It’s non-stop conversations about the Oscar nominees in the technical categories from now until the Academy Awards, and I hope you'll follow us for the full season. Today, Kent Seki and Chris Batty return to discuss the nominees for Visual Effects. This year, it looks like any of these nominees could deservedly take the prize. Join us for insights about the surprising group of contenders in this rapidly evolving field.

The 2023 Nominees for Visual Effects:

• "The Creator"

• "Godzilla Minus One"

• "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”

• “Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One"

• "Napoleon"

Below the Line continues our Fifth Annual Oscar Series with a discussion of the nominees for achievement in Directing, and I’m joined by a returning panel of fellow below-the-liners: Katie Carroll, Bill Hardy, Roger Mendoza and Shaun O’Banion. It’s the first year we’ve discussed the directors nominated for the Academy Award, but it’s in lieu of our traditional conversation focused on the Directors Guild of America nominees (the DGA crowns their winners next weekend, Feb 10th). Same panel, same topic, but a slightly different focus; the episode runs long, but I hope you’ll enjoy it.

The 2023 Nominees for Directing:

•"Anatomy of a Fall" 

•"Killers of the Flower Moon" 

•"Oppenheimer" 

•"Poor Things" 

•"The Zone of Interest" 

Our Fifth Annual Oscar Series begins now! Once again, we’ve got panels of film professionals discussing the nominees in their category of expertise. First up: Oscar nominee Steve Morrow (production sound mixer) and Oscar winner Don Sylvester (sound editor) discuss this year's nominees for Sound.

The 2023 Nominees for Sound:

•“The Creator”

•“Maestro” 

•“Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One” 

•“Oppenheimer”

•"The Zone of Interest”

Now for something completely different! “Gen V” is a bombastic and provocative take on the Superhero genre, and Film Editor Maura Corey threads a needle balancing the action, the satire, and the humor from scene to scene. Gianni Damaia returns to the co-host seat, and - once again - it’s a laugh-out-loud conversation that I hope you’ll enjoy as much as we did.

2022’s “Aftersun” is a slow-burn of a movie which nonetheless resonated with a sizable audience, and Film Editor Blair McClendon brings us inside the collaboration that sits at the center of this film (which is currently streaming on Showtime and Paramount+). Fellow editor (and friend of the podcast) Christopher Angel identified “Aftersun” as an overlooked gem when we discussed Oscar nominees at the start of 2023, and he joins me today in the co-host chair to help tease out what made this rule-defying film so successful. 

“Hatching”, a successful Finnish horror film currently streaming on Hulu, is a good case study for exploring the differences between European filmmaking and the U.S. studio system. I’m joined today by the Producer of “Hatching”, Mika Ritalahti, and two Executive Line Producers from Mistrus Media Film Production, Gints Grube and Elina Gedina. While the film is from Finland, principal photography was conducted in Riga, Latvia, and my panel shares how this entertaining movie came together.

“Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” was released in theaters early this year and is now streaming on multiple platforms. Tyler Cordova, Co-Visual Effects Producer, is here to explain how practical effects and visual effects work together to create the magic of the film. And for the first time on the podcast: we’re discussing specific scenes in real time! Let us know if it works.

“Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan” wrapped earlier this year after four seasons on Amazon Prime, and Production Designer Derek Hill is here to offer behind-the-scene insights for a team that was based out of Budapest but filmed across Europe, from Greece to Croatia to the Canary Islands. Oh, and COVID: there was COVID.

Costume Designer Liz Vastola talks about her work on “Twisted Metal”, the comedy/action video game adaptation currently streaming on Peacock. I’ve never played the video game, but co-host (and fellow podcaster) Gianni Damaia brings some hard-won expertise to our laugh-out-loud discussion of the series.

Score Composer Andrew Lockington talks about his work on Taylor Sheridan’s “Special Ops: Lioness” (currently airing on Paramount+), and co-host Louis Weeks (composer, recording artist, and friend of the podcast) provides another layer of insight to our conversation. We discuss Andrew’s work on multiple levels, from the intention behind specifics pieces of score to the larger themes that inform the overall arc of the story.