Hollywood Deep

WILL BIGHAM, contestant filmmaker of ON THE LOT, took home the million dollar prize last week. Will, a Texas native, living in Glendale California, won it all in a tight race. His week to week consistency made him the odds on favorite going into last Tuesday nights finale. Adam Stein and Jason Epperson were very worthy opponents in th final 3. With very good films every week throughout the show, the way the finale was set up was in Will’s favor. By being judged on 2 of there past films of the season, Will had many quality films to pick from.
Adam was the first one voted off in the final show. He relied on his past films “Dough The Musical” and “Army Guy”, both were very clever and well done done short films. “Dough”, early on in the competition established Adam as a legit contender to win it all. It also showed his ability to work with music and became the musical contestant filmmaker. I worked with Adam on “Girl Trouble”, which was a great film, one of my favorites to work on this year. Adam week to week showed incredible imagination, and talent as a film director. Well Done Adam, your in the right business, great job!

Jason Epperson, went down to the wire with Will. He had the Kentucky vote, and the support of all rooting for an underdog. I always said this show was all about a guy like Epperson. An aspiring and working filmmaker in Kentucky, who might not have got a chance at this kind of exposure, and a shot to work at Dreamworks with Spielberg. Jason was the most well like contestant out of a group of outstanding personalities. Everyone’s best friend he grew in the competion and sure gave Will a run for the money. Early on his film “Get A Room” was misunderstood by the judges, but it set him apart and shot him to the top of the heap. He then delivered better and better films every week. He probably lost in the final, because his last 2 films weren’t as good as his earlier efforts. He let Will open up a lead on him going into the finale. I worked on his film “The Move” starring Jerry O’Connell, he was a joy to work with.
Good Luck Jason, I hope we can work together again sometime.

Will Bigham stood on stage after the big announcement, stunned and overwhelmed. The father filmmaker, dedicated his accomplishment to his wife and children, and fellow contestants, a classy winner. In the most touching moment of the show, Gary Marshall congratulated Will, and said from Father to Father, …”your a great filmmaker, but always remember, family is the most important thing” He then left the TV studio and was driven to Dreamworks and was greeted by his new boss Steven Spielberg.
Will’s films every week showed imagination, a great sense of humor, and directorial skill. From his early film “Glass Eye” to his last film “Yes Men”, he brought a quality that set him apart. He created a different world for his stories, for us to enjoy and experience every week. He never had a bad week, and is the fair and square rightful winner of the competition. A really great guy, I spoke to Will many times about many different things. He was always a pleasure to sit down and talk with. A real shining star of the competition.
Congratulations Will, Good Show!

Like I said before I never worked with Will, and I had a bit of a problem with that. I was never sure how we were assigned contestant directors week to week. I do know that it was not picked randomly, some kind of thought went into it. Somehow we were never assigned to do a movie with Will. Apparently it was going to happen with him on his last film, but we were never allowed to make it. The Producer’s choice not to shoot the last films for the finale, was a huge mistake, in my opinion. The show was poorly rated because the early episodes were not interesting enough. The Producer’s chose to wait until the 6th episode to really start the competition with the contestants making weekly films. By that time the big audience was not watching. It was botched again in the finale, with repeats of previous films, from the final 3. The final contestants all seemed disappointed by being short changed the last film. I had many questions about the plans for the airing schedule of the show, and the ever changing rules of the contest, from the beginning.
This all had nothing to do with Will and the rest of the contestants, they were all wonderful, talented people who put their all into it every week. It was a great experience for me, meeting all these great young film directors and working with some top professionals in the business. The Behind The Scenes production team, and the Shorts Production staff were all tops. I made some good friends and I’ll always remember my summer ON THE LOT, fondly.
…TOTALLY DEEP!
Will Bigham’s film “Glass Eye” click here

Jason Epperson, AD- Mike Risoli, & DP- Christian Sebaldt, On The Lot

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