Remember Project Greenlight? Spear-headed by producers Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, the concept of the show was simple, pitch a bunch of aspiring directors against each other over a series of challenges, with the winner taking home a lucrative production deal. For some reason it never really took. Whether it was the pre-digital expenses, middling viewership or lack of quality end product (winners went on to make films like Stolen Summer and Feast), the show eventually kicked. But now Affleck and Damon are bringing it back, citing that new cheaper forms of film-making mean technology has finally caught up with the concept. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u32UD9yE8I A tease has landed for the upcoming season, which begins airing on HBO this summer. The show will follow first-timer Jason Mann as he attempts to direct an indie under the tutelage of Affleck and Damon. It looks like an intense gaze into the film-making process, although with web-based services like The Black List and the proliferation of visual media through YouTube and Vimeo exploding during the show's dormancy, Project Greenlight will have to work extra hard to stay relevant I'll definitely be tuning in, the cheap, high-octane drama of film production should combine nicely with an educational overview, to create a show that offers both the guilty pleasure we expect, and the informative insight we want from reality television.
