News

Turning the search for the next great filmmaker into a reality competition hasn't worked out very well on American television this summer. Now, let's try it the Canadian way, shall we?

There is no mistaking Exposure (Sunday, CBC at 11 p.m.) for a reality-TV contest. The new series provides a national TV forum for amateur Canadian digital filmmakers with stories to tell. The CBC series is roughly the same concept as the Fox reality show On the Lot, except Exposure is all Canadian content, which means it's more creative.

Exposure arrives as On the Lot begins a merciful fade to black. Fox originally held high hopes for the summer series. A collaboration between reality producer Mark Burnett and iconic film director Steven Spielberg, the series threw out a wide net for aspiring directors.

The On the Lot website had been up for months, and more than 12,000 short films were posted, when the show made its debut in late May; roughly one-third of the entries came from Canada.

But no one watched On the Lot, even though a few Canadians made it into the final group. The show's ratings dropped like a stone after its premiere and Fox rescheduled the show to air once weekly, instead of the planned two broadcasts.

On the Lot was all flash. The show featured production values rivalling American Idol, individualized film-genre categories and a celebrity judging panel that included Carrie Fisher – and Princess Leia was decidedly unkind to several contestants.

There's no meanness and little grandiosity to Exposure, which instead seems a bold attempt to merge the online and TV worlds. The program is hosted by two Internet personalities: Lara Doucette, better known as vixen Lala on the popular podcast Tiki Bar TV, and Billy Reid, a video artist from Victoria, whose short films have received more than a million hits on YouTube.

Running over the next six weeks, Exposure will air selected clips from the website and interview the filmmakers. Viewers will vote online for their favourites and each episode will feature that week's three most popular digital creations.

As with On the Lot, the films are divided into categories, but in lieu of that program's deployment of hoary cinema staples – comedy, horror, action and romantic comedy – Exposure limits the groupings to live action, animation and documentary.

And the films? The talent is out there. A quick scan of the amateur productions on the Exposure website reveals several works of considerable promise.

There is both social comment and bizarre originality evident in North America Goes Green, a zero-budget animated short in which political leaders set eco-friendly examples. You can see the filmmaker's hands moving the cardboard cutouts of British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell pulling California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's muscle car by hand, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper operating a lawn mower by what seems to be brain power.

Also engaging: No Better Place is a mini-documentary about the burgeoning self-storage industry, while Dave on Hold provides a simple portrait of a frazzled man waiting on the phone for Internet support. The big finish is worth the five-minute viewing time.

Certainly there is payoff on Exposure, though, once again, it's more Canadian.

On the Lot limps to a finale next month, with the grand prize of a million-dollar contract with DreamWorks Studios and a nice parking space, right on the lot, very close to Spielberg's car.

On Exposure, there's the weekly chance to win $1,500 of digital recording equipment, and the filmmaker whose film is chosen as the overall winner in the Sept. 2 finale will receive a $25,000 development deal to produce an original online series for CBC. It's not Hollywood, but it's a start.

Check local listings.

John Doyle will return next month.