'On the Lot' hopefuls speed toward deadline

February 09, 2007 All over the world, aspiring filmmakers from 13-year-old YouTube amateurs and skateboarders with hand-held cameras to a 54-year-old black grandmother in Florida are vying for a slot as one of 16 filmmakers to be cast in Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett's "On the Lot," a reality series that Fox will launch in May toward the end of the "American Idol" season. Thousands of filmmakers already have posted their shorts at Fox Interactive Media's sophisticated Web site, www.onthelot.com, which had logged 8 million page views before "Idol" promos boosted traffic sixfold, "Idol's" veteran showrunner David Goffin says. [...] it's not just sheer talent they're looking for, says "Lot's" co-executive producer Darryl Frank, who runs DreamWorks Television with Justin Falvey.

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