Ben Affleck and Matt Damon Bring PROJECT GREENLIGHT Back to HBO
Do you remember the HBO series Project Greenlight? It was one of the only reality TV shows that I really enjoyed watching because about something that I was actually passionate about. The show was launched in 2001 and was executive produced and judged by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. I'm happy to say that they are bringing it back!
The show allowed directors and screenwriters to send their work in to producers in hopes of being chosen to make a feature length movie. Producers would take the best from each category and then pair them together to work on the film production.
The series spawned three feature length movies and launched the careers of Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, who wrote The Collector and some of the Saw films. Horror director John Gulager (Feast, Piranha 3DD) also got his start on the show. One of the films even featured a young Shia LaBeouf and Amy Smart.
There's no premiere date set yet, but I'm looking forward to watching it again. Below you'll find a full press release with all of the details:
"Project Greenlight," the documentary series chronicling the search for a first-time director and exploring the filmmaking process, will return to HBO for a new season, it was announced today by Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming. Executive producers of the new season include Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, who were executive producers of the previous two seasons on HBO in 2001 and 2003, as well as Adaptive Studios' Marc Joubert, TJ Barrack, Perrin Chiles and Marshall Lewy, and Miramax's Zanne Devine. The new season of "Project Greenlight" will be produced for HBO by Adaptive Studios, Affleck and Damon's Pearl Street Films, and Miramax.
"'Project Greenlight' was ahead of its time," notes Affleck. "Now that technology has caught up to the concept, we thought it was a perfect time to bring it back. A whole new generation of filmmakers has grown up sharing everything, and the next big director could be just an upload away. It is really great having 'Project Greenlight' back at HBO."
Damon says, "'Project Greenlight' works - careers have been launched and sustained as a direct result of this contest. Pete Jones, John Gulager, Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan are just a few of the PGL alums who've gone on to do great things in Hollywood, and Ben and I are really proud of that."
"We are delighted to reunite with Ben and Matt for a new season of "Project Greenlight,'" noted Lombardo. "This unique show offers a fascinating look inside moviemaking that is unlike anything else on TV."
Spanning the entire filmmaking process, "Project Greenlight" takes a revealing, uncensored look at the challenges facing a first-time director. The show begins with a digital competition, following the winner from pre-production and casting through principal photography and post-production. Equipped with a Hollywood-vetted script and surrounded by a team of industry professionals, the fledgling director must learn to cope with pressure from the studio and producers, survive on-set politics and lead a veteran cast and crew, all while trying to deliver a viable movie – on schedule and on budget.
"Reuniting the original forces behind 'Project Greenlight' -- Matt, Ben, Miramax and HBO -- is pretty awesome, and demonstrates Adaptive's commitment to revitalizing and re-imagining compelling ideas," says Marc Joubert, co-founder of Adaptive Studios.