	Phil Hawkins

Contest summary

Audition rounds

The judges for the audition rounds were Carrie Fisher, Brett Ratner, and Garry Marshall.

In round one, the 50 semi-finalists were 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 - Mark B., Jarett B., Jeremy Corray, Michael C., Karla Jean Davis, Matthew E., Kenny G., Rahim Jamal, Mark McLain, Ramsey Mellette, Abigail Steinberg, Amy S., Adam W. and Mikki Willis.

In round two of the auditions, guest judge Jon Avnet filled in for judge Garry Marshall. The 36 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. 12 contestants were eliminated based on their individual performances, rather than as groups. The 12 eliminated were Phil Allocco, Shawna Baca, James Breese, Opie Cooper, Gil Kruger, Tamika Miller, Hannah Sink, Jeff Seibenick, Jeff Speed, Kai Soremekun, Randy Slavin and Daniel Tenkman.

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. The eliminations went unaired, as the finalists had been chosen by the time the next episode aired live. Previews implied that this next episode would include both the final preliminary challenge and the first of the weekly finalist challenges. However, this was not the case when it aired. We can assume that the six contestants eliminated were Jarrett Conaway, Tamela D'Amico, Justin Lutsky, X. Dean Lim, Brent McCorkle, and Hilari Scarl, as they were in the final 24 but did not appear in the final 18 contestants.

Final rounds

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 following is a list of the 18 finalists, each director's film and a brief description:

Adam Stein: "Dance Man," follows the life of a man who cannot speak, but only dance to communicate.

Andrew Hunt: "Spaced Out" features a police officer who pulls over a UFO, which has two aliens vomiting, possibly from drinking space alcohol.

Carolina Zorilla De San Martin: "Deliver Me" follows an expecting mother in the delivery room who cannot stop answering her cell phone.

Claudia La Bianca: "Blind Date" features a woman who, after two mistaken encounters with men who aren't her blind date, finally meets up with him in the men's bathroom after making embarrassing noises.

David May: "File Size" follows a troubled office worker and how he just can't see to do anything right.

Hilary Graham: "Bus #1" show's a woman's struggle with needing to go to the bathroom on a bus, when there is no place to go.

Jason Epperson: "Getta Rhoom" follows a nerdy man who hears cool guys say "get a room" to a young couple making out in a theatre, which makes him repeat the same phrase, which gets him into trouble.

Jessica Brillhart: "To Screw in a Lightbulb" features a man who just had a lightbulb go out, followed by explanations from various characters on how to act.

Kenny Luby: "Wack Alley Cab" shows a crazy cab driver with his dog, Felix, driving a husband and wife in an odd manner.

Marty Martin: "The Big Bad Heist," in a twist from the rest, is actually a trailer for a movie instead of an actual movie.

Mateen Kemet: "Soft" features a group peer pressuring a man into robbing an older lady, who turns out to be his grandma.

Phil Hawkins: "Please Hold" shows a woman being robbed, but after calling 911, she only receives the runaround with a recording.

Sam Friedlander: "Replication Theory" shows how people throughout history and around the world replicate a farting noise to avoid being embarrassed.

Shalini Kantayya: "Love In The Year 2007" follows a woman trying to find love through speed dating and other methods, only to be disappointed with the selection of men, which includes her grandpa.

Shira-Lee Shalit: "Check Out" shows a woman partially undressing for an airport security line in a sexual way with an attractive man, which she later discovers she was imagining.

Trevor James: "A Golf Story" features the World Mini Golf Championship and how an overconfident golfer makes a mistake on the final hole.

Will Bigham: "Lucky Penny" shows how a man finding a penny can actually not be as lucky as he thinks.

Zach Lipovsky: "Danger Zone", a short consisting of only one shot, revolves around a laboratory room and how one mistake leads to another.

Ratings

The premiere episode of On the Lot followed highly rated American Idol, 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 Idol's 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 Dance's 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 tied for fourth for the entire night at 1.8/3, behind CBS, ABC and NBC, 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.

External links

• Official On the Lot site
• On the Lot Reality Show News
• Variety article describing show format
• KarmaCritic.Com On The Lot exiles
• Hollywood Reporter article discussing contestants
• Hartford Courant article discussing filmmakers
• Top 36 Contestant Videos