BELOW THE LINE PODCAST

By the penultimate episode of a serialized mystery, every decision matters. Screenwriter Yona Speidel takes us inside Episode 7 of The Boroughs, where the show's many storylines converge as the season races toward its finale. This week on Below the Line, Yona Speidel discusses her work on The Boroughs, the Netflix sci-fi mystery series created by Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews. Together, she and...

A station wagon ride. A movie theater. A bathtub drain. In IT: Welcome to Derry, some of the most ordinary places become the source of the show's most memorable nightmares. This week on Below the Line, Film Editor Esther Sokolow joins Skid and co-host Gianni Damaia to discuss editing the pilot episode of IT: Welcome to Derry. Building on the world established in IT Chapters One and Two, Esther bre...

How do you stage prison riots, cliffside fights, and high-speed chases when you only have a few hours to shoot each sequence? For Stunt Coordinator Victor Paguia, the answer starts with preparation, collaboration, and a willingness to solve problems on the fly. This week on Below the Line, Victor Paguia joins Skid to discuss his work on FBI, the long-running CBS series now heading into its ninth s...

Adapting manga to live action has defeated more than a few ambitious productions. But somehow, One Piece became one of Netflix’s biggest successes — by embracing spectacle without losing sight of character. This week on Below the Line, Film Editor Eric Litman returns to the podcast alongside regular guest and co-host Christopher Angel to discuss the editorial challenges behind Netflix’s hit adapta...

How do you shoot a film where time doesn’t move forward, but folds in on itself? For Fabian Gamper, the answer was building a visual language that treats every image like a memory — layered, subjective, and deeply tied to place. This week on Below the Line, Skid is joined by Fabian Gamper and co-host David Tuttman to discuss the cinematography behind Sound of Falling, the Cannes Jury Prize-winning...

What happens when you build an action movie from the discipline, pain tolerance, and physical language of ballet? For Director Vicky Jewson, the answer became Pretty Lethal — a film where movement isn’t just style, it’s story. This week on Below the Line, Skid is joined by Vicky Jewson and co-host Katie Carroll to go behind the camera on Pretty Lethal, the action thriller now streaming on Prime Vi...

Oscar night is almost here, and Below the Line closes out its 2026 Oscar series with a look at the Academy Award for Best Original Song. This week, Skid is joined by returning guests Chris Molanphy, Louis Weeks, and Tom Peyton to break down the five nominees — a lineup that ranges from chart-topping K-pop to blues-infused cinematic spectacle, intimate indie folk, and even a rare operatic outlier....

As Oscar night draws near, Below the Line turns to one of the most emotionally powerful — and hotly debated — categories of the year: the Academy Award for Best Original Score. In Episode 11 of our 2026 Oscar series, Skid is joined by returning panelists Chris Molanphy, Louis Weeks, and Jennie Armon to break down the five nominees recognized at the 98th Academy Awards: Bagonia, Frankenstein, Hamne...

Costume design defines character before a word is spoken — through silhouette, texture, and the quiet language of fabric. For Episode 10 of Below the Line’s 2026 Oscar series, Skid is joined by Liz Vastola, Austin Wittick, and Allison Choi Braun to examine the nominees for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design at the 98th Academy Awards. Drawing on their experience across period drama, contemp...

Cinematography is where intention meets execution — in the choice of lens, the placement of light, and the movement of the camera. For Episode 9 of Below the Line’s 2026 Oscar series, we turn to the nominees for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography at the 98th Academy Awards. Skid is joined by cinematographers Patrick Cady and David Tuttman, who return to examine this year’s field from the in...

Best Director may not be the top prize — but it’s the category that sparks the loudest arguments. In Episode 8 of Below the Line’s 2026 Oscar series, Skid is joined by Katie Carroll, Bill Hardy, and Shaun O’Banionto break down the nominees for the Academy Award for Best Director at the 98th Academy Awards. With years of shared on-set experience and a long-running panel dynamic, the conversation is...

Sound is where performance, environment, and emotion converge — shaped first on set and refined in the mix. In Episode 7 of Below the Line’s 2026 Oscar series, Skid is joined by Steve Morrow (Production Sound Mixer) and Don Sylvester (Sound Editor) to examine the nominees for Achievement in Sound at the 98th Academy Awards. Together, they explore how production and post-production intersect to sup...

