February 8, 2023
2020 has been quite a year for the movie business, both from the production side but also theatrical and distribution, as COVID-19 has changed much of the way we both make and watch movies, hopefully not forever but for a good amount of time. Here at Below the Line, we would love to end this crappy year on a positive note, and that’s why we’re shining our spotlight on some relatively […]
Yesterday, Below the Line reported on a message from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LADPH) suggesting that the TV and film industry pause production during the surging number of COVID case and deaths across the county, filling hospitals to capacity. The actors’ union, SAG-AFTRA, has taken that advice to heart and gone one step further by telling its members that “most entertainment productions will remain on hiatus until the […]
As cases of COVID-19 and deaths from the virus continue to surge in Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LADPH) is urging the TV and film industry to consider pausing production, a message passed along by FilmLA who helps streamline the on-location filmmaking process in L.A. “Although music, TV and film productions are allowed to operate, we ask you to strongly consider pausing work for a few weeks […]
There have been a number of great documentaries in 2020, but one of the better ones is Ryan White’s Assassins, which takes an in-depth investigative look at the assassination of the brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un at a busy Malaysian airport. The two would-be murderers are both young women, Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Huong. White has been keeping busy over the past ten years between his six feature […]
Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael, ASC, may not be a household name, but there’s a strong chance that you’re familiar with his work. Papamichael has frequently worked with James Mangold, most recently on 2019’s Ford v Ferrari, and he earned an Oscar nomination for his work on Alexander Payne’s Nebraska. In addition to collaborating with Mangold and Payne, Papamichael has also worked with George Clooney on a few films. The Trial of […]
There is something infectiously charming about Gal Gadot as the beloved heroine Diana Prince. Perhaps it is her warm smile, her determined gaze, or the fact that she is clearly letting herself into the role. As it turns out, this is about the only salvageable element of Wonder Woman 1984 (aka WW84), the highly-anticipated sequel to the popular 2017 Warner Bros. reboot. The rest of the film stumbles constantly upon itself, at times […]
The Prom is a musical created by Matthew Sklar, Chad Beguelin, and Bob Martin, based on the original concept by Jack Viertel. Ryan Murphy (American Horror Story) produced and directed a film adaptation of the musical, which follows four down-on-their-luck Broadway actors Dee Dee Allen (Meryl Streep), Barry Glickman (James Corden), Angie Dickinson (Nicole Kidman), and Trent Oliver (Andrew Rannells), as they travel to a conservative town of Edgewater, Indiana to support a […]
A new wave of filmmaking is entering Hollywood by way of virtual and remote production. Disney’s The Mandalorian exposed wider audiences to virtual filming aesthetics by pulling back the technological curtain through a series of popular behind-the-scenes videos. Educators at USC’s Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) introduced their recent graduates to this new game engine technology by transforming two sound stages into a testing ground for learning virtual previsualization, production design, […]
Although filmmaker Paul Greengrass has been directing movies and television since the mid-80s, his 2002 film Bloody Sunday, about the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland, was what finally got him notice as a filmmaker. That led to a fairly large leap into studio movies, directing Universal Pictures’ action sequel, The Bourne Supremacy – Greengrass would team with actor Matt Damon for two further Bourne movies, as well as the Iraq-set Green […]
The Midnight Sky isn’t the first go-round for Cinematographer Martin Ruhe, ASC, to work with Oscar-winning filmmaker George Clooney. They previously worked together on the Hulu limited series, Catch-22, which led to a nomination by the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) for his work on the series. Prior to that, Ruhe was Director of Photography for The American, which Clooney also starred in. When he isn’t working on films, Ruhe shoots award-winning commercials and music videos. In The […]