Enjoying a inside view of Below

Mount Pearl councillor Mark Rice was one of several crew members who helped transform Harbour Main’s Newfoundland Lounge into Linda’s bar for the Netflix production Below.

By Mark Squibb

If you’ve watched Below, Netflix’s six-episode miniseries about a remote Newfoundland town terrorized by a mysterious sea creature filmed on location throughout the Avalon, you likely pointed out landscapes, people, or name brands that you recognized (this author recognised a former jiu jitsu teacher of his who, unfortunately, didn’t manage to escape the creature.)

Mount Pearl city councillor Mark Rice, meanwhile, was focused more on the set designs, and that’s because he had a hand in building many of the film’s sets.

“The majority of all the work that was done on all the sets was done by Newfoundlanders and Labradorians,” said Rice. “It was brand new work to a lot of us… but it was very rewarding watching what we manufactured in shop on the screen.”

In a previous life, Rice was a marine engineer, journeyman carpenter, and healthcare facility manager.

Last year, Bruce Good, a retired paramedic who works on television sets, reached out to Rice about the upcoming production, and said the production team – like the show’s giant sea creature – was hungry for people.

Rice submitted a resume on a Thursday. He received a job offer Friday morning and was asked to start work on Monday.

Instead, he requested a meeting with company representative Corey Russell and explained that because of his duties as a city councillor, his schedule would need to be flexible.

“He said, ‘Not to worry, whatever fits your schedule fits our schedule,’” said Rice. “So, I went to work the first week in July, and that first week they were full out. When I got there, he was like ‘Mark, do you know any more carpenters or painters? Do you know anybody in the region? Cause we’ll hire them.’”

Rice, who was hired as a ‘scenic carpenter,’ estimated the production hired upwards of 800 people, many of them local. Rice said that nine carpenters he recommended for the job were hired. Crews worked 50 to 65 hours a week from July until December.

While he had a hand in many of the films sets, Rice is perhaps most proud of his work on the show’s submarine, which he and another carpenter built from the ground up.

“It was a really busy job, but Blue Heart Productions was phenomenal to work with,” said Rice. “They were hired by Netflix to do scenic painting, special effects, welding and fabrication, and all that.”

While much of the show was filmed on location in places like Brigus South, Harbour Main, Bay Bulls, and Conception Harbour, much of the behind-the-scenes work – and some interior filming – was done in Mount Pearl’s Donovan’s Business Park.

“We built the exterior and the interior, and a couple of times while we were in studio building the interior of the submarine, they were shooting, so we had to stop all the work that we were doing,” said Rice. “I was there one day working away and up comes Josh Harnett and he says, ‘How’s she coming along?’ And I had a great chat with him. Salt of the earth guy.”

Some people associated with the production have even bought homes here in the province, said Rice.

To say nothing of the show’s popularity, Rice said the economic impact of the production has been outstanding.

“All these people who came here, they were renting houses, they were going out to restaurants, they were going out to nightclubs,” said Rice. “Charlie Heaton was downtown every night.”

Following the show’s success (the show netted 17 million views in its first weekend, making it Netflix’s biggest Canadian debut) Rice said he expects the film industry in the province will continue to grow.

Given the show’s popularity, many viewers are already wondering whether there will be a follow up.

Rice said that should the team return for season two, he’ll be on board.