Advertise on podcast: Gimme Three Podcast - A Series For Cinephiles

Three films. One letter. One weirdly consistent theme: boys trying to dodge adulthood. And some are more successful than others... We’re back with our Gimme Three: A to Z series with THE LETTER D, and the lineup swings from a classic hangout movie to a full-on stoner comedy to a cult sci-fi coming-of-age spiral.  First up, Barry Levinson’s DINER drops us into 1959 Baltimore for a weekend of late-night diner runs. We talk character vignettes, dialogue, and the star-studded cast of the early 80s. Then we jump to DUDE WHERE'S MY CAR?, a 2000s time capsule that moves like a patchwork of skits. Sonja dives into why this is one of her favorites of all time and, perhaps, manages to change Bella's opinion on the film. To close, we revisit Richard Kelly’s DONNIE DARKO, the Jake Gyllenhaal cult classic that just gets better and better with age. We dig into the time travel theories, fear culture & the socio-political relevance, and one of the best soundtracks in movie history.  Subscribe for more movie recommendations, share this with a cinephile friend, and leave a review with your Letter D recommendation! *Spoilers for all films in this episode* ❗️SEND US A TEXT MESSAGE ❗️ Support the show Sign up for our Patreon for exclusive Bonus Content. Follow the podcast on Instagram @gimmethreepodcast You can  keep up with Bella on Instagram @portraitofacinephile or Letterboxd You can keep up with Nick: on Instagram @nicholasybarra, on Twitter (X) @nicholaspybarra, or on Letterboxd Shout out to contributor and producer Sonja Mereu. A special thanks to Anselm Kennedy for creating Gimme Three's theme music. And another special thanks to Zoe Baumann for creating our exceptional cover art.

This week, co-host Bella Efstratis is joined by writer/filmmaker Will King for a deep dive into found footage horror! From forest dread to a possessed girlfriend to a Craigslist nightmare with a smile... you're in for a very spooky, funny, and exciting episode! We start in the woods with The Blair Witch Project, a film that truly taps into the power of atmospheric horror. Will talks about the scarring experience of watching this movie too young, we get into the classic "showing vs. not-showing" the monster debate, and even dig into the legendary & groundbreaking marketing campaign for the film. Then we move into the next classic with Paranormal Activity. We talk about the film's brilliant sound design, the effect of still framing and timestamps, and the way it taps into the universal fear of being awake at 3 a.m. with creepy sounds throughout the house. Finally, we close with Creep, a cult favorite that flips between laugh-out-loud awkwardness and something genuinely sinister. We get into character breakdowns, the funniest and scariest moments, and whether this kind of horror-comedy discomfort ultimately worked for us. Listen now to find out which of the three was our favorite and scariest! If you’ve got found footage recommendations or other horror movies you want us to cover on the show, let us know!  Subscribe, share the show with a fellow horror fan, and leave a review so more cinephiles can find us! ❗️SEND US A TEXT MESSAGE ❗️ Support the show Sign up for our Patreon for exclusive Bonus Content. Follow the podcast on Instagram @gimmethreepodcast You can  keep up with Bella on Instagram @portraitofacinephile or Letterboxd You can keep up with Nick: on Instagram @nicholasybarra, on Twitter (X) @nicholaspybarra, or on Letterboxd Shout out to contributor and producer Sonja Mereu. A special thanks to Anselm Kennedy for creating Gimme Three's theme music. And another special thanks to Zoe Baumann for creating our exceptional cover art.

A cursed videotape. A cursed button. A cursed house. Spooky Season begins with three iconic horror films built around a deadly curse. Co-host Bella Efstratis is joined by writer, filmmaker, and horror expert Jessica McLaughlin to discuss an iconic triple feature: Gore Verbinski’s The Ring, Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell, and Nobuhiko Obayashi’s Hausu (House). We get into why The Ring still hits even if you’ve never used a VHS, the origin of the adaptation, and the various themes of  its “viral curse." We also talk score, color palette, and the simple, yet satisfying structure that makes every reveal land. Then we pivot into Drag Me to Hell as a moral fable where one bad decision turns into three days of escalating punishment. We debate the film’s tonal swings, what makes Christine such a tough protagonist to sit with, and why Raimi’s loud, gross, crowd-pleasing set pieces play completely differently in a theater versus at home. Finally, Hausu blows the doors off logic entirely. We dig into Obayashi’s DIY magic, his daughter’s nightmares on screen, and the deeper grief underneath the candy-colored chaos, where a place can hold pain long enough to become a living curse. If you love horror movies (especially those with cursed objects) and spooky season watchlist ideas, hit play, subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review. Which curse would you least want to face? ❗️SEND US A TEXT MESSAGE ❗️ Support the show Sign up for our Patreon for exclusive Bonus Content. Follow the podcast on Instagram @gimmethreepodcast You can  keep up with Bella on Instagram @portraitofacinephile or Letterboxd You can keep up with Nick: on Instagram @nicholasybarra, on Twitter (X) @nicholaspybarra, or on Letterboxd Shout out to contributor and producer Sonja Mereu. A special thanks to Anselm Kennedy for creating Gimme Three's theme music. And another special thanks to Zoe Baumann for creating our exceptional cover art.

