Project Greenlight: A New Generation

My score of 8 is for Project Greenlight, but that said, it was incredibly frustrating watching chosen director Miko Winbush completely ignore producer's notes regarding shooting alternative versions of every shot. She was told time and time again to take advantage of the resources around her, but also to hold true to her vision. And all she seemed to hear was "stay by your vision" and ignored all the problems that were popping up from producers and the studio.

She was also told about problems occurring between the personnel from PGL being in the way of the movie making, as well as other issues and she shrugged them off as "not her problem." Well yes, all those things are your problem, you're the director! She came across as arrogant and unwilling to make any changes to her process of making a movie. At one point she took off to go to "look at the stars" during the editing process when she should have been there with the editor 24/7! I have never seen someone so uninvested in the opportunity given to her. I really wish the people choosing the director, at the beginning of the series, had considered her lack of communication skills so they could have chosen someone who was better at communicating because she was horrible at it.

This show litterally shows why Hollywood is failing today. They gave this Woman an amazing opportunity, and yet must force their views and opinions into every move she makes. All while forgetting that making film and tv has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with equality. They litterally had an uproar because she liked the creative input of a White man. So much so that they forced her to have meeting with Black production designers who they approve of under the guise of equality instead of their racism. Disgusting! Litterally pretty much said to the Woman, oh look at you your in your position right now because we put you there because of your Color and not your creativity. This is an extremely bad look for HBO.

The Hoorae team really left Meeko hanging. The point of the show was to uplift female filmmakers and specifically first time filmmakers. They instead played the blame game and gossiped behind her back. I understand Meeko wasn't perfect and wasn't always receptive but the teams from the previous seasons of PGL were 100% more professional and stood by their director while being firm with them. No one on the Hoorae team was clear or direct. It felt like watching catty high schoolers.

Also, the screening scene was rough to watch. I hope it was just edited that way but everyone saying no words at all was heartbreaking.

I absolutely love the concept of shows like this and the Chair, but like the Chair my issue is with first and foremost, the finished product is always subpar. However, the most frustrating part of this show is 1. The Director herself is so meek and passive (understandable at 1st this being her 1st time writing a feature) but at some point she needed to STEP IT UP. Equally, if not more frustrating, are the passive agressive Producers who held meetings and then meetings AFTER the meetings w/the Director to complain instead of actually addressing their grievances in the ACTUAL meeting. They spent so much time walking on eggshells for fear of coming across as mean or hurting the directors feelings instead of actually speaking up about the issues. As Producers they failed at their job to show backbone and actually COMMUNICATE with the Director. Who herself, was very meek and passive.

I gave up after a half hour of putting up with obnoxious, "look at me, I'm so great" show biz personalities. I stuck with it that long because I expected to see the 3-minute shorts the "directors" had produced and to hear serious critiques from the "pros." I gave up when it became clear we were only going to see mere seconds of those shorts - not even full screen - with multiple cutaways to facial expressions and un-helpful comments from the "pros."

The original Project was flawed, but always interesting. You actually saw what was going on, and you got thoughtful comments from Ben and Matt, and plenty of enlightening comments from actors and directors. They didn't always produce great stuff, but they were always interesting.

The reboot should have been better, but failed miserably. What were they thinking?