''Project Greenlight'' is an American documentary television series focusing on first-time filmmakers being given the chance to direct a feature film. It was created by Alex Keledjian, developed by

Eli Holzman Eli Holzman (born March 30, 1974) is an American creator–developer, writer, producer and television executive known for creating or serving as executive producer on a number of reality-based television series and documentaries, such as ''Pr ...

and produced by

Ben Affleck Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Volpi Cup. Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS education ...

Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Ameri ...

Sean Bailey Sean Bailey is an American film and television producer. Bailey is currently the president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production, a role he has served since his appointment in 2010. Career Early career As a co-founder and executiv ...

, and Chris Moore through their production company

LivePlanet LivePlanet was a production company founded in 2000, and was known for television and new media platforms. History It was created by Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Chris Moore and Sean Bailey. Affleck and Damon ended their film production deal in lat ...

, along with

Miramax Films Miramax, LLC, also known as Miramax Films, is an American film and television production and distribution company founded on December 19, 1979, by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and based in Los Angeles, California. It was initially a lead ...

. ''Project Greenlight'' first aired on HBO for two seasons (aired 2001–03) before moving to Bravo for season three in 2005. The series returned in 2015 for a fourth season airing on HBO. On July 26, 2016, the series was canceled. In May 2021,

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Ne ...

picked up the series with an 8-episode order and will be produced by

Issa Rae Jo-Issa Rae Diop (born January 12, 1985), credited professionally as Issa Rae, is an American actress, writer, producer, and comedian. Rae first garnered attention for her work on the YouTube web series ''Awkward Black Girl''. Since 2011, Rae h ...

through her production company

Hoorae Media Hoorae Media (pronounced "hooray"), also known as Hoorae, is an American media production company formed in September 2020 by Issa Rae. Formerly known as Issa Rae Productions, Hoorae launched as an umbrella banner to consolidate her various film, ...

Episodes

Season 1 (2001–02)

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 ''Stolen Summer'' is a 2002 drama film about a Catholic boy who befriends a terminally ill Jewish boy and tries to convert him, believing that it is the only way the Jewish boy will get to Heaven. Directed by first time writer/director Pete Jones ...

'', which he then filmed on location in his hometown of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

during the summer of 2001. The first season of ''Project Greenlight'', helmed by show runner and co-executive producer Liz Bronstein, chronicled 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 The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

in January 2002, then went on to a limited theatrical release which brought in just under $140,000.

Season 2 (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 Kyle Rankin (born September 13, 1972) is an American screenwriter and filmmaker known for directing '' The Battle of Shaker Heights'', ''Night of the Living Deb,'' and ''Run Hide Fight.'' Early life and education Rankin was born in Danbury, Co ...

and Efram Potelle won the directing contest. The film stars

Shia LaBeouf Shia Saide LaBeouf (; born June 11, 1986) is an American actor, performance artist, and filmmaker. He played Louis Stevens in the Disney Channel series ''Even Stevens'', a role for which he received Young Artist Award nominations in 2001 and ...

, Elden Henson,

Amy Smart Amy Lysle Smart (born March 26, 1976) is an American actress. A native of Los Angeles, Smart began her career modelling in Italy and subsequently enrolled in acting school. Her first role in film was in director Martin Kunert's anthology horror ...

, and William Sadler. The series aired in the summer of 2003, detailing the production of the film in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. ''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 3 (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 titled ''

Feast A banquet (; ) is a formal large meal where a number of people consume food together. Banquets are traditionally held to enhance the prestige of a host, or reinforce social bonds among joint contributors. Modern examples of these purposes i ...

'' written by

Marcus Dunstan Marcus Dunstan is an American screenwriter and director who, along with Patrick Melton, wrote screenplay for the film ''Feast'', which was the winner of Season Three of the filmmaking competition reality TV series '' Project Greenlight''. Dunstan ...

and

Patrick Melton Patrick Melton is an American screenwriter, producer and novelist. Film career In 2004, Melton won the third season of Project Greenlight, along with Marcus Dunstan and John Gulager. The television show premiered on Bravo and resulted in the ...

. The director was

John Gulager John Thompson Gulager (born December 19, 1957) is an American actor, cinematographer and film director. Biography Film career The production and filming of ''Feast'' was the main focus of season three of ''Project Greenlight''. The film, made ...

. The film stars

Balthazar Getty Paul Balthazar Getty (; born January 22, 1975) is an American actor and musician. His acting debut was in ''Lord of the Flies'' (1990) as Ralph. He went on to appear in '' Lost Highway'' (1997) and had a recurring role as Richard Montana in ''Cha ...

