In this special episode of Below the Line, host Hannah sits down with director Lain Ewing and actor Brittany Young to discuss their hilarious and heartfelt short film Performance Review at the Dances with Films Festival. The story follows Maggie, a Hollywood assistant who accidentally consumes a pot brownie right before her big performance review, cue chaos, crickets, and a tree frog. Lane opens up about pulling from personal assistant-life experiences to craft this comedic tale, while Brittany shares her method for bringing Maggie’s anxiety and professionalism to life, all without traditional scene partners. The two dive into Lucille Ball-inspired facial comedy, the logistics of feeding fake crickets on set, and the joy of building a truly inclusive, body-positive, and collaborative indie film environment. They also tease future projects together, including rom-coms that explore nontraditional beauties and relationship roadblocks, like, literally, LA parking.