By Krittivas Mukherjee

MUMBAI (Reuters Life!) - A new reality television series in India will pitch 18 apprentice filmmakers against each other and offer the winner a chance to make a film in Hollywood.

A nation-wide talent hunt will identify contestants for "Gateway". Contenders can send in two to four minute-long long films that can be shot on any format, including with a mobile phone camera.

The winner gets a chance to apprentice for six to eight weeks with Hyde Park Entertainment and a chance to direct a Hyde Park-produced picture.

"The aim of Gateway is to shine a spotlight on someone who would ordinarily not have that opportunity, as well as to showcase Indian talent on a global platform," said Ashok Amritraj, chief executive of Hyde Park Entertainment.

The contestants will be quizzed about their knowledge of cinema and judged on the basis of tasks such as editing, cutting a promo or camera positioning during 13 one-hour episodes.

The show's promoters hope the show will "demystify" filmmaking. Amritraj and a jury of industry experts will eliminate contenders.

No one who has a film credit as a director in a theatrically released film can compete. However, anyone else, like the spot boy or a technician, can.

"The idea is to find a debutant film-making talent," Amritraj said. The show goes on air in November on PIX, a movie network operated by Sony Entertainment Television.

Amritraj said the process of developing a project for the winner has begun and the final script will be chosen keeping in mind the strength of the winner.

"If his strength is comedy or drama, we would choose a screenplay on the basis of that," he said.

Amritraj said "Gateway" would be different from the hit show "The Apprentice" in that contenders would not be sent off to make a movie each week.

"This is rather about offering the viewers a new take on how movies are made and the toil and sweat that goes into filmmaking," he said.

Although the concept bears similarities to Fox TV's "On The Lot", producers said it was an original concept.

"How many other shows offer the chance to direct a Hollywood movie right out of the gate?"