IF you haven’t heard of it, Fox has a new reality competition series called On The Lot. It’s for filmmakers all over the world who would like to have a chance to be a Hollywood director. Produced by no-less than award-winning TV producer Mark Burnett and—hold on to your seats—Steven Spielberg, this reality contest will give contestants the chance to earn a $1-million development deal at DreamWorks.

The competition will air over two nights weekly beginning May 22, with a one-hour “Film Premiere” episode, followed the next night by a half-hour “Box Office” results show.
From the Philippines, a Pinoy crowd favorite is fast emerging—TV ad director Paolo Dy. He has entered his new short film, QWERTY, (http://films.thelot.com/films/19175) and has been receiving great reviews from those who have seen it.

According to the contest’s website, about 12,000 entered their films for consideration. Once the contest starts, only a small group of filmmakers will be chosen which viewers will eliminate one by one, ala-American Idol.

Dy and a handful of Pinoy filmmakers who submitted their works in On The Lot, which includes U.S.-based Eli Africa and CinemaOne Originals Sitak director Liza Cornejo, are hopeful that viewers around the world, especially the Pinoy viewers, will appreciate and support their works.

One Philippines chats with Paolo Dy about his film entry, QWERTY.

How did you come up with QWERTY’s concept?

The central idea behind QWERTY was something that I’d been playing with in the back of my head for over five years. In various incarnations it was a family drama and an almost CSI-like story, but we finally settled on a noir-ish mystery format as the one best suited for the idea.

The concept first hit me after I saw this news segment about this man (I seem to recall that he was handicapped) who uses a typewriter to create art. He’d hold a piece of paper loosely threaded in the typewriter’s spool, position it just right, then type one character. Then he’d move the paper again and repeat. In essence he was using the typewriter as one would use a brush, varying the character depending on whether he needed a denser or lighter tone in that spot.

After seeing the news story, I began to wonder, what if there were some genius who could do that, but on a much larger, multi-page scale -- large to the point that individual pages would look like gibberish, but when pieced together they formed a huge mosaic image? And that’s when the central character of QWERTY was born.

Did you make QWERTY specifically for On The Lot?

Yes, actually, QWERTY was made for the On the Lot application process. The rules stated that the film had to be in English, and I was overdue for another short film anyway, so we decided to tailor-make this one for the competition.

How much did QWERTY cost you?

The commercial production company that I work for, OutofTheBOX Films, helped me produce QWERTY. Overall I think we spent somewhere between two and three hundred thousand pesos on this film, not counting the many favors we called in from the various suppliers we work with for commercials.

How long did it take you to conceptualize the film?

The script took maybe three or four days to write and revise, but that’s spread out over a month and a half because of other work.

What are your expectations in this competition?

I expect it to be fiercely competitive, but at the same time it’ll be fun to be amongst other people who share the same passion. Plus, I am totally psyched about the chance to meet my absolute most favorite director in the world.

Any inside story about QWERTY you’d like to share?

There are two small homages to two different Spielberg films in QWERTY; you might want to view it again and see if you can find them :)

If you win the $1M Dreamworks film contract, what type of movie would you like to make?

Oh wow, I have so many different film ideas that I’d want to develop, I wouldn’t know where to start! I’d be as thrilled to do a huge special-effects-heavy action film as I would an intimate, personal drama. There are so many stories to tell!

I would like to be able to do a movie or two set in the Philippines. I know there are great stories to be told from our country that will appeal to an international audience.

What are you busy with these days?

I make my living directing television commercials in Manila. My latest ad for Tide just came out, the one starring Gelli de Belen. She’s an absolute dream to work with, such a pro and a trouper. No complaints at all, not even at 2 am.

Do you have any upcoming film projects?

We have different ideas in various stages of development, but nothing even close to the shooting stage at this moment. We’re also developing a TV comedy series for the local market.

Do you have plans to direct a full-feature film for any of the Filipino movie companies?
Well, if the right circumstances come together, why not? I’d love to.