We're back with our alphabet extravaganza series with THE LETTER C! Three movies start with C, but the real question is: Can Sonja & Bella find another connection between the three? We go from the tranquil beauty of Cmon Cmon to the complex moral maze of Captain Fantastic, and land on the forever-quotable joy of Clueless. Challenge accepted! We break down why Mike Mills’ black and white filmmaking in Cmon Cmon isn’t a “style choice” so much as the emotional language of the story. Plus some good ole Joaquin Phoenix praise for yet another incredible performance, and the other extraordinary cast in the film! Next, Captain Fantastic blows Bella's mind. We discuss Viggo Mortensen’s off-the-grid father character and the pure “shades of gray” of this film that makes it such a unique and impactful watch. Finally, Clueless proves that a truly great teen comedy can stand the tests of time: razor-sharp dialogue, perfect casting, iconic costume design, and a soundtrack that lives in our hearts forever. If you love movie recommendations, film analysis, and conversations that treat laughter and heartbreak with equal respect, press play! Subscribe on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, share the episode with a cinephile friend, and leave us a review so more cinephiles can find the show! ❗️SEND US A TEXT MESSAGE ❗️ Support the show Sign up for our Patreon for exclusive Bonus Content. Follow the podcast on Instagram @gimmethreepodcast You can  keep up with Bella on Instagram @portraitofacinephile or Letterboxd You can keep up with Nick: on Instagram @nicholasybarra, on Twitter (X) @nicholaspybarra, or on Letterboxd Shout out to contributor and producer Sonja Mereu. A special thanks to Anselm Kennedy for creating Gimme Three's theme music. And another special thanks to Zoe Baumann for creating our exceptional cover art.

Happy Birthday Yorgos! Celebrate Yorgos Lanthimos' birthday today with a re-release of our spotlight on the filmmaker. In this episode, co-host Bella Efstratis is joined by special guest, Michel Eljaiek, to review three films from his extraordinary filmography: The Killing of a Sacred DeerAlpsDogtoothWhat is your favorite Yorgos Lanthimos film? ❗️SEND US A TEXT MESSAGE ❗️ Support the show Sign up for our Patreon for exclusive Bonus Content. Follow the podcast on Instagram @gimmethreepodcast You can  keep up with Bella on Instagram @portraitofacinephile or Letterboxd You can keep up with Nick: on Instagram @nicholasybarra, on Twitter (X) @nicholaspybarra, or on Letterboxd Shout out to contributor and producer Sonja Mereu. A special thanks to Anselm Kennedy for creating Gimme Three's theme music. And another special thanks to Zoe Baumann for creating our exceptional cover art.

Grief manifests and appears in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes as a question you can’t stop asking, or a dream you can’t shake. We’re joined by award-winning filmmaker Gerardo Maravilla to talk about how a deeply personal loss became a bold short film concept: a grieving woman becomes fascinated with discovering what it feels like to die. The result is a story that’s emotionally honest, culturally specific, and fearless in its visual style and genre. We talk craft from the inside out: breaking into filmmaking without industry connections, surviving the brutal hours of production work, and returning to screenwriting when life forces you to get clear about what matters. Gerardo shares a refreshingly practical writing process built on messy first notes, dream fragments, and relentless revision, plus what grants, rejections, and creative programs can teach you if you keep showing up. If you’ve ever tried turning grief, trauma, or regret into art, you’ll hear real advice on staying open, staying kind to yourself, and letting the project tell you what it wants. Then we get nerdy in the best way, digging into directing choices like grounded magical realism, strip-mall world-building, color-inspired ideas around death and remembrance, and why stop-motion texture can trigger a visceral reaction. We also talk casting and performance, including how Gina Diaz anchors the film’s emotional arc across multiple “worlds,” and we close with three film recommendations that reveal Gerardo’s creative DNA. If you like independent film, short films, screenwriting, directing, and storytelling about grief and healing, hit play, then subscribe, share this with a filmmaker friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show! ❗️SEND US A TEXT MESSAGE ❗️ Support the show Sign up for our Patreon for exclusive Bonus Content. Follow the podcast on Instagram @gimmethreepodcast You can  keep up with Bella on Instagram @portraitofacinephile or Letterboxd You can keep up with Nick: on Instagram @nicholasybarra, on Twitter (X) @nicholaspybarra, or on Letterboxd Shout out to contributor and producer Sonja Mereu. A special thanks to Anselm Kennedy for creating Gimme Three's theme music. And another special thanks to Zoe Baumann for creating our exceptional cover art.

