The Meaning of Below-the-Line

Below-the-line is a term used to differentiate the people who provide craft and technical services for a movie or TV production (such as editors, camera operators, make-up artists, and boom operators) from the above-the-line people who are charged with the creation of the production (such as directors, producers, and writers).

The terms “above-the-line” and “below-the-line” appear most frequently in movie budgets. On the budget sheet the costs associated with above-the-line people are listed and tallied. Then a thick black line is inserted and the costs associated with below-the-line people are listed and tallied under it. The line, itself, is sometimes facetiously referred to as “the demarcation line between power and no power.”

Budgets often include costs others than those encumbered for paying the people who work on the project. Therefore, costs related to the creation of the movie, such as rights acquisition costs and interest on loans, would be above-the-line costs and those related to such things as equipment rental, film stock, and paint for sets would be below-the-line costs.

However, what is considered above-the-line and what is considered below-the-line is not totally standard within the industry. Some budgets place all actors above-the-line, some place them all below-the-line, and still others designate principal actors as above-the-line and bit players and extras as below-the-line. A.D.s bounce back and forth depending on the type of production; an A.D. for a TV studio shoot is usually above-the-line while one on a film location shoot is generally below-the-line. Caterers who bring food to a production location are usually considered below-the-line, but on some budgets they are considered part of the producer’s costs so they appear above the line.

Part of the reason for all the discrepancies is that various people involved with budgeting consider different factors when placing cast and crew above or below the line. Some look at below-the-line costs as those that are not negotiated or spent before the production begins. Others think above-the-line people are ones specifically affixed to a production; if they disappeared for some reason the production would have to be stopped or greatly altered whereas below-the-line crew members are more easily replaced. To other people below-the-line costs are fixed, often by union contracts, whereas above-the-line costs are more variable, depending, for example, on what an actor’s agent can negotiate for that actor.

Most commonly, however, producers, directors, writers, and some actors are considered above-the-line and everyone else is below-the-line.