BELOW THE LINE PODCAST

Skid - DGA Assistant Director
  • 5.0 (79)
  • Film Interviews

A podcast about the film industry: stories from the set, told by the crew

  1. 4d ago

    S27 - Ep 9 - I Want Your Sex - Intimacy Coordination

    Sex, power, and crossed boundaries are at the heart of I Want Your Sex. Behind the camera, however, clear boundaries are precisely what make the film's wildest moments possible. Intimacy Coordinator Yehuda Duenyas joins Skid to discuss his work on I Want Your Sex, the erotic comedy thriller from writer-director Gregg Araki, starring Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman. From establishing clear expectations with performers to employing protective garments and other on-set safeguards, Yehuda explains how intimacy coordination supports both the director's creative vision and the actors bringing it to life. With clips from the film guiding the conversation, Yehuda takes us behind the scenes of its most provocative moments—and into the evolving role of intimacy coordination in Hollywood. Among the highlights: Collaborating with Gregg Araki, a filmmaker Yehuda admired long before they worked together, to bring the director's distinctive vision to life while preserving the playful atmosphere on set Preparing the cast for a schedule that placed every intimate scene within the first five shooting days, with a pre-shoot gathering designed to break the ice and build trust before cameras rolled Choreographing a complicated threesome sequence that moves from awkward comedy to emotional distress, using careful staging and established consent protocols to give the actors freedom to perform Exploring the film's generational conversation about sex and intimacy, including how changing attitudes toward relationships, personal freedom, and discomfort inform Araki's storytelling Tracing the evolution of intimacy coordination from an emerging specialty to a unionized profession, including Yehuda's role in negotiating its first SAG-AFTRA contract The conversation reveals how much artistry and preparation go into scenes that are meant to feel spontaneous, outrageous, or uncomfortable. For Yehuda, the goal isn't to tame the material, but to create the conditions in which filmmakers and performers can embrace it fully. 🎧 Press play and go Below the Line on I Want Your Sex. For more, visit belowtheline.biz.

  2. Oct 4

    S27 - Ep 8 - Tuner - Cinematography

    There are plenty of opportunities for visual showmanship in Tuner, but the trick is knowing how far to push them. Elaborate camera rigs, rapid-fire inserts, expressive lighting, and playful montages give the film its distinctive visual language—but the technique never becomes the point. Cinematographer Lowell A. Meyer joins Skid to discuss his collaboration with director Daniel Roher on Tuner, starring Leo Woodall as a gifted piano tuner whose extraordinary ear proves equally useful for cracking safes. The film moves between romance, music and heist storytelling without treating each as a separate stylistic exercise—an approach that lets the characters and their worlds carry the shifts in genre. With three clips from the film guiding the conversation, Lowell takes us inside the creative choices behind some of Tuner's key sequences. Topics include: Building the film's montages from an enormous volume of imagery, with macro photography, B-camera work and a dedicated insert day supplying shots that may appear for only a few frames Designing a spinning fisheye camera rig that lets the audience experience a safe dial from the safe's point of view Translating Nikki's heightened sensitivity to sound into images, culminating in a club sequence where lighting, camera movement and shallow depth of field make his surroundings feel physically overwhelming Finding a consistent approach to the film's shifts between romance, music and heist storytelling without "pouring hot sauce" on every stylistic choice Working with Dustin Hoffman, whose stories, humor and spontaneous piano playing made him the shoot's much-loved "fun uncle" With roughly 28 locations in 28 shooting days, Tuner demanded both ambition and efficiency. Lowell's stories reveal how much invention can happen within those constraints—and how preparation, collaboration and a willingness to experiment helped turn a demanding schedule into opportunities for creative problem-solving. 🎧 Press play and go Below the Line on Tuner. For more, visit belowtheline.biz.

  3. Jul 20

    S27 - Ep 7 - Influenced - Assistant Directing

    The world of Influenced is one of luxury, exclusivity, and Manhattan's Upper East Side. Bringing that world to life on an independent film budget meant balancing creative ambition with production realities: making every location, every shooting day, and every production decision count. This week on Below the Line, Bruce Edward Hall joins Skid to discuss Influenced, the independent comedy directed by Rachel Israel from a screenplay by Jill Kargman. Together, they explore the planning, coordination, and adaptability required to bring an ambitious feature to the screen, and how thoughtful preparation helped the production make the most of every opportunity. Among the highlights: Scheduling a 23-day feature around child actors, animals, celebrity cameos, and a one-camera production Using Jill Kargman's relationships to secure extraordinary Upper East Side locations that would normally be beyond an independent film's reach Making intimate locations and crowded luncheon scenes feel far larger than the budget allowed Coordinating celebrity cameos and guest actors whose schedules left little room for rehearsal Navigating everything from neighborhood disruptions to approaching thunderstorms while keeping production on track Throughout the conversation, Bruce offers a behind-the-scenes look at the work audiences rarely notice, revealing how countless production decisions combine to make ambitious filmmaking look effortless on screen. 🎧 Press play and go Below the Line on Influenced. For more, visit belowtheline.biz.

