Reality Rumors

Will Bigham from Glendale, CA, was revealed to be On the Lot’s winner during last night’s live finale broadcast of the Fox reality competition.

“I have so much I want to say, I don’t know if I’m going to make it through though,” Bigham said after On the Lot host Adrianna Costa announced he had defeated Jason Epperson, a 30-year-old film production company owner from Winchester, KY, to win the competition.

As the competition’s winner, Bigham received a $1 million DreamWorks Pictures development deal and the opportunity to be “personally welcomed” to the industry by Spielberg, a DreamWorks co-founder.
“First and foremost, I want to thank God, that’s the reason we’re all here,” Bigham continued. “I want to thank this guy down here, Jason… we’ve been through this together the whole time, I’m proud of him. Thank you to everybody, everybody that was in this competition — actors, filmmakers — you are all amazing and I can not wait to work with you again, I really can not, so thank you. Last but not least, I’d like to thank my family because they have supported me through a lot and now I’ll get to support them”

The show suffered from poor ratings and may not be renewed next season.

Marty Martin, from Seattle, WA, became the fifth person cut from On the Lot last night.

During the episode, On the Lot aired Martin’s, dark film Dance with the Devil focused on a young man trying to escape his past with his girlfriend but facing deadly consequences.

“I think I’m the strongest overall filmmaker here,” said Martin prior to Dance with the Devil’s premiere last week. “But I think Dance with the Devil is actually a risk and I didn’t know it at the time. It’s kind of a dark, slow piece and I’ve never done anything like that. But I have an instinct for what makes a film standout because that’s what makes me probably the strongest competition here… I know how to entertain people. I’m not here to make small, independent films. I’m here to work with Spielberg, so I’m going to make Spielberg-sized films. I think that’s what separates me from the rest - I’m extremely ambitious.”

While Martin was confident in his ability as a filmmaker, he was apparently not a favorite among viewers, as he received the lowest number of votes following last week’s episode and was eliminated.

Following Martin’s elimination, the third and final group of five aired their five-minute personal film submissions.

‘On The Lot’ returns Tuesday, June 26 at 8PM ET on Fox, where another filmmaker will be eliminated and the show’s Top 12 will be revealed.

The 18 aspiring filmmakers competing on Fox’s On the Lot tried to win the viewing audience over with laughter during Monday night’s first Film Premiere episode.  However three of the finalists were eliminated during Tuesday night’s first live Box Office results show.

Claudia La Bianca, a 28-year-old painter ; Carolina Zorilla de San Martin, a 36-year-old commercial director and Phil Hawkins, a 22-year-old freelance director, were sent home during the results show based on viewers votes from Monday night’s Film Premiere episode when the finalists each aired a one-minute comedy short they created.

There are 15 remaining finalists competing for the top prize.

Lights! Camera! Action! The cameras are about to start rolling on the new moviemaking competition series ON THE LOT, executive-produced by Mark Burnett and Steven Spielberg. Actress, author and screenwriter Carrie Fisher (”Star Wars,” “Postcards From The Edge”), as well as directors/producers Brett Ratner (”Rush Hour 3,” “X-Men 3: The Last Stand”), Garry Marshall (”Georgia Rule,” “Princess Diaries,” “Pretty Woman”) and Jon Avnet (”The Starter Wife,” “Fried Green Tomatoes,” “Risky Business”), will serve as judges for the series’ two “audition” episodes airing Tuesday, May 22 9/8c and Thursday, May 24 9/8c on FOX. Judges for additional rounds will be announced at a later date.

After receiving a record-setting 12,000 video submissions on thelot.com from aspiring filmmakers around the globe, FOX has officially entered the summer movie blockbuster race with the new filmmaking competition series ON THE LOT from Mark Burnett, Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks Television. In the audition episodes, the top 50 applicants will discover the magic of moviemaking when they are brought to Los Angeles to visit a real-life film set for the first time. The 50 semifinalists must endure a rigorous “Hollywood Boot Camp,” where they will face the judges for the first time with their personal submission film as well as their attempts at a Hollywood-style “pitch” meeting; a “24-Hour Film Shoot,” where each must shoot and edit a short film in a 24-hour period; as well as a “one-page, one-hour” film shoot, where they will have an hour to film a one-page scene with the help of professional directors of photography, camera and sound operators and actors. The judges will give their ultimate feedback and select the Top 18 Finalists, who will move on to compete in the first “Film Premiere” episode.