On The Lot: Episode 16 (The Season Finale)

POSTED BY Matthew Flute, 25 August 2007

Well, this is what it finally comes down to. After 12,000 submissions, several cuts and weeks of competition, it’s time for the final cut. The three remaining contestants are: Jason Epperson, Will Bigham and Adam Stein.

After last weeks disappointing first part of the finale, you would have expected this week to step it up a notch. Well, this week did step it up a notch, but if you know anything about turning up the volume, a notch barely does a thing.

The episode started wasting time by playing a bunch of that useless, "look how far they’ve come" mumbo jumbo. We were greeted by the kicked-off contestants, and shown three of their films. Rather than showing the films that got the contestants on the show, or getting to know them more, we were given old films once again. Come on Fox, we all know you shoot hours of behind-the-scenes footage, you have 12,000 short films at your disposal and dozens of other possibilities. Come on Fox, stop recycling and give us something new.

After about an hour of lollygalling, they finally eliminated one of the contestants. It was Adam Stein. Somewhat disappointing, but not all that much of a surprise. It’s best to leave it to Mr. Southern and The Family Boy. Stein got a round of applause, and some praise, so it was not all bad. Of course the final elimination was stretched to the final possible second.

In the end, Bigham ended up winning, which was a nice surprise. Watching Epperson speak to Spielberg just doesn’t seem right. But I can’t help feel sorry for the guy. When it was announced Will won, there was an honest look of shock and disappointment on his face. It got me started thinking that I’ve probably been too hard on Jason. While he’s never really known how to defend his films, and I’ve never been a fan, he’s probably a nice person. Reality shows alter perceptions, and "On The Lot" is no expectation. It’s easy to get caught up in how a show portrays someone over a couple months, but we have to remember that we only see about 5 percent of what they are really like.

After winning, Will hopped in a Ford and headed to "the lot," to be greeted by Spielberg. It was not hard to see that the thing was overly set up and scripted, but still, it was a treat nonetheless.

So that’s a wrap. Now the only thing left to do is wait and see what the contestants do now that they’re not on the show. Whether it’s an Adam Stein Web series, a Will Bigham feature, or even the Kenny Luby-Adrianna Costa sex tape, it’s all possible. Now, it’s important to mention that Will only won a million-dollar development deal. In no way does this certify that he will get a film made or released.

The funniest part of the episode was the constant referral to the episode as the "season finale." For all you filmmakers who are getting your shorts ready for the next season, you may want to forget about it. The show's ratings didn’t warrant the show to finish its first season, so a second would be a suicide mission for Fox. Don’t let this get you down though. Finish those shorts!

All in all, "On the Lot" was a fun ride. From actually hearing about the show to submitting something to the show, to watching it start to finish. While the show ended up something of a disappointment, we’ll probably only see a filmmaking show in this style once, so I suppose we should be grateful. How often do we get to see a new project from a filmmaker on a weekly basis? Say what you want, but the show was fun, and that’s quite a compliment when referring to network TV.