America's Next Producer


America's Next Producer is a 2007 reality television series in which ten contestants competed for the title of America's Next Producer, as part of which they received TV Guide Network deal, office space in Hollywood, 17" MacBook Pro, 23" monitor, Final Cut Studio video editing software, and $100,000. Each week they were challenged to produce a certain genre within a certain amount of time with what they are given, with one contestant eliminated each week until a winner was chosen.
Gwen Uszuko send in a video to the official website, and this was chosen as one of the three videos that anyone could vote online, the winner getting a spot on the show. She emailed about the contest to two of Notre Dame's teachers and her message was posted where students could see it. This resulted in her getting twice the voices as the person who came in second.

Candidates

The candidates were:
NameAge *Occupation
Gwen Uszuko22Web Producer
Jessica Laccarino32Producer, Speed Channel
Alphonzo "Zo" Wesson46TV Director/Producer
Daniel Hosea33TV News Writer/Producer
Evie Shapiro37Freelance Producer
Steve "Schliz" Schleinitz32Reality TV Producer
Adam Mutterperl32Comedy Writer/Producer
Sharon Nash46Freelance Producer
Lindsay Liles24Producer, Style Network
Bradley Gallo29Freelance Producer

* as of the date of the programme.

Episodes

Episode 1 (July 18, 2007)

Episode 2 (July 25, 2007)

  • Genre: reality
  • Challenge: produce a 2-minute pitch reel for the next hit reality TV show.
  • Judges: David Hill, Matt Roush, and Chris Moore
  • WINNER: Sharon Nash
  • ELIMINATED: Lindsay Liles

Episode 3 (August 1, 2007)

[Episode 4 (August 8, 2007)

  • Genre: children's show
  • Challenge: create 2 segments for a new children's show
  • Judges: David Hill, Matt Roush, Claude Brooks, and Gelila Asres
  • WINNER: Jessica Iaccarino
  • ELIMINATED: Adam Mutterperl

Episode 5 (August 15, 2007)

  • Genre: public service announcement
  • Challenge: produce a 30-second public service announcement
  • Judges: David Hill, Matt Roush, and Daniel Hinerfeld
  • WINNER: Alphonzo Wesson aka Zo
  • ELIMINATED: Steve Schleinitz aka Schliz

Episode 6 (August 22, 2007)

  • Genre: game show
  • Challenge: create a new dating game show
  • Judges: David Hill, Matt Roush, and J. D. Roth
  • WINNER: none
  • ELIMINATED: Evie Shapiro

Episode 7 (August 29, 2007)

  • Genre: news
  • Challenge: produce a feature news story for live broadcast
  • Judges: David Hill, Matt Roush, and Lisa Kridos
  • WINNER: none
  • ELIMINATED: Daniel Hosea

Reception

Variety magazine comments on the low production value but state that they are sufficient, and criticizes some scenes being rushed through.