Trever James, a 24-year-old film editor who currently lives in Los Angeles, CA, and is originally from Great Falls, MT, became the fourth finalist eliminated from On the Lot during last night's live broadcast of the Mark Burnett and Steven Spielberg-created American Idol-like movie-making reality competition series that aims to find the country's next great filmmaker.
ADVERTISEMENT
During last Tuesday night's episode, On the Lot's remaining 15 finalists were divided into three groups of five, with each member of the initial group showing their five-minute personal film submission. Viewers then voted for their favorites following the episode, and James received the lowest number of votes.
James' personal film submission was titled Teri, and followed the uncertainty that surrounds the current online dating craze. Star Wars actress and permanent On the Lot judge Carrie Fisher called James' submission "a very cute, very well-made little film;" fellow permanent judge Garry Marshall commented, "I like the one about golf better," a reference to the one-minute comedy short James' previously created; and last week's guest judge -- Transformers director Michael Bay -- told James, "I've seen this idea before."
While James may have received the lowest number of votes from viewers, he was not the least favorite among the 10 aspiring directors who didn't show their film last week. Instead, they were polled and the majority chose Hilary Graham, a 37-year-old stay-at-home wife and mom who lives in Francestown, NH and was raised in Chelmsford, MA, and her personal film submission The First Time I Met The Finkelsteins as their least favorite.
However Graham was spared thanks to viewer votes, as were the other members of the initial group of five: Sam Friedlander, a 27-year-old web producer who currently resides in Santa Monica, CA and was raised in Westchester, NY; Adam Stein, a 29-year-old freelance film editor who was born in Miami, FL and currently lives in Los Angeles, CA; and Shalini Kantayya, a 30-year-old freelance director who was raised in Hartford, CT and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY. Kantayya's film Laughing Out Loud: A Comic Journey was the favorite of the other aspiring directors as well as Bay, while Fisher liked Friedlander's film Broken Pipe Dreams and Marshall liked Stein's submission Dough: The Musical.
ADVERTISEMENT
The second group of five aspiring filmmakers also aired their five-minute personal film submissions during last night's On the Lot broadcast.
The second group consisted of Andrew Hunt, a 31-year-old promo producer from Minneapolis, MN, who was raised in Pittsburgh, PA, whose film Polished was about a janitor that is taken for granted; David May, a 23-year-old admissions counselor living in Santa Ana, CA, who grew-up in Aurora, CO, whose film Love at First Shot was about a guy who has trouble talking to women but receives help from Cupid; Shira-Lee Shalit, a 38-year-old acting teacher from Johannesburg, South Africa who now lives in New York, whose son starred in her film Bee Line about a single mother's dating exploits; Kenny Luby, a 28-year-old freelance director and painter from Owego, NY, whose film Edge on the End was about a young man that must deal with his father's death from alcoholism; and Marty Martin, a 26-year-old creative director of a multimedia company from Seattle, WA, whose dark film Dance with the Devil was about a guy who has a costly run-in with some thugs who after him.
During the Tuesday, June 19 broadcast of On the Lot beginning at 8PM ET on Fox, one of the aspiring filmmakers from the second group will be eliminated based on viewer votes cast after last night's episode.
In addition to the competition's next elimination, next week's On the Lot broadcast will also feature the screening of the final group of five Top 15 finalists' five-minute personal film submissions. The final group of five consists of Jessica Brillhart, a 22-year-old computer specialist who grew-up in York, PA and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY; Mateen Kemet, a 41-year-old teacher who currently lives in California and raised in the Bronx, NY; Jason Epperson, a 30-year-old film production company owner from Winchester, KY; Will Bigham, a 31-year-old film editor originally from Canyon, TX who currently lives in Glendale, CA; and Zach Lipovsky, a 23-year-old special effects editor from Vancouver, BC, Canada.
(Photo credit Michael Yarish/FOX)
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio