Project Greenlight

"Project Greenlight" was a contest and documentary series, and money making venture, focusing on amateur filmmaking. Created by Alex Keledjian, developed by Eli Holzman and produced by Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Chris Moore through their production company LivePlanet, along with Miramax Films and TechEmpower for technology development. "Project Greenlight" first aired on HBO for two seasons before moving to Bravo for season three. "Project Greenlight Australia" started receiving contestants in the beginning of 2005, with entries closing on February 14 of that year.

For an explanation of the title, see greenlight.

Season one (2001)

The script contest ran from September 2000 to March 2001. Over 7,000 screenplays were submitted, and Pete Jones was selected as the winner for "Stolen Summer", which he then filmed on location in his hometown of Chicago during the summer of 2001. The first season of "Project Greenlight", chronicling the selection of Jones's script and the filming of the movie, aired on HBO from late 2001 through early 2002. "Stolen Summer" premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2002, then went on to a limited theatrical release which brought in just under $120,000.

Season two (2003)

For its second run, the contest was split into two categories: writing and directing. The winners were chosen on January 18, 2003. Erica Beeney won the writing contest for her script "The Battle of Shaker Heights", and Kyle Rankin and Efram Potelle won the directing contest. The film stars Shia LaBeouf, Elden Henson, and Amy Smart. The series aired in the summer of 2003, detailing the production of the film in Los Angeles. "The Battle of Shaker Heights" opened in limited theatrical release on August 24, 2003, earning just under $280,000 during its box office run.

Season three (2005)

Script submission began and ended during February 2004. After two seasons on HBO, the series moved to Bravo and season three began airing on March 15, 2005.

The selected screenplay was a horror script entitled "Feast" written by Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton. The director was John Gulager. The film stars Krista Allen and Eric Dane and was produced by Dimension Films and Neo Art & Logic.

The film ran for a special late night showing on September 22- September 23, 2006, almost a year after its premiere. The DVD was released on October 17, 2006.

Awards and nominations

* Primetime Emmy Award
** 2002: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program: Season 1: Nominated [imdb title|0299368|Project Greenlight (2001)]
** 2002: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program: Season 2: Nominated [imdb title|0329910|"Project Greenlight 2]
** 2005: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program: Season 3: Nominated [imdb title|0395892|Project Greenlight 3]

Australia

According to the "Weekend Australian" [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11849903%255E16947,00.html] , Affleck and Damon have "always talked about exporting the concept" of Greenlight to other countries, with England, India and Australia lined up as possible destinations. The foreseen requirements being a "thriving film business and lots of computers". In 2005 Project Greenlight Australia was launched with Pay-TV Movie Network in partnership with Screentime producing the show and offering the AUD $1,000,000 financing to the winning film. The entries were received online with last entries being accepted on February 14.

The screenplay selected from the 1200 submissions was "Solo" by Morgan O'Neill. It is described on the PGLA website as "a dark journey into the heart of the Australian underworld."

As of July 21, comedian and filmmaker Paul McDermott has been signed to host the revamped series.

References

External links

* [http://projectgreenlight.liveplanet.com/ Official Project Greenlight Site]
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* [http://projectgreenlight.ninemsn.com.au/ Project Greenlight Australia Site]
* [http://www.screentime.com.au/NewsNov04ProjectGreenlight.html Screentime announces Project Greenlight Australia]
* [http://www.ebroadcast.com.au/enews/Paul_McDermott_Project_Greenlight_210706.html Paul McDermott announced as host]
* [http://www.hbo.com/greenlight/ HBO Project Greenlight]
* [http://www.bravotv.com/Project_Greenlight/index.shtm Bravo TV Project Greenlight]