  4. Jun 28

    S27 - Ep 6 - The Boroughs - Screenwriting

    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 Skid explore how a modern television writers' room operates, how Yona's specific episode evolved during development, and how real-life experiences helped shape key moments in the series. Among the highlights: How the writers' room collaborated to break down the entire season before a single episode was drafted Why Episode 7 became the show's "heist episode" and the process of bringing multiple storylines together Planning a complex action sequence inside the Manor before any actual sets had been built Drawing on family history, retirement communities, and personal memories to shape key moments in the script Balancing a writer's creative contributions with the vision of a show's creators and showrunners Throughout the conversation, Yona offers an inside look at the collaborative nature of television writing, revealing how ideas move from the writers' room to the screen while adapting to the realities of production. 🎧 Press play and go Below the Line on The Boroughs. For more, visit belowtheline.biz.

  5. Jun 14

    S27 - Ep 5 - IT: Welcome to Derry - Editing the Pilot

    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 breaks down how the creative team crafted the pilot's most memorable scares while exploring an earlier chapter in Pennywise's history. HBO provided four clips from the pilot episode, giving Esther the opportunity to break down: The station wagon sequence that transforms a seemingly kind family into one of the pilot's most disturbing nightmares The theater massacre and the editorial decision to anchor the chaos through Lilly's point of view Teddy's encounter with the living lampshade and the practical effects hidden within the scare Lilly's bathtub vision and the subtle editorial tricks that make Pennywise's presence feel unnervingly wrong Beyond the individual scares, Esther explains how horror editing relies on audience empathy, carefully controlled perspective, and a deep understanding of what viewers fear before the monster ever appears. From sound design and pacing to practical effects and performance, she offers a fascinating look at adapting Stephen King's world for television while creating an identity uniquely suited to IT: Welcome to Derry. 🎧 Press play and go Below the Line on IT: Welcome to Derry. For more, visit belowtheline.biz.

  6. May 31

    S27 - Ep 4 - FBI - Stunts

    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 season. Having been with the show since the pilot, Victor breaks down three standout action sequences from Season 8 and explains how his team delivers ambitious stunts under the demanding schedule of a network television production.  We discuss: Planning and executing a truck-to-truck jump at 40 miles per hour in eight-degree weather Pulling off a crucial hot-rod entrance with a single take before the street reopened to traffic Teaching actors fight choreography on the day of shooting, a few moves at a time Designing a prison-riot fight around a dramatic overhead camera move Finding stunt doubles for guest stars cast only days before filming Creating a cliffside rescue sequence using real locations, stunt performers, and a custom-built set Throughout the conversation, Victor returns to the same challenge: balancing ambition with reality. Whether he's coordinating a vehicle jump, choreographing a fight, or hanging stunt performers over a real cliff, every creative decision must account for time, budget, safety, and the practical demands of episodic television. The result is a fascinating look at the planning and problem-solving that make action storytelling possible.  🎧 Press play and go Below the Line on FBI. For more, visit belowtheline.biz.

  7. May 10

    S27 - Ep 3 - One Piece - Film Editing

    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 adaptation of One Piece. From reshaping major sequences in post to balancing fan expectations with emotional clarity, Eric breaks down how the series found its rhythm — and why grounding the story emotionally became the key to making its larger-than-life world work. Among the highlights: Reworking the opening of Season 2 to establish energy, tone, and momentum from the very first scene Building complex visual effects sequences before the effects themselves even existed Using pacing, speed ramps, and eye-lines to shape action scenes around character perspective Finding visual inspiration in the original manga while still allowing the live-action series to stand on its own How editorial restructuring and pickups helped strengthen emotional connections between the Straw Hats Collaborating with previs, sound, stunt, and VFX teams across multiple countries during post-production Why the creative team resisted “fan service” in favor of character-driven storytelling The emotional audience reactions that revealed just how deeply One Piece connects with its fans What emerges throughout the conversation is how much modern editing — especially on a visual effects-heavy show like One Piece — depends on collaboration. Eric describes a process that extended far beyond the cutting room, involving constant communication between editorial, sound, previs, visual effects, production, and performance. 🎧 Press play and go Below the Line on One Piece. For more, visit belowtheline.biz.

  8. Apr 26

    S27 - Ep 2 - Sound of Falling - Cinematography

    How do you shoot a film where time doesn’t move forward, but folds in on itself? For Cinematographer 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 film that blends four time periods into a single, interconnected visual experience. From the beginning, Fabian approached the project with a guiding principle: the farmhouse location would dictate the look. Rather than designing separate visual styles for each era, he and director Mascha Schilinski chose to unify the film through a consistent, naturalistic approach — allowing light, texture, and production design to signal shifts in time while maintaining a shared emotional language across generations.  Topics include: Building a “memory structure” visually — and why all time periods were treated with the same cinematic language Using a single farmhouse location as both logistical anchor and creative constraint Designing naturalistic lighting that still carries emotional intent, from candlelight to LED sources Creating a filmic look digitally, including Look-up Table development and 16mm emulation Balancing available light with precise planning — including timing shots to the position of the sun Solving complex practical challenges, from child actor scheduling to in-camera stunt solutions Using long lenses and selective framing to reflect how memory distorts perspective Reinforcing theme through technique — including recurring visual motifs like reflected light What emerges is a conversation about control and surrender — knowing when to shape the image, and when to let the environment lead. Whether working with limited resources or ambitious ideas, Fabian’s process shows how a clear visual philosophy can unify even the most complex narrative structures. 🎧 Press play — or watch the full conversation on YouTube — and go Below the Line on Sound of Falling. For more, visit belowtheline.biz.

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5
out of 5
79 Ratings

About

A podcast about the film industry: stories from the set, told by the crew

Information

  • Creator
    Skid - DGA Assistant Director
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    299
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2018 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    BELOW THE LINE PODCAST

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