Judging production design means considering not just what we see, but how an entire world was constructed to function on screen. This week on Below the Line, Skid is joined by Bob Shaw (Production Designer), Regina Graves (Set Decorator), and Kerry Weeks (Leadman) to examine the nominees for Achievement in Production Design at the 98th Academy Awards. Representing three distinct roles within the a...

Animated feature filmmaking is defined by endurance — years of development, constant iteration, and creative risks that often aren’t visible on screen. This week on Below the Line, Skid is joined by Kent Seki and Camille Leganza to discuss the nominees for Best Animated Feature at the 98th Academy Awards. Drawing on their extensive experience in animation, they look closely at how different creati...

Makeup and hairstyling are among the most visible crafts in filmmaking — shaping how an audience understands age, history, and identity before a word is spoken. This week on Below the Line, Skid is joined by Yvonne De Patis-Kupka, Angela Nogaro, and Lynda Armstrong for an in-depth discussion of the nominees for Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling at the 98th Academy Awards. Drawing on a wide ran...

This episode begins with a hypothetical question: what would it look like if Property Mastering were its own Oscar category? We explore it as part of Below the Line’s 2026 Oscar series. This week on Below the Line, Skid is joined by Scott Buckwald and Gregg Bilson, Jr. for a deep dive into the craft of property mastering through the lens of the 98th Academy Awards. Using a fictional Oscar ballot a...

Continuing Below the Line’s 2026 Oscar series, the conversation turns to Visual Effects — a category that sits at the intersection of technology, craft, and storytelling. This week on Below the Line, Skid is joined by Kent Seki and Chris Batty for a focused conversation about the Oscar nominees for Achievement in Visual Effects. Together, they look at how the category has evolved — and what separa...

As the 98th Academy Awards approach, Below the Line returns for its seventh annual Oscar series — beginning with Film Editing, a category that quietly shapes every other craft recognized on Oscar night. This week on Below the Line, Skid is joined by Amy Duddleston and Christopher Angel to open the 2026 Oscar series with a focused conversation about the nominees for Achievement in Film Editing. Tog...

Designing for television isn’t just about building sets — it’s about knowing when to preserve them, when to break them, and how to let them evolve over time. On Slow Horses, that long view shapes every creative decision. This week on Below the Line, Skid is joined by Production Designer Choi Ho Man, with Gianni Damaia returning as co-host, to talk about the fifth season of Slow Horses, the Apple T...

The stranger The Chair Company gets, the more seriously it has to be treated. Nothing about the show tells the audience when to laugh — its world looks ordinary, its people feel real, and that restraint is exactly what lets the absurdity land. This week on Below the Line, Skid is joined by Costume Designer Nicky Smith and Cinematographer Ashley Connor to discuss their work on The Chair Company, th...

Why do people who’ve spent their careers in the trenches of production take everything they’ve learned on set and turn it into something as quiet and lasting as a book? In this episode of Below the Line, three authors with deep roots in the industry talk about translating lived experience into storytelling on the page. This week on Below the Line, Skid is joined by Melanie Ragone, Key Grip and aut...

What happens when filmmaking becomes a marathon of collaboration — spanning years, thousands of shots, and the world of Oz itself? For Wicked: For Good, that was the daily reality for Film Editor Myron Kerstein and Visual Effects Supervisor Pablo Helman. This week on Below the Line, Skid welcomes back Myron Kerstein and introduces Pablo Helman, who makes his Below the Line debut to discuss their s...

Before there were military consultants on movie sets, there were officers like Jon McBride — servicemen who understood how stories shape public perception. On this Veterans Day episode of Below the Line, we look at how the Navy’s storytellers helped connect the worlds of service and cinema. This week, Skid is joined by Jon McBride, a former U.S. Navy officer whose service from 1964 to 1968 led him...

What does it take to build a world that feels as authentic as the people it represents? On The Lowdown, that meant storytelling rooted in place — and departments working in harmony. This week on Below the Line, Skid welcomes Makeup Department Head Sharon Tabb and Production Designer Brandon Tonner-Connolly, who reunite after three seasons of Reservation Dogs to discuss their latest collaboration w...

What does it mean to edit a sports horror film that blurs the line between spectacle and nightmare? For Taylor Mason, the answer was finding the rhythm that carried HIM through its shifting tones. This week on Below the Line, Skid is joined by Film Editor Taylor Mason to discuss her work on the Universal/Monkeypaw feature HIM, directed by Justin Tipping and starring Tyriq Withers and Marlon Wayans...