After receiving a record-setting 12,000 video submissions from aspiring filmmakers on thelot.com, Fox has officially entered the summer movie blockbuster race with the new filmmaking competition series “On the Lot” from Mark Burnett, Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks Television. “On the Lot” will now premiere with one-hour audition episodes: on Tuesday, May 22 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) following “American Idol” (8:00-9:00 PM, ET live/PT tape-delayed), and Thursday, May 24 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) following the third-season premiere of the hit series “So You Think You Can Dance” (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on Fox.
“Steven and I are enormously thrilled with the response weve had to the call for film submissions via our website thelot.com,” said “On the Lot” creator and executive producer Mark Burnett. “This confirms our notion that there is an incredible amount of talented filmmakers in the world looking for their big breaks. We are very excited that our partners at Fox have scheduled the launch of this series with the powerhouse ‘American Idol’ finale and the premiere of ‘So You Think You Can Dance.’ Coming off of the success of ‘Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?,’ launching out of ‘American Idol’ is a terrific move.”
A special two-hour Film Premiere episode, featuring the first films produced by the finalists, will air Monday, May 28 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on Fox. The initial group of finalists to be eliminated from the competition will be announced the following night on the expanded first Box Office results show Tuesday, May 29 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT). “On the Lot’s” weekly Film Premiere episodes air in their regular time period beginning Monday, June 4 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), and the weekly Box Office results shows will air on Tuesdays (8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT) starting Tuesday, June 5.
“On the Lot” affords aspiring filmmakers the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to win a $1-million DreamWorks development deal. Each week, the hopeful filmmaker finalists will produce short films from a chosen genre, running the gamut from comedies to thrillers, personal dramas to romance, sci-fi to horror. They’ll have access to the best resources the industry has to offer – professional writers, actors and crew – to help create their films.
After the teams have battled time frames, budgets and all the usual chaos that goes along with filmmaking, their films will debut and be critiqued in front of a live audience during the Film Premiere episodes.
But the filmmakers ultimately will be judged by the harshest critics of all the public. It will be America whose votes determine which films should be left on the cutting-room floor. On each Box Office results show, the director whose feature garners the fewest votes will be sent home.
“On the Lot” is produced by Mark Burnett Productions, DreamWorks Television and Amblin Television. Mark Burnett and Steven Spielberg are creators and executive producers. David Goffin serves as executive producer with Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey and Conrad Riggs co-executive producers.
