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On the Lot Closes Down After Winner Announced |
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Fox’s summer reality series, On the Lot, quickly disappeared when the movie-making talent competition finished airing on August 21.
Within 10 days of the reality series conclusion, Fox had completely shut down the show’s Website, including all forums, episode information, contestant bios, videos, etc.
On the Lot followed 18 talented up-and-coming filmmakers in their quest to win a $1 million studio contract with DreamWorks Pictures. Each week teams would write, film, and edit a new short movie with the talented ones moving on and the others being eliminated.
On August 21, Will Bigham, a 31-year-old film editor who attended the FSU Film School, won the competition and the $1 million studio contract.
Unfortunately, ratings had been low for the Fox show and after CBS pulled the plug early on its reality show, Pirate Masters, Fox was praised for keeping On the Lot on the air. However, as soon as it finished its run, Fox quickly pulled the plug on the show’s Website, leaving thousands of people without access to the show’s forums, with all their postings now deleted. It became a sour end to a promising series that was searching for the next great filmmaker.
Fox was also criticized early on for its formulaic presentation. Like many reality shows copying American Idol, On the Lot had three judges, weekly eliminations, and a host. The lack of originality, along with early criticism from the media, started the show off on the wrong foot with viewers. The ending didn’t help either when the Internet voting system failed, causing the show to name the final winner based on phone votes only.
In interviews following his win, Bigham says that he will most likely tackle a comedy for his first major project. Bigham successfully used comedy week-after-week to eliminate his competition and win the On the Lot contest.
