A woman stops for a quick errand and returns to her car to find an abandoned old man in the front seat. Another woman fights to stay herself while the world around her turns cruel and unpredictable. Those are the sparks behind Saverio and XY, two LADFF short films that hit with humor, heartbreak, and the kind of specificity that makes a story feel uncomfortably universal. We sit down with writer-director Ellen Ancui to talk about her winding path from New York theater to TV writing, the “gol...

Summer’s not over yet! Get outta the heat and revisit a Steven Spielberg Summer Blockbuster, then go check out our episode covering the three bangers spanning from the 70s to the 90s! In this re-release episode, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece, JAWS, the heartwarming and imaginative sci-fi family classic, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, and the industry-altering picture and innovative thrill ride of Jurassic Park! These just scratch the surface of Spielberg’s ...

This week, co-host Bella Efstratis is joined by musician, cinephile, and 90s grunge aficionado - and her brother ! - Jack Efstratis. Jack and Bella dive into three films that capture early twenties angst and the 90s grunge scene. From the music itself, to cameos of the bands, to messy angsty relationships, this episode is covering it all. We kick off the theme with Doug Pray's 1996 documentary, Hype!, which examines the Seattle scene as it became the focus of a merging of punk rock, heavy met...

A dream can sound reckless when your world is on fire, but Miguel Angel Ferrer bets on it anyway and somehow gets the film across the finish line. We talk with Miguel, the director of The Shadow of the Sun, a breakout piece of Venezuelan cinema that ran a major international film festival circuit, earned a stack of Venezuelan Academy Award nominations, and became Venezuela’s official Oscars selection before landing on-demand for US and Canada audiences. Miguel walks us through the real...

In this week's episode, we celebrate the illustrious career of the late, great Sam Neill. Co-hosts Nicholas Ybarra and Bella Efstratis explore some of the recurring character traits that Neill tackled in his work and gush over three of his most outstanding performances. - We start with the dense, brilliant, and terrifying horror film by one of the masters of the genre, John Carpenter. Sam Neill stars in In the Mouth of Madness. - Second, we dive deeper into the horror genre. This ...

This week on the Gimme Three Podcast, we're honored to be joined by an incredible filmmaker and ED of the non-profit organization Alliance of Women Directors, Kylie Eaton. Co-host Nicholas Ybarra and Kylie discuss her journey through the industry, her writing and storytelling process, the history of Alliance of Women Directors, and finally, AWD's collaboration with the Los Angeles Diversity Film Festival coming this September. Additionally, Kylie joins us in our Gimme Three Segmen...

The countdown to The Odyssey is almost over, so what better time to celebrate the filmmaker behind it? This week, Bella Efstratis is joined by writer, actor, and filmmaker Trey Armstrong for a Christopher Nolan Spotlight. Together, they explore three films that chart Nolan's evolution from ambitious independent filmmaker to one of the defining directors of the 21st century: Following, The Prestige, and Tenet. They kick things off with Following, the micro-budget debut that introduced audience...

The World Cup has the entire globe buzzing. So we figured we'd do some world traveling here on the Gimme Three Podcast and celebrate three unforgettable and undeniable international short films. - We begin in France with the 1993 short film Emilie Muller. A gorgeous black-and-white picture that is so great you'll be dying to rewatch it as soon as you finish. Watch Emilie Muller here! - Next we travel to Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) with one of the greatest surrealist fi...

This episode marks the long awaited return of Gimme Three A-Z. Each month, Bella, Nick, and one lucky listener will contribute a film that they adore for each letter of the alphabet. This month is we've got nothing but BANGERS for the Letter B. - We start with our audience selection: Charlie Kauffman and Spike Jonze collaborate in one of the more inventive and mind-expanding concepts to grace the silver screen with Being John Malkovich. - Bella's pick is the 2019 Scottish period piece t...

In this compilation episode we celebrate three independent cinema gems that highlight magnificent and original queer stories. - We start with Cheryl Dunye's 90s indie-classic, The Watermelon Woman. - Second, we travel to Sweden and do a deep dive into the angsty teenage coming-of-age romance, Show Me Love. - Finally, we revisit our interview from last year's Los Angeles Diversity Film Festival. Filmmaker Faranak Sahafian joined the show to discuss her gripping and pertinent ...