ABOVE THE LINE: The Search For America's Next Music Video Director

above the line- adj. - Hollywood term for creative talent including directors, producers, actors, and writers. 

Season One- Press release to be available December 16, 2005

• Scroll down for information about the show, being a contestant, becoming a judge, being featured as an artist or becoming a sponsor.

                           CAN YOU STAY ABOVE THE LINE?

Welcome to the temporary home of Above the Line, the show where two teams of seven potential directors compete against one another in a series of production-related challenges for the ultimate prize of shooting a big-budget video for a major artist and a year-long representation contract from a well-known agency. 

We are currently in the process of finalizing our sponsorships for the show, and plan on accepting submissions for potential contestants in March 2006.  Above the Line will be shot during the summer of 2006 in Los Angeles.

Synopsis: Each episode will feature a song from a new artist signed to a major label.  Both teams must come up with a treatment for the video on a $15,000 budget and produce, shoot, edit and present the final product within a week to a panel of industry judges.  The rotating panel of judges will consist of a label music video commissioner, the artist whose song is featured, a prominent music video director, and a surprise industry guest.  The winning team will be treated to a special outing with the director, and the losing team will get to send someone over to the other side in exchange for the director of the winning team. 

The competition will be narrowed down to two finalists based off of cumulative performance at the end of eight weeks.   The finalists will go through two final challenges: 1)they will act as an Assistant Director to an established music video director and 2)they will get to choose their dream crew from the entire pool of contestants for their final video.  The overall winner will be chosen by the panel of industry judges (each vote of confidence counts as one point), the director they assisted (director can choose to give one or two points), and through online voting on the network website (the online winner gets three points). 

show/contestant information

• Show Information:  At the outset of each video challenge, each team will be given one JVC GY-HD100U camera with full accesories, an iBook with Final Cut Pro Studio installed, a Lowel light kit, and $15,000.  The director for each week will be chosen by who convinces the rest of the team that their treatment is the most viable one.  After the director is chosen, he can select who he wants in different positions on his crew, with the positions being: 1)Producer 2)Videographer 3)Art Director/Set Designer 4)Casting Director/Location Scout 5)Gaffer/Grip/Propmaster 6)Editor.  The teams are allowed to do what they want with the $15,000 to get the video done, and that includes hiring special fx teams, renting out large locations, paying extras, and getting more camera equipment.  The only restrictions they are given are the challenges for the week, i.e. one week the teams will be flown to Las Vegas and must come up with a concept that they can shoot on location there, and the rules that none of their treatments and videos can be sexually explicit, violently graphic, or display the artist in a poor and objectionable light. Each team will get a maximum of four hours to shoot with the artist, and the rest of the video must be shot around the artist. Once an individual has performed a position, they cannot be the same position again unless they have been switched to the other team. The show will be shot in 13 episodes, with the 13th episode being the making of the final video by the winner.  Eight new artists will be spotlighted through this show, ranging in genre of music.  The rough shooting schedule will be: 1)Monday, receive song and write treatments 2)Tuesday, pre-production 3)Wednesday, production with artist (one team in the morning, the other in the afternoon) 4)Thursday, edit 5)Friday, presentation of video. 

• Contestant Information: Each submission must be on VHS format and must include: 1)One video that you have produced, directed, shot, and edited yourself  2)1-2 minutes on tape telling us why we should choose you, why you want to be a music video director and who your favorite directors are 3)Application form.  All contestants must be 18 years of age or older as of May 15, 2006.  Further submission details to follow in March 2006.

sponsor/judge/label/artist information

• Sponsor Information: We already have our major sponsor secured, but are still considering other sponsors for a variety of strategic brand placement opportunities. Please contact Preeti Shrivastava at ps@thesmediagroup.com for a list of opportunities that are still available. 

• Industry Panel of Judges:  If you are a major label music video comissioner interested in promoting one of your new artists through this show and in addition getting two $15,000 music videos in return, please contact Preeti at ps@thesmediagroup.com. If you are a representative of a music video director or an artist signed to a major label and would like to participate, please contact Jyoti at js@thesmediagroup.com.