Okay, after a supposedly rigorous selection process we end up with what is repeatedly referred to as a fantastic script by a talented writer and a team of two 'very capable' directors. A very different scenario to the previous series where writer Pete Jones who had never directed before was given the helm. The result was the appalling 'Stolen Summer' which made about a dollar fifty at the box office. This time things were supposed to be very different.
Unfortunately right from the start it becomes glaringly obvious that our two talented and experienced directors are nothing of the kind. At one point, one of them asks if they really need a production designer and wouldn't it be better to just tell the prop master what they want? Things get worse when they upset the leading DP candidate by accusing him of talking over them. As a result, he wisely makes the decision to pull himself out of the running. Through six weeks of preproduction,they sit quietly in script meetings leaving producers,Chris Moore and Jeff Balis come up with ways in which the script could be improved.
After a meeting with Sharon Lawrence, where they sit staring off into space, their casting director,Joseph describes them as mutes and admits that as an actor, he would have serious concerns about working with them.
Once on set they suddenly discover an interest in the script and begin rewriting scenes the night before shooting upsetting both the writer, who they deliberately exclude from the process, and the the producers. Their lack of preparation leads to them falling behind schedule and alienates their actors when it becomes clear they have no idea what it is they want. Watching the writer, Erica Beeney cringe every time they give their actors directions that run contrary to the intentions of the script and story is painful to say the least.
In truth, I don't blame the directors , even though they are intensely unlikeable characters. It was the job of the producers to put the project into the hands of the very best candidates and they patently failed to do so. I can only guess that the reason these two were picked is because it was decided that having two directors would make for more entertaining television.
At the beginning of each episode, we are told that the intention of the project is to identify talented individuals and help them to launch their careers but in the case of Kyle Rankin, Efram Potelle and Pete Jones this clearly has not been the case. Like 'Stolen Summer', 'The Battle of Shaker Heights' went on to gross about two dollars fifty before sinking without trace. Although Pete Jones has managed to sell an idea to the Farrelly brothers, none of the directors have persuaded anyone to let them anywhere near a film set.
Not surprisingly after the third series, Chris Moore declared Project Greenlight to over and then took himself off to become a director. To be honest it should never have begun.
Unfortunately right from the start it becomes glaringly obvious that our two talented and experienced directors are nothing of the kind. At one point, one of them asks if they really need a production designer and wouldn't it be better to just tell the prop master what they want? Things get worse when they upset the leading DP candidate by accusing him of talking over them. As a result, he wisely makes the decision to pull himself out of the running. Through six weeks of preproduction,they sit quietly in script meetings leaving producers,Chris Moore and Jeff Balis come up with ways in which the script could be improved.
After a meeting with Sharon Lawrence, where they sit staring off into space, their casting director,Joseph describes them as mutes and admits that as an actor, he would have serious concerns about working with them.
Once on set they suddenly discover an interest in the script and begin rewriting scenes the night before shooting upsetting both the writer, who they deliberately exclude from the process, and the the producers. Their lack of preparation leads to them falling behind schedule and alienates their actors when it becomes clear they have no idea what it is they want. Watching the writer, Erica Beeney cringe every time they give their actors directions that run contrary to the intentions of the script and story is painful to say the least.
In truth, I don't blame the directors , even though they are intensely unlikeable characters. It was the job of the producers to put the project into the hands of the very best candidates and they patently failed to do so. I can only guess that the reason these two were picked is because it was decided that having two directors would make for more entertaining television.
At the beginning of each episode, we are told that the intention of the project is to identify talented individuals and help them to launch their careers but in the case of Kyle Rankin, Efram Potelle and Pete Jones this clearly has not been the case. Like 'Stolen Summer', 'The Battle of Shaker Heights' went on to gross about two dollars fifty before sinking without trace. Although Pete Jones has managed to sell an idea to the Farrelly brothers, none of the directors have persuaded anyone to let them anywhere near a film set.
Not surprisingly after the third series, Chris Moore declared Project Greenlight to over and then took himself off to become a director. To be honest it should never have begun.