They’re the ones who make major decisions and are often directly or indirectly responsible for securing financing. If you were to construct a film production hierarchy chart for a production’s entire duration, the above the line film crew positions would generally be found at the very top.Ībove the line crew members are those who carry the most creative or financial responsibility for a given project, and they’re usually working all the way from pre-production to post. In practice, however, being above or below “the line” represents the first major division in film crew hierarchy. In theory, this simple accounting designation is the only real difference between the two categories.

When the topics of movie set terminology and film crew jobs converge, the first two phrases you’re likely to run into are “above the line” and “below the line”.īoth terms originate from a common practice in production budgeting, in which a literal line is used to visually divide film crew positions that are paid according to a pre-negotiated, fixed rate (“above the line” crew) and film crew positions that are paid according to a variable hourly or daily rate (“below the line” crew). Let’s start with a basic question: What is “The Line”?

In this post, we’ll help you successfully navigate the flood of film set roles on your next call sheet by decoding the basics of film crew hierarchy and running down the essential on-set jobs within it. Whether it’s Mission: Impossible or My Dinner with Andre, the closing credits of any movie reveal a dizzying variety of film crew positions that have contributed to its creation.Īnd if you’re going to work in the film industry, you need to have at least a passing familiarity with each and every one of them.

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