First let me say I was disappointed in the show which was project Greenlight 1, but liked the movie by the winning writer/director Pete Jones, STOLEN SUMMER very much. I would watch STOLEN SUMMER again. The show, on the other hand, with what seemed to me phony senseless bickering between producers Jeff Balis and Chris Moore seemed to lack the insight into the movie making I would have liked. Come on, Chris Moore fussing because Jeff and Pete postponed the lake swim because the water was too cold for the child stars, made Moore look like an idiot. And made careful thinking about what you'll need to get the movie done seem bad. I do want to point out that Jones went on to make other movies.Project Greenlight 2, was an inversion. I loved the show, and found the movie, BATTLE OF SHAKER HEIGHTS lacking.Now I have made a feature film. I made my feature KNAPTID for $6,000 and wrote about how in my I'm interested in what goes behind the scenes of a motion picture. Turns out there is a lot more to the process than one might expect.Project Greenlight lasted a mere three seasons, the first two on HBO, the last on Bravo. Only the first two seasons are available. I enjoyed the first year with Pete Jones, so I ponied up the bucks for the second.The second season features a change from the first season. This time, there were to be a writer whose script was chosen, and a different director to direct the film. There was still a competition that narrowed down the list from the thousands of scripts submitted, and the hundreds of potential directors.The format was similar in the competition. Each screenwriter and director had to make a pitch to a team of studio executives as well as Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Once the screenplay and the director was chosen, then the team had a short period of time to do pre-production.The main problem this year was casting. The directors wanted certain actors/actresses, but Miramax (who was funding the film) had final say. This caused a LOT of friction. The final casting was not done until the film was underway (!).All-in-all, a superb entry in the short series. I enjoyed it immensely, and felt it was as good as, or even a bit better than, the first season.Highly recommended if you have even a passing curiosity about the filmmaking process. As Affleck and Damon comment, it's a lot harder than it looks. And infused with a lot more drama, arguments and strife than you'd think. Probably more so than some of the films that result!Shame, this. "The Battle of Shaker Heights" is a slight time-waster with some fun dialogue and great performances. But there's a much stronger, deeper movie in here somewhere. Unfortunately, that movie is somewhere on the Mirimax cutting room floor.This year's installment of "Project Greenlight" was really amusing. I liked all three of the winners - Kyle, Efram and Erica - and the movie seemed like it had potential to be a great one. But K & E, who seemed to get unfairly villified as arrogant control freaks, were unprepared to get slammed against the Mirimax machine.They made mistakes. They weren't team players. But they have talent and an honest vision, and their movie really could have been great. Instead, we have this, a 75-minute lightweight job that touches on many subjects and characters, only to "resolve" them with two-sentence exchanges.Think of all the missed opportunities here. The parents. The fiance. The bully, who is fascinatingly literate and short of stature. Bart's parents. And, most importantly, Kelly himself. Shia's performance is deeply perceptive and natural, but this cut of the movie refuses to let us see the source of Kelly's anger and intelligence. All we get is an awkward "One day I got angry" speech.There's a heart in "The Battle of Shaker Heights," and there's genuine talent on the screen and behind the cameras. Unfortunately, the Chris Moore's and Harvey Weinstein's of the world have molded that heart and talent into a shapeless piece of throwaway Mirimax entertainment.