After eight years of dormancy, behind-the-camera reality show Project Greenlight gets a reboot in Project Greenlight: A New Generation (now on Max). The big change is in the series’ producers-slash-“mentors,” Insecure creator Issa Rae, The Big Sick writer/star Kumail Nanjiani and Love and Basketball and The Woman King director Gina Prince-Bythewood. They replace Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, who headlined the series for four seasons between 2001 and 2015. With a sci-fi/horror script in hand, the new team spends the first episode selecting a female director, then puts her to work for the next nine, all of which debut simultaneously, so feel free to binge away. And then when you’re done, you can watch the finished product, Gray Matter, also on Max – but before we do that, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of the new iteration of PG.
Opening Shot: Nanjiani, Rae and Prince-Bythewood stand shoulder-to-shoulder, giving a series introduction.
The Gist: Enough of the White male directors – it’s time for a woman to get a shot at a “dream gig.” That’s the aforementioned trio’s goal, and they and a team of producers from Rae’s Hoorae production company and Catchlight, a spinoff of the Blumhouse production house, sit in a boardroom, hoping to narrow down submissions from “thousands” to about 10. The script is described as a coming-of-age story about a young woman who learns she has psychic powers, and they’ve watched short films and mission-statement videos probably until their brains nearly liquified and leaked out their ears (or had their underlings fall on those grenades, most likely), hoping to find the right filmmaker for the job.
There are many hot prospects – music video and commercial directors, students with visionary thesis films, women of all ages and interests and backgrounds. Some show impressive visual skills, others excel at working with actors. Rae talks about finding one who has “specificity” and a “very strong point-of-view.” They fly all their finalists out to Los Angeles and give them the same two-to-three-minute scene and a $5,000 budget to complete it. Then Rae, Nanjiani, Prince-Bythewood and the rest of the panel cold-watch the finished scenes, bring the directors in for a chat – lots of job-interview vibes here – do some more narrowing-down, and pick their big winner.
Among the finalists: Roxana Baldovin, a glitzy, high-fashion personality whose confidence is so brazen and over the top, Prince-Bythewood says she doesn’t trust it. Malakai, who disappoints the crew when her new clip doesn’t come close to matching the extraordinary vision in her original short film. Nicole Mejia and LJ Johnson break hearts with the personal stories they share, and reflect their emotions in their interpretation of the scene. Meko Winbush is a softspoken type who loves genre films, but strikes you as a doesn’t-interview-well type, and hesitates to share her feelings. Here’s the thing, though – Winbush’s film was the best, and Nanjiani points out that even if she’s a bit awkwardly shy, she expresses significant emotion through her work. And so everyone gathers on the carpet for the press so Rae, Prince-Bythewood and Nanjiani can announce Winbush as their director. And she already looks overwhelmed.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? I’m not the first to point out that Project Greenlight, like The Voice, spends a lot of time seeking out talent, but rarely spotlights anyone who spins their reality-show fame into a high-profile career.
Our Take: On one hand, it’s noble of PG:ANG (feel free to pronounce that “pigang” if you so wish) to seek out a female director, since Hollywood doesn’t give very many of them work (according to Statista, in 2020 and 2021, about 20 percent of movies were directed by women, up from four percent in 2011). On the other, maybe they could’ve given Winbush a script that isn’t from a spinoff company of Blumhouse, which boasts a jewel in Get Out but mostly cranks out forgettable horror-thriller fodder that fills many a gap in your streaming-content menus. Rae admits the script needs some work, and a rewrite will be an added challenge for a director. But we can’t help but wonder if Rae and co. are engineering a thorny situation for the sake of reality-show drama. Are they setting Winbush up to fail?
Maybe. And future episodes promise to deliver on that drama. We only screened the debut, and although it sticks to rote formula by ramping up the who’s-gonna-get-the-job suspense, there’s no getting away from the we-gotta-see-what-happens-next allure. PG:ANG sets its hook in its first 45 minutes, primarily by establishing Wimbush as an introvert being tossed into the deep end with a bunch of extroverts. Will she be able to take charge, stand up for her vision and inject confidence into her work? Will she pound a rough script into decent shape and emerge with – let’s be honest here, the bar is low – a watchable movie? We’ll find out, and the idea of following a film from this embryonic state to final product should provide plenty of fodder to fill the next nine episodes, and be fascinating for movie buffs who want to see how the sausage is made.
Sex and Skin: None.
Parting Shot: Winbush looks nervous and elated: “I don’t know what I’ve gotten myself into!” she exclaims.
Sleeper Star: No doubt it’s Winbush, who’s so understated in her personality, it’s going to be fascinating to watch her work – and almost certainly be pushed outside her comfort zone.
Most Pilot-y Line: Rae: “This time, we’re doing things a little bit differently. We’re choosing a woman director because Project Greenlight has never had one before.”
Our Call: STREAM IT. It looks like PG:ANG will start lukewarm and only get hotter as things progress.
John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.