Krista Allen Krista Allen (born April 5, 1971) is an American actress, model and stand-up comic. She is best known for her work in the television series ''Days of Our Lives'', '' Baywatch Hawaii'', and the erotic TV series ''Emmanuelle in Space''. Allen also ...

Jason Mewes Jason Edward Mewes (born June 12, 1974) is an American actor, comedian, film producer, and podcaster. He is best known for playing Jay, the vocal half of the duo Jay and Silent Bob, in longtime friend Kevin Smith, Kevin Smith's films. Early lif ...

, and

Eric Dane Eric William Dane (born November 9, 1972) is an American actor. After multiple television roles in the 1990s and 2000s, which included his recurring role as Jason Dean in ''Charmed'', Dane was cast as Dr. Mark Sloan on the ABC medical drama te ...

and was produced by

Dimension Films Dimension Films is an American film production company owned by Lantern Entertainment. It was formerly used as Harvey and Bob Weinstein's label within Miramax, which was acquired by The Walt Disney Company on June 30, 1993, to produce and r ...

and

Neo Art & Logic Joel Soisson is an American filmmaker. He works primarily in the field of independent film. His numerous credits include ''Dracula 2000'', '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge'', ''Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure'', ''The Prophecy' ...

. The film ran for a special late night showing on September 22 and 23, 2006, almost a year after its premiere. Feast earned just under $690,000 during its box office run. The DVD was released on October 17, 2006, earning an additional $4,687,595. The film spawned two sequels: '' Feast II: Sloppy Seconds'' and '' Feast III: The Happy Finish''

Season 4 (2015)

On April 2, 2015, ''Project Greenlight'' announced the first annual Greenie award winners. *Best Comedy: ''Heist'' – Director: Brianna Lux and Tony Lazzeroni *Best Drama: ''A Room for Aden'' – Director: Douglas Yablun *Best Action: ''Stan Lee Parkour'' – Director: Tom Grey *Most Unique: ''Listen'' – Director: Joshua Ortiz *Best Horror: ''The Table'' – Director: Shane Free *Most "WTF": ''Pink Shorts'' – Director: Jeff Huston In September 2015, ''Project Greenlight'' became the subject of controversy when an episode aired of

disagreeing with producer

Effie Brown Effie T. Brown is a film and television producer known for such films as '' Rocket Science'', ''Real Women Have Curves'', ''Everyday People'', ''Desert Blue'', ''Dear White People'', and '' But I'm a Cheerleader''. She is seen in the fourth seas ...

over the subject of diversity. A later controversy developed over the titling of the season's sixth episode as "Hot Ghetto Mess" involving Brown's attempt to make sure one of the films did not partake in racial stereotypes, which was to be corrected before airing and replaced with "The Pivot", but was never resolved before airtime.

Awards and nominations

Australia

Series 1

In 2005, ''Project Greenlight Australia'' was launched with

Pay-TV Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, but ...

Movie Network Crave (formerly The Movie Network or TMN) is a Canadian premium television network and streaming service owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc. Launched in 1983 as the national service First Choice, early difficulties and a subsequent ...

in partnership with Screentime producing the show and offering the A$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 Morgan O'Neill (born 19 April 1973 in Sydney, Australia) is an Australian writer, director, actor and producer. He is also an accomplished professional musician. Having earned an honours degree in Literature from the University of Sydney, he su ...

Series 2

In 2006, comedian and filmmaker Paul McDermott hosted the series. The screenplay selected from the 700 submissions was ''The View from Greenhaven'' by The MacRae Brothers.

Notes

The episode "The Pivot" was originally titled "Hot Ghetto Mess." However, the scene contextualizing the title was removed in last-minute editing. The original title was not corrected for television listings before air due to what was described as a "production error" by HBO. Future airings, along with

HBO Go HBO Go is a partly-inactive authenticated video on demand of the pay television service HBO. The service allowed subscribers to HBO via television providers to access its programming on-demand via the HBO website, mobile apps, and digital medi ...

HBO Now HBO Now (formally named HBO from July 2020) was an American subscription video on demand streaming service for premium television network HBO owned by WarnerMedia subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc. Officially unveiled on March 9 and launched on A ...

use "The Pivot" as the episode's title.

References

External links

* at HBO * {{HBO Max 2000s American documentary television series 2010s American documentary television series 2001 American television series debuts 2015 American television series endings HBO original programming HBO Max original programming Television series by Miramax Television Bravo (American TV network) original programming English-language television shows American television series revived after cancellation Television series about filmmaking Hoorae Media