On The Lot-Steven Spielberg [Archive] - Absolute Write Water Cooler

Plot Device

05-22-2007, 09:32 AM

Rainy Night

05-22-2007, 11:10 PM

It's not really a show for writers, more a show for directors. I thought of submitting a film, but my directorial skills are not that good, I was fairly sure I'd never make it. I try to focus on writing.

I liked Project Greenlight because it focused on writing and directing... a seperate contest for each. I fear that it'll never come back, it just didn't have the ratings to keep it going.

I hope On The Lot does well, but my fears are that it won't.

zeprosnepsid

05-23-2007, 01:24 AM

I loved Project Greenlight.

I thought about submitting to On The Lot but it just seemed like film school all over again. Fairly useless assignments from week to week. And making films with lots of people who also want to make films. But this did, in film school anyway, lead to all kinds of drama. So I think the show may be fairly entertaining. I plan to watch. I just have no interest in going through it=)

Also, you win a Dreamworks development deal for a year which equals big fat nothing! At least you'll get paid. It's like get net points...

Rainy Night

05-23-2007, 01:28 AM

I loved Project Greenlight.

I really wish they'd bring PGL back.

lisamarie

05-23-2007, 08:33 AM

What did you think of the show? I liked it-especially the pitching part. That seemed nerve wracking, and some really did a bad job. (not that I could do any better)

jonpiper

05-23-2007, 12:28 PM

So that's what pitching is all about. A bit of acting ability helps. Some did well, others flopped. Do you think those who pitched better were primarily writers rather than directors, and therefore, had a better handle on the story.

Rainy Night

05-23-2007, 09:51 PM

I liked the pitch sessions, I thought they were an excellent example of both good and bad and it just goes to show that you really have to know your story, which is why I think it's better if you are the writer that is pitching the script.

Jamesaritchie

05-23-2007, 10:58 PM

which is why I think it's better if you are the writer that is pitching the script.

Maybe, but it struck me that knowing the story wasn't all that important. The way they looked, acted, and spoke seemed to mean more than what they were saying.

Honestly, though, I would have punched several of them, if I had to work in those groups. Talk about ego!

Rainy Night

05-23-2007, 11:27 PM

Maybe, but it struck me that knowing the story wasn't all that important. The way they looked, acted, and spoke seemed to mean more than what they were saying.

I thought confidence was a key element.

jonpiper

05-24-2007, 06:52 AM

I thought confidence was a key element.

Could have been lack of confidence or stage freight, but it just seemed to me that most of those who did poorly did not have a complete enough story to tell.

lisamarie

05-24-2007, 07:00 AM

Yeah, I think confidence definitely had a part in it. The nervous ones tended not to do so well. I'd be scared to death. You could tell by the look on the judges faces that they liked the ones who were confident and of course who could speak clearly and get their point across.

I feel bad for them next week, b/c they're not getting any sleep. Not to mention you have a bunch of people who all want to control things.

Plot Device

05-24-2007, 07:24 AM

I can't find the link for it (so if anyone here has it, PLEASE share) but I read a few years back on the net a (fictional?) transcript of the pitch meeting for the film Armageddon. In it, the script writer was just all into his way-cool idea for the movie, and he's telling the execs the plot points with unfettered drive and enthusiasm. And every now and then one of the studio execs in the room would interrupt and very dryly point out a scientific fact that would totaly undermine the credibility of the latest outlandish plot point. And the scriptwriter would just confidently dismiss those scientific claims with some of the lamest one-line excuses, and then just push forward as if the interuption hadn't even happened.

Dancre

05-24-2007, 07:44 AM

With the whole reality TV thing these past few years, especially Project Runway and Top Chef, I have fantasized about a show for writers.

But ...

Watching a writer write is like watching the proverbial paint dry.

I often thought the same thing, how about something for writers? But alas, watching someone type all day can be a bit, grueling.

kim

Plot Device

05-24-2007, 08:03 AM

I often thought the same thing, how about something for writers? But alas, watching someone type all day can be a bit, grueling.

kim

There's almost nothing visual about writing. All the work is done in your head. Might as well set a camera on me as I sit by the pool for five hours staring off into space. *yawn*

jonpiper

05-24-2007, 08:32 AM

There's almost nothing visual about writing. All the work is done in your head. Might as well set a camera on me as I sit by the pool for five hours staring off into space. *yawn*

Thank God for voice over.

