Below the Line

It's spring in Toronto and the Hollywood move crews are back. Edward J. Nijar, whose reputation is built on his music videos, is in town to direct his first feature film, Life and Death in Little Italy. This runaway production stars Myles Day, working hard on his comeback career, and Linda Grigette, best known for her role in the 1970s series Fashion Fuzz (supermodels by day, super agents by night), and gorgeous young Ainsley Riordan, who once again, is cast as a character who spends most of her time dressed in underwear and fishnet stockings. As the shoot unfolds, it's clear that the script isn't holding up. The writer is flown in from LA, but even he has trouble making sense of what's happened to his story. Fortunately, as new scenes are added, there are new opportunities for the local talent. And Anne-Marie Robinson is taking every opportunity she can get. Admit it. When there's a film shooting in the neighbourhood, we all slow down to get a closer look, secretly hoping to catch a glimpse of a real live movie star. but who are all those other people bustling about the set with cables and lights and power tools? They're the Canadian crew members: the location scouts, caterers, make-up artists, grips gaffers, and armies of assistants. On budget sheets and cost reports they are known as the crew members below the line. Inspired by their own experiences in film, authors John McFetridge and Scott Albert have created an authentic backdrop for their novel, including script pages, call sheets, and camera reports, to give the reader a complete behind-the-scenes experience.