The legendary director is hunting the globe for the next great filmmaker, and Canadians have got a shot
Steven Spielberg is looking for the next great filmmaker, and they just might be Canadian
If you’re going to ask a Hollywood heavyweight to help choose the filmmaker who could be the next Steven Spielberg, why not ask Spielberg himself?
That is precisely what Mark Burnett, the reality TV guru behind such hits as Survivor, The Apprentice and Rock Star, decided to do.
So, this May, the dynamic duo of Spielberg (who cut his director’s teeth in television, most notably with a 1969 episode of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, starring Joan Crawford) and Burnett will present On the Lot, an ambitiously clever showcase for fledgling filmmakers from around the globe.
The sixteen finalists, culled from more than 12,000 applicants worldwide, will be given the grueling task of creating an original short film for each and every episode. They will, of course, have some help, including writers, cinematographers, editors and actors culled from the film community’s elite.
The incentive is huge: the last-standing participant, as chosen by the viewing public, will be awarded $1 million and the keys to an office on the lot at DreamWorks Studios (co-owned by Spielberg) where they will have a development deal. Like Rock Star, which has twice been won by Canadians, On the Lot encouraged applications from outside the U.S. And Canadians responded in droves.
A whopping 35 per cent (or, approximately 4,000) of all applications, which had to include an original, five-minute film and a 45-second biographical video, were submitted by homegrown Hollywood wannabes. Of them, 27 were selected for in-person interviews in Toronto and Vancouver last Thursday.
So, what are the producers after? “I’m looking for a filmmaker who can really rise to the occasion,” says Burnett Productions casting executive Holly Gardner, who oversaw the Toronto sessions. “It has to be someone who, if they were to win this development deal, is able to handle the challenges. They’ll be up there with names like Spielberg and DreamWorks, so they really have to put their best foot forward.”
Among the 27 Canadian finalists (17 in Toronto and an additional 10 in Vancouver), 13 are men, a statistic that doesn’t really surprise Gardner since, “it is a predominantly male industry. But we’ve seen some phenomenal women come through [around the world], so there’s going to be some real competition.”
The Canadian finalists range in age from their early 20s to there mid-40s and come from all over the country, including one from the tiny Ontario burg of Zurich, currently most renowned for its annual August bean festival (but perhaps soon to be known as the birthplace of filmdom’s hottest new helmsman).
Their experience is equally wide-ranging, extending from fledgling film students to one Montrealer who has written and directed a feature-length drama starring David Strathairn, a best actor Oscar nominee last year for his portrayal of legendary TV newsman Edward R. Murrow in George Clooney’s Good Night, and Good Luck.
While there’s no guarantee that any of the Canadians will make the final cut, Spielberg remains an ardent fan of our rich contributions to cinema history, noting that, “from Louis B. Mayer and Jack Warner to Norman Jewison and David Cronenberg, Canada has produced some great moviemakers over the years. On the Lot could be the big break the next great Canadian filmmaker is looking for.”
On the Lot is scheduled to debut in mid-May on CTV in Canada and Fox in the U.S.
Steven Spielberg is looking for the next great filmmaker, and they just might be Canadian
If you’re going to ask a Hollywood heavyweight to help choose the filmmaker who could be the next Steven Spielberg, why not ask Spielberg himself?
That is precisely what Mark Burnett, the reality TV guru behind such hits as Survivor, The Apprentice and Rock Star, decided to do.
So, this May, the dynamic duo of Spielberg (who cut his director’s teeth in television, most notably with a 1969 episode of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, starring Joan Crawford) and Burnett will present On the Lot, an ambitiously clever showcase for fledgling filmmakers from around the globe.
The sixteen finalists, culled from more than 12,000 applicants worldwide, will be given the grueling task of creating an original short film for each and every episode. They will, of course, have some help, including writers, cinematographers, editors and actors culled from the film community’s elite.
The incentive is huge: the last-standing participant, as chosen by the viewing public, will be awarded $1 million and the keys to an office on the lot at DreamWorks Studios (co-owned by Spielberg) where they will have a development deal. Like Rock Star, which has twice been won by Canadians, On the Lot encouraged applications from outside the U.S. And Canadians responded in droves.
A whopping 35 per cent (or, approximately 4,000) of all applications, which had to include an original, five-minute film and a 45-second biographical video, were submitted by homegrown Hollywood wannabes. Of them, 27 were selected for in-person interviews in Toronto and Vancouver last Thursday.
So, what are the producers after? “I’m looking for a filmmaker who can really rise to the occasion,” says Burnett Productions casting executive Holly Gardner, who oversaw the Toronto sessions. “It has to be someone who, if they were to win this development deal, is able to handle the challenges. They’ll be up there with names like Spielberg and DreamWorks, so they really have to put their best foot forward.”
Among the 27 Canadian finalists (17 in Toronto and an additional 10 in Vancouver), 13 are men, a statistic that doesn’t really surprise Gardner since, “it is a predominantly male industry. But we’ve seen some phenomenal women come through [around the world], so there’s going to be some real competition.”
The Canadian finalists range in age from their early 20s to there mid-40s and come from all over the country, including one from the tiny Ontario burg of Zurich, currently most renowned for its annual August bean festival (but perhaps soon to be known as the birthplace of filmdom’s hottest new helmsman).
Their experience is equally wide-ranging, extending from fledgling film students to one Montrealer who has written and directed a feature-length drama starring David Strathairn, a best actor Oscar nominee last year for his portrayal of legendary TV newsman Edward R. Murrow in George Clooney’s Good Night, and Good Luck.
While there’s no guarantee that any of the Canadians will make the final cut, Spielberg remains an ardent fan of our rich contributions to cinema history, noting that, “from Louis B. Mayer and Jack Warner to Norman Jewison and David Cronenberg, Canada has produced some great moviemakers over the years. On the Lot could be the big break the next great Canadian filmmaker is looking for.”
On the Lot is scheduled to debut in mid-May on CTV in Canada and Fox in the U.S.
