below the line
Non-standard accounting area
Below the line distinguishes costs, content, or activities from those "above the line." In accounting and budgeting, it separates ordinary operating expenses from extraordinary items or capital expenditures.
In film production, below-the-line costs cover technical crew and equipment rather than creative talent like directors and stars.
In marketing, below-the-line refers to targeted promotions—direct mail, samples, events—rather than mass advertising.
The specific line varies by industry, but the phrase always marks a division between primary and secondary categories.
Paid promotional communication
- marketingPromoting goods to consumers
- promotionalRelated to marketing efforts
- guerrilla marketingUnconventional low-budget advertising tactics
- product placementMarketing within entertainment content
public relations · sponsorship · direct marketing · sales promotion · merchandising · billboards · flyers · brochures
One lower in rank
- secondaryLesser in rank
- lesserLower in degree
- juniorLower in standing
- ancillaryProviding additional support
subservient · menial · peripheral · minor · rank · hierarchy · underling · low-status
Of only moderate quality
- poorLacking sufficient resources
- subparBelow acceptable quality
- deficientHaving too little
- unsatisfactoryNot good enough
inadequate · unacceptable · shoddy · second-rate · low-grade · faulty · defective · flawed
Intentionally concealed
- concealedMade invisible deliberately
- unreportedNot officially documented
- off-the-booksUnrecorded for tax purposes
- undisclosedNot made known
unofficial · unrecorded · secret · under the table · discreet · obscured · unacknowledged · backdoor
advertising
Paid promotional communication
- marketingPromoting goods to consumers
- promotionalRelated to marketing efforts
- guerrilla marketingUnconventional low-budget advertising tactics
product placement · public relations · sponsorship · direct marketing · sales promotion · merchandising · billboards · flyers · brochures · swag
subordinate
One lower in rank
ancillary · subservient · menial · peripheral · minor · rank · hierarchy · underling · low-status · bottom-tier
mediocre
Of only moderate quality
unsatisfactory · inadequate · unacceptable · shoddy · second-rate · low-grade · faulty · defective · flawed · unpolished
covert
Intentionally concealed
- concealedMade invisible deliberately
- unreportedNot officially documented
- off-the-booksUnrecorded for tax purposes
undisclosed · unofficial · unrecorded · secret · under the table · discreet · obscured · unacknowledged · backdoor · clandestine
- HollywoodHollywood, Tinseltown, Hollywood Sign, silver screen, movie stars
- povertypoor, poverty rate, impoverished, generational poverty, poverty trap
- entertainment businessrecording contract, movie deal, book deal, development deal, talent deal
- Film Budgetsproduction costs, contingency fund, equipment rental, post-production, pre-production
- media industry jargonratings, sweeps, pilot, greenlight, pitch
- moviesblockbuster, film, Titanic, films, Jurassic Park
below the lineabove the line
Mass media advertising
ordinary income · operating income · top line · operating expenses · gross profit
below the lineabove the line
Mass media advertising
broadcast advertising · television advertising · radio advertising · print advertising · billboard advertising
below the lineabove the line
Mass media advertising
up to standard · acceptable · qualifying · passing · up to par
below, line, lower, lowest, lowly, lowness, lines, lined, lining