S23 - Ep 4 - 2025 Awards Season, Revisited

Kevin Bacon returns to the small screen with “The Bondsman”, and today we welcome back two veterans of the podcast, Production Designer Eve McCarney and Costume Designer Liz Vastola, to discuss the challenges of a show that’s balancing genre spectacle and family drama. Co-host Gianni Damaia has some good questions, but primarily he wants to know what it’s like working with Kevin Bacon (he has a “Tremors” image on his wall). All eight episodes of the first season are currently available on Prime.

One more look back at the 2025 Awards Season, and I’m joined by my go-to panel of fellow below-the-liners: Katie Carroll, Bill Hardy, Roger Mendoza and Shaun O’Banion. Did “Anora” deserve all those statues? Should “Dune: Part Two” have been awarded more? Who got snubbed, and which losses are we cheering? That and more, with lots of laughs. 

“The Bikeriders” is an ambitious film: star-studded cast, set in Chicago during the 1960’s and 1970’s, and - of course - lots and lots of motorcycles. My guests, 1st Assistant Director (and Producer) Don Sparks and Key 2nd Assistant Director Pete Dress, tackled these challenges head-on and helped deliver this underrated film on a tight schedule with a limited budget.  It’s an impressive accomplishment, which you’ll appreciate even more after going behind the scenes with us. 

“Zero Day” - the intriguing six-episode political thriller currently streaming on Netflix - is an intentional commentary about today’s politics. Score Composer Jeff Russo joins the podcast to discuss his work on the series, and co-host Louis Weeks provides expert context for a conversation that explores both Jeff’s specific intentions with “Zero Day” and his philosophical approach to score composing as an art. “Zero Day” - the intriguing six-episode political thriller currently streaming on Netflix - is an intentional commentary about today’s politics. Score Composer Jeff Russo joins the podcast to discuss his work on the series, and co-host Louis Weeks provides expert context for a conversation that explores both Jeff’s specific intentions with “Zero Day” and his philosophical approach to score composing as an art. Bonus announcement: I’m instituting a new listener appreciation program! If you send me a picture of yourself in a Below the Line t-shirt, I’ll mention you by name on a future episode of the podcast. 

Season 23! Episode 251! Long-time listeners: thanks for sticking with us. New listeners: welcome! We’ve got a lot to offer you.   This episode is about “Last Breath”, the based-on-a-true-story film currently in theaters. My guest is Alex Parkinson, who directed both the feature film and the documentary which inspired the movie. First-time director stories! Check. Exploring the transition from documentary to film! Check. Is Woody Harrelson’s performance a realistic take on the person he’s portraying? Well, maybe we don’t tackle that last question. But we’re serving up an entertaining discussion, nonetheless. If you’ve read this far, you probably don’t need additional help finding the episode, but tell your friends! Thank you, from Below the Line.

Our sixth annual Academy Awards series — with panels of film professionals discussing the Oscar nominees in their category of expertise — concludes with Makeup and Hairstyling. Podcast veterans Angela Nogaro (Makeup) and Yvonne Depatis-Kupka (Hair) return to offer their assessment of this year’s slate of nominees. It’s a lively set of reviews to wrap up the series! I hope you’ve enjoyed these episodes as much as I’ve enjoyed publishing them. The 2024 Nominees for Makeup and Hairstyling: • “A Different Man” • “Emilia Pérez” • “Nosferatu” • “The Substance” • “Wicked” 

Film professionals discussing the nominees in their area of expertise: that’s Below the Line at the Academy Awards. We’re in the home stretch (episode 11 of 12!), and today we’re talking about the Oscar nominees for Cinematography. My returning guests — Patrick Cady and David Tuttman — are directors of photography (and directors in their own right!) with a keen eye for what makes these films worthy of the nomination. It gets a little technical sometimes for my understanding but I suspect you’ll enjoy it nonetheless. The 2024 Nominees for Cinematography:  • “The Brutalist” • “Dune: Part Two” • “Emilia Pérez” • “Maria” • “Nosferatu” 

It’s a wild and woolly episode of the podcast as editors Christopher Angel and Amy Duddleston return to discuss this year’s Oscar nominees for Film Editing. In all the years I’ve hosted these conversations, this pair has always complained about films being too long. Given that the shortest film on this list clocks in at two hours, I was anticipating some blistering critiques, but their assessments surprised me. Did we agree about all of these films on their merits? No. Was I entertained? Yes. I hope you will be as well. The 2024 Nominees for Film Editing: • “Anora” • “The Brutalist” • “Conclave” • “Emilia Pérez” • “Wicked” 

Costume Designers Helen Huang And Liz Vastola offer their insights on this year’s Academy Award nominees for Costume Design. This one runs a little longer than usual, but we take some time to discuss how costume design is different from fashion design, the role actors play in the shaping of their costumes, and other challenges of the craft. With the ceremony less than two weeks away, we’re in the home stretch, and I hope you’re keeping up. The 2024 Nominees for Costume Design: • “A Complete Unknown” • “Conclave” • “Gladiator II” • “Nosferatu” • “Wicked” 

Oscar season continues here at Below the Line, where film professionals discuss the nominees in the category of their expertise. Today’s animated conversation about the nominees for Animated Feature Film benefits from returning guests, Kent Seki and Camille Leganza. We also take a brief side quest to discuss the challenges currently faced by the Animation Industry. The 2024 Nominees for Animated Feature Film: • “Flow” • “Inside Out 2” • “Memoir of a Snail” • “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” • “The Wild Robot”