This Ain't No Project Greenlight...

You all remember Project Greenlight right? That contest that started on HBO and moved to BRAVO where budding directors and screen-writers could submit movie ideas to Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. The winners would get to direct movies that would be released to the masses? It brought us such "great" films as Stolen Summer, The Battle of Shaker Heights, and Feast! I'm sure you were all first in line for those. [Note: I did watch Battle of Shaker Heights this weekend and actually very much enjoyed the performance of Shia Laboeuf]

Well, that reality guru, Mark Burnett, is teaming up with All-Around Guru - Stephen Speilberg to do Project Greenlight one better. They are starting a show called "On The Lot".

According to their website:

"This unscripted series will feature a cast of undiscovered filmmakers who will compete to win the support of the show's viewers, as their fate will be decided by a weekly audience vote.
The competition will air over two nights weekly, with a one-hour "Film Premiere" episode, followed the next night by a half-hour "Box Office" results show.
After a global search, applicants will be winnowed to a group of talented filmmakers. These finalists will be brought to Hollywood, where they will be divided into teams and begin the journey toward their "big break."
Every week, the hopeful filmmakers 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, cast and crew, and maybe even Hollywood celebrities.
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" episode. Judges will include a high-ranking motion picture executive, a prominent film critic and a succession of well-respected guests, such as directors who are experts in the week's featured genre. But the filmmakers ultimately will be judged by the harshest critics of all … the public.
It will be FOX viewers whose votes determine which film should be left on the cutting-room floor. On the next night's "Box Office" results show, the director whose feature garners the fewest votes will be sent home.
The competition continues and directors are eliminated until only the most talented filmmaker is anointed the winner and heads to DreamWorks … ON THE LOT."

Sounds like the American Idol of movie making doesn't it? I'm excited for this show. I actually enjoyed watching Project Greenlight and I'm hoping this could only be better.

News is out today that the show will premiere behind some heavy hitting shows. The first episode will debut right after Idol's final performance show and the second episode will be right after the premiere of "So You Think You Can Dance". That's some pretty good lead-ins wouldn't you say?

So, what do you think? Will this work better than Project Greenlight? Does it sound at all interesting to you?