BELOW THE LINE PODCAST

My guests today - Melanie Ragone, Melissa Beaupre, and Nicole Higgins - are women who work in below the line film crew specialties typically dominated by men. We discuss the challenges and rewards of being film industry pioneers, and what attracted them to these careers in the first place.

The 21st Century has seen three film adaptations of C.S. Lewis’s Narnia books: “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” (2005), “Prince Caspian” (2008) and “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” (2010). Howard Berger, my guest today, supervised the prosthetic makeup for all three films, and he won an Oscar for his work on the first. In addition to discussing this effort, our conversation places Howard’s work within the context of his storied career.

In “The Harder They Fall”, currently streaming on Netflix, Jonathan Majors and Idris Elba are opposing outlaws, leading their respective gangs into a classic Old West showdown through a series of expectation-defying twists. Film Editor Tom Eagles speaks with me about the journey from page to screen for this stylish western, the first feature-length film from Director Jeymes Samuel (aka The Bullitts).

Today is Veterans Day, and, to honor the occasion, I’ve once again invited a panel of Combat Camera veterans to talk about their time in uniform. My guests - Jim Stayton, J.R. Cole, and Fred Johnson - reminisce with stories covering nearly 50 years of Combat Camera history . . . and still find time to laugh about the foibles of a certain L.T. for whom they once worked. Oh, and remember in 2008 when Air Force One flew over NYC at low altitude? We’ve got the inside scoop on that. 

Edgar Wright’s latest film, “Last Night in Soho” (starring Thomasin McKenzie and Anya Taylor-Joy), is one of his most ambitious projects to date. My guest today is Re-Recording Mixer and Supervising Sound Editor Julian Slater, whose collaboration with Edgar Wright spans six films. Spoiler Alert: Soho is best enjoyed in the theater, and you’ll definitely want to see it there before joining us on this episode of the podcast.

“Man of the House”, the 2005 action-comedy starring Tommy Lee Jones as a Texas Ranger, is not well reviewed. It is, however, a film I worked on, as a consultant for a company called Big Crowds. Our mission was to fill a football stadium with background fans . . . or at least make it look that way on camera. My guests today — Alexa Sheehan, Ken Twohy, and Damon Chang — were members of my team.

“L.A. Confidential”, the 1997 film starring Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, and Guy Pearce, is an exceptional adaptation of James Ellroy’s novel about police and crime in 1950s Los Angeles. It was directed by Curtis Hanson, and my guests today are members of his assistant director team: Jim Goldthwait (Key 2nd AD), Heather Kritzer (2nd 2nd AD), and Kevin Koster (DGA Trainee). This was a challenging but rewarding film project for everyone involved, and we’ve got the stories.

I was a DGA Trainee on the fourth season of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, and I’m joined today by some of my crew mates: Todd McIntosh (Makeup Supervisor), Athena Alexander (Key 2nd AD), and Douglas Noe (Makeup Artist). We share stories from the set of this iconic Joss Whedon/Sarah Michelle Gellar series . . . and have a fun time catching up.  

Today we’re talking about “American Horror Stories”, the weekly anthology show helmed by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, itself a spin-off of their long running series, “American Horror Story” (now in its 10th season). My guest is the Production Designer, Eve McCarney, who talks about the challenges of building a new world every week while remaining true to the aesthetic of the original show.

Contract negotiations between the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) are at a challenging juncture. My guests — Mike Loomer (Local 44), Dave Tuttman (Local 600), and Michael Taylor (Local 728) — discuss the union’s concerns and the possibility of a strike.