A budget of $1 million was put up by Miramax, with a camera following the crew through pre-production, shooting, and post-production stages, giving cable viewers a front row glance to what real moviemaking is all about. The winners - screenwriter Erica Beeney for her script, The Battle of Shaker Heights, and was teamed up with directors Efram Potelle and Kyle Rankin. The season wrapped up on Sunday night, August 24, with the film having debuted on Friday, August 22, in 5 theaters (eventually expanding). With the season having run all summer, Lee and Stephen discuss their thoughts...

Lee: I know you haven't seen the movie yet, but I can say that (for me) Kyle and Efram have sort of been forgiven for all the idiot moments depicted throughout the season. I thought Shaker Heights was pretty good, but regardless, the show is a lot more addicting than the movie – and the season improved over last season, show wise. But that's also the same way Stolen Summer was – the show was addicting and the movie was simply just pretty decent.

Stephen: Although many labeled last season's film, "Stolen Summer," something along the lines of a mediocre after-school special, I never felt compelled to put it down. It may not have been the best of independent films, nor did it have too much to offer, but there were things about it that I felt deserved more credit than they were given. Religious drama is hard to execute well, especially with two somewhat weak leads.

Lee: I thought Stolen Summer was a Sunday night movie, but a tolerable one. There are Sunday night movies that are just plain cheesy and preachy, and I didn't think Summer was that as a whole. The one thing they've done with Shaker Heights is made it more mainstream – it’s more of a crowd pleaser, even though it’s got some problems.

Stephen: "The Battle of Shaker Heights," on the other hand, seems more conventional -- if not more genuine -- than the previous season's project – perhaps the reason being was the move from PGL being one contest to two contests.

Lee: I'm not even sure whom I liked more between Kyle and Efram and last season's winner, Pete Jones, and that's also after seeing the movies themselves. (There was only a writer/director slot last season.)

Stephen: Pete Jones was chosen as both writer and director of "Stolen Summer," and as many PGL fans will agree, he wasn't suited for both. We've seen this season, too, that being "just" the director or "just" the writer is stressful enough. The difference between Jones and the new team of directors with Kyle and Efram is that the latter have experience. Although they hadn't made a film with much of a decent-sized budget before "Shaker," they did in fact direct a few films themselves beforehand. Jones was going into it all without any directing experience under his belt, and I give him credit for doing however much he did with that little time to prepare himself for the leap.

Lee: The thing with Kyle and Efram was that you were never quite sure if they were as dumb as they sometimes looked, but when they had intense pressure surrounding them, they seemed to get the job done right compared to normal situations which sometimes...didn't work that way. With Pete Jones, you pretty much saw the same Pete Jones the entire season – he wasn't as unsure as Kyle and Efram I don't think.

Stephen: I found Kyle and Efram's process rather distracting and actually, very annoying. Granted, they had a way of doing things before their latest film, but learning and cooperating is key with PGL. Jones was honest when he didn't know what to do, and it was fairly easy to tell when something was on his nerves. Kyle and Efram tended to talk and work amongst themselves at times. I haven't yet seen "The Battle of Shaker Heights," and even though it may better than "Stolen Summer" as a film, the directors weren't as professional as I think they could have been. Jones did his best to work with people, even if he was too passive a good deal of time.

Lee: Granted, some of Kyle and Efram's tactics/moves were a little questionable, but sometimes I was questioning Erica Beeney's attitude.

Stephen: See, I have to disagree – Beeney always seemed kind of nervous about them directing, but her attitude -- good or bad -- more often than not was justified. I can recall when in pre-production nearing principal photography, Efram told Erica that he'd be willing to write an entire new draft of the script.

Lee: I mean, she "is" the writer and these two guys had questionable intentions at times, but it seemed as if she wasn't always open to material that others talked about or people suggested regarding problems within the script or matters in general.

Stephen: But can you in all honesty say that you felt the directors were mostly right in their decision making?

Lee: Yeah I did object to Efram in the "What the hell are you doing?" sense.

Stephen: Erica and Jeff were quite the pair on-screen, I thought, because they'd always tune into what I personally was thinking. I'm not sure if everyone agrees with that, but that was what I took from them. Kyle was much too passive, and like Chris often pointed out was that Kyle would always nod and seem to agree with what someone suggested, but then he'd go back and do exactly what he wanted to do in the first place.

Lee: It's like with meeting the actors, they just sat stoned face for a minute, and Erica had to spark the conversation.

Stephen: Do you mean that as a good thing or bad thing for Erica?

Lee: Well, I'd imagine it's customary for the directors to begin matters since they are, in a sense, running the show, even though Erica had some say.

Stephen: I never felt as though Kyle and Efram's minds were totally invested with "Shaker," too -- as a side note. I mean, they didn't get to pick this script to direct, but you'd think they'd take more of an interest in it and show more enthusiasm.

Lee: Like I said at the beginning of the season, I don't think they had that many ideas walking onto the project; wouldn't you prepare yourself if you’re getting your big break?

Stephen: Erica had a right to ask questions, I think; she wrote the script, so who else would know the characters better? Plus, if the directors don't want to talk, then what's the big deal? I agree with that comment of yours, though – they didn't seem as prepared as I thought they should have been. Didn't you just love how open they were to just do spur-of-the-moment things ALL the time during shooting? Again, unprofessional.

Lee: I'm forgetting, what spur of the moment things?

Stephen: Script changes... the change from using a gun in the war re-enactment – I mean, there'd be script changes every freaking day -- right on the spot. Their product may be good, as you said you thought it was, but from what I was shown on PGL, their process is kind of messy and professionally lacking, even if it's artistically good. To be a top director in Hollywood, don't you think this team needs to learn how to collaborate?

Lee: In one angle I didn't object too heavily after the first day of shooting when they returned to their hotel and re-wrote a scene. It was ill mannered, but after a long day like that with your first day of shooting, I can imagine it may not even occur to you to ask others before you do it.

Stephen: Right, but still, let people know!

Lee: I didn't totally agree with it, but I don't hold a grudge against them.