NikeeGoddess

05-24-2007, 08:58 AM

i think they were looking for a coherent storyline. so many were just ideas an didn't have a 3-act structure. it was a pressure chamber for some and if you can't stand the heat... get outta the kitchen!

anyhoo -
most people in the business must know how to pitch well. directors, producers, managers and writers because they must convince someone to fork over millions of dollars for this project. the only ones who don't have to pitch are the ones who are paying for everything themselves which is extremely rare.

ie - the writer pitches to the producer... the producer pitches it to his favorite director... the director pitches to his favorite a-list actor... etc... it's how packages get made.

zeprosnepsid

05-24-2007, 10:17 PM

There's actually a pretty funny article on Site link removed per request of other site's Webmaster And they're arguably the biggest writers in the business right now. So there is hope =)

dpaterso

05-25-2007, 12:18 AM

link removed via request from other site's Webmaster.The Wind-up & the Pitch from link removed via request from other site's Webmaster.Site link removed per request of other site's Webmaster's most excellent link removed via request from other site's Webmaster.Columns.

-Derek

DanielD

05-25-2007, 11:29 AM

On the lot with Steven Spielberg?
Project Greenlight?
HEY! They're not on my TV guide.
Damn!.... Must be pay TV.
Daniel.

Rainy Night

05-25-2007, 10:06 PM

On the lot with Steven Spielberg?
Project Greenlight?
HEY! They're not on my TV guide.
Damn!.... Must be pay TV.
Daniel.

On The Lot is on FOX, not pay TV.

PGL's final season was on HBO & Bravo about 2 years ago, I don't think it's coming back.

DanielD

05-26-2007, 03:56 AM

To Rainy Night.
Many thanks .
Daniel.

Rainy Night

05-26-2007, 04:08 AM

No problemo. All the short films from last night are on line too... there's a link in this thread: http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65195

Kosh

05-29-2007, 06:42 AM

I'm actually liking this. Even though they're directors, story is still shown as a vital element.

Kosh

05-29-2007, 07:33 AM

And I just voted in a TV competition for the first time.

Rainy Night

05-29-2007, 09:52 PM

:Ssh: I voted too....

valeenc

05-30-2007, 01:30 AM

I'm hooked. Lots of discussion at TWoP (http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/articles/group_4.html) about it, even people doing a casual logline/treatment game.

And that Kenny dude? What a load of disconnected nonsensical hooey. Wack is right.

alleycat

05-30-2007, 02:48 AM

I watched it last night. I was surpised I liked it as much as I did (except for Carrie Fisher).

By the way, for anyone who didn't catch it, you can watch the one-minute scenes they did on the www.thelot.com website.

Rainy Night

05-30-2007, 02:54 AM

And that Kenny dude? What a load of disconnected nonsensical hooey. Wack is right.

Yeah, but I was thinking about him, he's the only one who went really nuts with his short, everyone else really went the traditional story route. There's going to be a segment of the viewers that will relate to the "wack" and he's going to get all those votes.

I'll go out on a limb and say that he'll be around another week.

valeenc

05-30-2007, 03:48 AM

Yeah, but I was thinking about him, he's the only one who went really nuts with his short, everyone else really went the traditional story route. There's going to be a segment of the viewers that will relate to the "wack" and he's going to get all those votes.

I'll go out on a limb and say that he'll be around another week.

It wasn't so much the lack of story that bugged me, but the fact that it wasn't funny and lacked cohesiveness. I did improv long enough to appreciate what he was aiming for, but it didn't work. Each element worked individually up to a specific point, but once I recognised all the cliches he was going for and saw he didn't DO anything with them except have them spazz out, I was completely meh. He didn't surprise me. He didn't show me anything interesting.

And yeah, I buy that there's a segment of audience that will respond to Kenny's film. And no, it won't surprise me a bit to see him stick around.

Rainy Night

05-30-2007, 04:10 AM

Should we combine this thread with the other one going on here:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65195

Just a thought...

dpaterso

05-30-2007, 12:40 PM

Should we combine this thread with the other one going on here:
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65195
Just a thought...
Probably, but I always kinda hope (as with the "Worst movie you've ever seen" thread, which also has a twin in Movies and TV forum) that comments posted here will focus more on the screenwriting aspects, the storytelling choices, etc.

-Derek

Rainy Night

05-30-2007, 09:28 PM

Looks like the ratings are not so high.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117965916.html?categoryid=1275&cs=1

I was hoping for better.

Plot Device

05-31-2007, 03:21 PM

Looks like the ratings are not so high.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117965916.html?categoryid=1275&cs=1

I was hoping for better.

Maybe if they got some celebrity attachments :D (And I'm NOT joking!)

aspiringwriter

06-03-2007, 12:31 PM

So far i've really enjoyed the show... Their first assignment, I could have pulled off really easily...especially the one about the rat...I had this idea of ala Shrek--more or less the animation and buddy type of film.

MDSchafer

06-04-2007, 01:14 AM

I gotta say they have the best lighting and makeup of any reality show ever. Overall, I was a little underwhelmed. It seemed to be more America Idol than the talent competitions on Bravo that I actually watch.

I think they're cutting a lot of the creative aspect out to get the live voiting/result show format and I think they would have been better off getting the Bravo guys to do it.