Check Out The Lot

If you didn’t see the endless commercials for it on television (naturally, I’m assuming, because you don’t watch television, you watch internet television), “The Lot” premiered on Fox earlier this week.

The show is a reality competition produced by Mark Burnett (“Survivor”) and Steven Spielberg (E.T.) where filmmakers get a chance to win a production deal with DreamWorks studio. Each week, the 20 contestants battle it out to make the best short film in a surprise genre. “Best” and “worst” are determined by audience voting, meaning that the filmmaker with the least amount of votes gets tossed.

But enough about TV. The website boasts full episodes, episode clips, contestant shorts, critic reviews, and, what’s more interesting than any of that, a free-for-all feature where users can watch

and upload original shorts without having to be a contestant on the show. There’s no prize for doing this, but there is the offhand chance that Steven Spielberg might be clicking about his show’s website at 3am and discover some new talent. (Similarly, there’s a place to stare at people’s headshots and upload your own, as well as a Hollywood classifieds feature.)

So check out The Lot on Fox. It sounds like a good show and it’s a pretty cool website to boot.