On the Lot is the title of a reality show competition produced by Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett. The show, which airs on FOX, features filmmakers competing in weekly elimination competitions, with the ultimate prize of a million dollar development deal at DreamWorks. On the Lot premiered May 22, 2007, and airs twice a week.^[1]

The official On The Lot site gathered 12,000 submissions from all over the world ^[2]. These 12,000 submissions yielded 50 semi-finalists. The initial episodes of the series will focus on narrowing those semi-finalists down to 18 finalists. Judging the audition rounds are Carrie Fisher, Brett Ratner, and Garry Marshall^[3].

After audition stage, the program will comprise of a 1-hour show where movies are screened ("Film Premiere") followed the next day by a half-hour results show ("Box Office"). Viewers will be involved in picking the winners. The "Film Premiere" episodes are scheduled to air on Monday nights at 9:00PM/8:00PM CT (except on May 28, 2007 when it is scheduled to air an hour earlier), and the "Box Office" episodes, on Tuesday nights at 8:00PM/7:00PM CT. The show is also aired in Canada (on CTV),^[4] in Canada, and in India.

There is controversy regarding the way On The Lot treated filmmakers in the early stages of the contest. Many contestants expected an official statement from Mark Burnett Productions regarding the end of round 1 and round 2 of the eliminations, believing it to be a basic courtesy not uncommon even at small film festivals. The fact that Canadian mainstream media routinely reported on the progress of round 2 while United States media remained mute, compounded the perceived aggravation in the eyes of many hopefuls^[5].

In the period between Feb 20th and May 4th, there were 378 posts in the "My Film! There's Errors!" thread, and 591 in the "Website / Upload Questions" which range from missing thumbnails and wrong aspect ratios to incorrect attributions and missing segments. The typical time period between uploading a film and seeing it live online ranges anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months^[6].

Heavy censorship is exercised in the discussion boards and on-site blogs, with words like "youtube" being automatically converted to "BLEEP" ("youtube" in particular has since been tolerated, but many other words remain taboo, notably "karmacritic" or any variation of it)^[7]. Moderators routinely delete threads, blog entries, comments, film reviews, and deactivate accounts for speaking negatively about FOX or Mark Burnett Productions, or for using taboo words^[8]. Inquiring why a certain account was deactivated is considered taboo in itself and leads to deactivation^[9].

Over one such event a group of filmmakers created an alternative website (karmacritic.com) to continue the social experience of On The Lot without the corporate censorship^[10]. Typing the name of this website (or any variation of it) anywhere in On The Lot (film review, comments, forum posts, blog entries) automatically converts to "BLEEP"^[11] and leads to account deactivation^[12].

The rules and regulations for the initial film submissions informed filmmakers that submitted films could not have a runtime longer than 5 minutes. However as finalists have been announced publicly, many members of the online community noticed, and began to point out, that several of the finalists' submissions were longer than the maximum 5 minutes. ^[13] A direct violation of the contest rules. In addition, at least one finalist's film included assumed unlicensed music, another direct violation. ^[14] Posts on the official message board referring to the apparent rules violations have also been removed without warning or acknowledgment.

The show describes itself as a worldwide search to discover new filmmaking talent ^[15]. The 50 Semifinalists are: ^[16]

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• Phil A., 40, director and writer from New York City
• Shawna B., 36, assistant producer at a movie trailer house, born and raised in Los Angeles, CA
• Mark B., 29, editor, director and poker-player living in Los Angeles, CA, originally from McLean, VA
• Jarett B., 29, music-video and commercial director, born and raised in Northport, NY
• James B., 34, freelance writer and director living in Bristol, England
• Will B., 31, film editor, originally from Canyon, TX, currently living in Glendale, CA
• Jessica B., 22, computer specialist, grew up in York, PA, currently living in Brooklyn, NY
• Jarrett C., 24, graduate student living in Los Angeles, originally from Virginia Beach, VA
• Jeremy Corray, 30, creative services manager for an animation distribution company, from St. Louis, MO, raised in Highland, IL
• Michael C., 22, freelance commercial director from Bloomfield, MI, currently residing in Chicago, IL
• Opie Cooper, 31, creative director raised in Biloxi, MS, currently living in Jackson, MS
• Karla Jean D., 25, tape operator living in Atlanta, GA, originally from Lynchburg, VA
• Tamela D'Amico, 27, singer, actress and filmmaker living in Los Angeles, raised in Deer Park, NY
• Jason Epperson, 30, owner of film production company, born and raised in Winchester, KY
• Matthew E., 24, director, born and raised in Los Angeles, CA
• Sam F., 27, web producer, living in Santa Monica, CA, raised in Westchester, NY.
• Hilary G., 37, stay-at-home wife and mom who lives in Francestown, NH, and raised in Chelmsford, MA
• Kenny G., 39, director, writer, producer, born and raised in Los Angeles, CA
• Phil H., 22, born and raised in Manchester, England, works as a freelance director
• Andrew H., 31, promo producer from Minneapolis, MN, raised in Pittsburgh, PA
• Rahim J., 25, freelance editor/director, born and raised in Los Angeles, CA
• Trever J. 24, film editor, currently living in Los Angeles, CA, and raised in Great Falls, MT
• Shalini K., 30, freelance director, raised in Hartford, CT, currently living in Brooklyn, NY
• Mateen K., 41, teacher, currently living in Los Angeles, CA, raised in the Bronx, NY.
• Gil K., 23, development associate living in New York City, raised in Verona, NJ

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• Claudia L., 28, painter and graphic artist, born in Bagheria, Sicily, Italy, currently lives in Miami, FL.
• Zach Lipovsky, 23, special effects editor from Vancouver, BC, Canada.
• Kenny L., 28, freelance director and painter, born and raised in Owego, NY.
• Justin L., 24, digital post-production engineer, born and raised in Orange County, CA
• Dean L., 36, writer/director, living in Los Angeles, CA, originally from New York City
• Brent M., 34, freelancer producer, born and raised in Dallas, TX
• Mark M., 22, film editor, born and raised in Dyer, IN
• Ramsey M., 34, production sound mixer living in Los Angeles, CA, raised in Denver, CO
• Tamika M., 33, freelance production supervisor, living in Los Angeles, CA, originally from Miami, FL
• Marty M., 26 creative director of a multimedia company, born and raised in Seattle, WA
• David May, 23, admissions counselor living in Santa Ana, CA, but grew up in Aurora, CO.
• Abigail S., 37, capital campaign coordinator, living in Los Angeles, originally from Toronto
• Amy S., 21, freelance director living in Los Angeles
• Hannah S., 23, freelance producer/director born and raised in Raleigh, NC
• Hilari S., 40, independent filmmaker living in Los Angeles, CA, raised in Chicago, Atlanta and NYC
• Jeff S., 30, freelance editor, living in Los Angeles, CA, originally from Toledo, OH
• Jeff S., 27, filmmaker and waiter living in San Diego, CA, originally from South Lake Tahoe, CA
• Kai S., 39, actress living in Los Angeles, CA, originally from Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Randy S., 29, freelance director/editor from New York City
• Shira-Lee S., 38, acting teacher, born in Johannesburg, South Africa, now living in New York
• Adam S., 29, freelance film editor, born in Miami, FL, currently living in Los Angeles
• Daniel T., 26, special events coordinator living in Los Angeles
• Adam W., 24, freelance camera operator from Birmingham, AL
• Mikki W., 39, filmmaker originally from Sacramento, currently living in Los Angeles, CA
• Carolina Z., 36, commercial director, originally from Santander, Spain, currently living in Los Angeles, CA

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Of the 50 semi-finalists, 48 currently reside in the United States (21 of them in Los Angeles, CA) and 40 already work professionally in the film industry. The oldest contestant is 41 years old and the youngest, 21.

In the audition rounds, the 50 semi-finalists perform a series of tasks, and are reduced to 18 finalists by the judges. In round one, contestants had to pitch a story idea to the judges. 14 contestants were eliminated, and the remaining 36 went on to round two.

In round two of the auditions, contestants were given 24 hours to write, shoot, and edit a short film in groups of three. The assigned theme was "Out of time".^[16]

The premiere episode of On the Lot followed highly rated American Idol, but failed to hold a majority of the Idol audience. Lot had a 6.2 rating/ 9 share from 9-10 p.m., retaining just 38 percent of Idol's audience, followed by a loss of 39 percent at 9:30 p.m. (7.7/11 to 4.7/ 7).^[17]

• Official On the Lot site
• On the Lot Reality Show News
• Variety article describing show format
• KarmaCritic.Com On The Lot exiles
• Hollywood Reporter article discussing contestants
• Hartford Courant article discussing filmmakers