In this episode, Nick sits down with 3 outstanding filmmakers who depict real life through a truly creative and beautiful cinematic lens. We sit down with producer and star Deborah Lee Smith and writer-director Brian Leahy to unpack Glitterbomb, their short film screening at LADFF this week. We get into the meaning behind the glitter, the thematic color choices, and the filmmakers' insight into performing trauma with control, catharsis, and care on set. Next, we pivot to writer-director Kirby Marshall Collins and her directorial debut Ways to Fly, a coming-of-age short film following a hyperactive young Black girl on her first day of ballet, shaped by Kirby’s lived experience with ADHD and sensory processing. We talk about the importance of outlines, what a perfect writing day looks like, and advice on casting a young lead and directing kids with patience and clarity. Across both conversations, we touch on: how multi-hyphenate filmmakers survive, how to communicate your vision, why your DP and first AD can make or break a shoot, and how to build a team you actually trust.  If you’re heading to a film festival, making a short film, or writing your next script, you’ll leave with tools you can use right away. Subscribe, share the show with a filmmaker friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find us! ❗️SEND US A TEXT MESSAGE ❗️ Support the show Sign up for our Patreon for exclusive Bonus Content. Follow the podcast on Instagram @gimmethreepodcast You can  keep up with Bella on Instagram @portraitofacinephile or Letterboxd You can keep up with Nick: on Instagram @nicholasybarra, on Twitter (X) @nicholaspybarra, or on Letterboxd Shout out to contributor and producer Sonja Mereu. A special thanks to Anselm Kennedy for creating Gimme Three's theme music. And another special thanks to Zoe Baumann for creating our exceptional cover art.

Somebody experiments with queerness for a night and calls it “fun.” Somebody else is left holding the confusion, the shame, and the fallout. We sit down with filmmaker Louisa Connolly Burnham to talk about Full Fat, a razor-sharp short screening opening night at the Los Angeles Diversity Film Festival, and we get honest about the emotional consequences that can land on queer people when attraction gets treated like a party story instead of a real connection. Louisa also walks us through the nuts and bolts of independent filmmaking without the traditional path: coming from acting, writing and directing her first short during a career dry patch, raising money through Kickstarter, and committing to the discipline of making a film a year. Plus so much more! Then we shift to documentary and legacy with Terry Franklin and Jeffrey Moline, whose Love Will Set You Free screens at LADFF as part of Block 2: The Way Through. Terry shares the true family documents that sparked the project: a will contest where enslaved ancestors were treated as property, and a fight over whether a dying man had the right to set them free. We talk about turning that history into a musical, a book, and a documentary performance piece, why art can be an act of resistance, and how building an artistic family through the Turbine Arts Collective keeps the work alive. Stick around for our Gimme 3 movie picks from each guest! Subscribe, share with a cinephile friend, and leave a review! ❗️SEND US A TEXT MESSAGE ❗️ Support the show Sign up for our Patreon for exclusive Bonus Content. Follow the podcast on Instagram @gimmethreepodcast You can  keep up with Bella on Instagram @portraitofacinephile or Letterboxd You can keep up with Nick: on Instagram @nicholasybarra, on Twitter (X) @nicholaspybarra, or on Letterboxd Shout out to contributor and producer Sonja Mereu. A special thanks to Anselm Kennedy for creating Gimme Three's theme music. And another special thanks to Zoe Baumann for creating our exceptional cover art.

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 “golden handcuffs” of stable work, and what finally pushed her to direct her debut film. She shares how a real encounter with elder abandonment led to Saverio, why “granny dumping” is more common than people think, and how you write a short film where every line earns its place. We also get practical about indie production: letting locations reshape the script, collaborating early with an editor, and making the set move faster through better communication. Then director and co-writer Stephan Fleet and co-writer and star JL Perkell join us to unpack XY, authenticity in queer and trans storytelling, and the creative trust it takes to build a film together from page to edit. They break down a devastating one-take phone monologue, discuss how America fails its queer communities, and offer hard-won directing advice for anyone sitting on a script and waiting for permission. Subscribe for more filmmaker conversations, share this with a friend heading to a film festival, and leave a review with the moment that stayed with you. ❗️SEND US A TEXT MESSAGE ❗️ Support the show Sign up for our Patreon for exclusive Bonus Content. Follow the podcast on Instagram @gimmethreepodcast You can  keep up with Bella on Instagram @portraitofacinephile or Letterboxd You can keep up with Nick: on Instagram @nicholasybarra, on Twitter (X) @nicholaspybarra, or on Letterboxd Shout out to contributor and producer Sonja Mereu. A special thanks to Anselm Kennedy for creating Gimme Three's theme music. And another special thanks to Zoe Baumann for creating our exceptional cover art.

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 summer blockbusters, but they are quintessential, not only to his career, not only to the term blockbuster, but to cinematic history itself.  ❗️SEND US A TEXT MESSAGE ❗️ Support the show Sign up for our Patreon for exclusive Bonus Content. Follow the podcast on Instagram @gimmethreepodcast You can  keep up with Bella on Instagram @portraitofacinephile or Letterboxd You can keep up with Nick: on Instagram @nicholasybarra, on Twitter (X) @nicholaspybarra, or on Letterboxd Shout out to contributor and producer Sonja Mereu. A special thanks to Anselm Kennedy for creating Gimme Three's theme music. And another special thanks to Zoe Baumann for creating our exceptional cover art.

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 metal, and innovation. Featuring incredible special interviews and in the moment/on the scene footage from live concerts of some of the, now, biggest bands in the world. Next, we dive into Cameron Crowe's lesser-known romcom, Singles, which follows a group of young twenty-somethings trying to navigate romantic relationships and the rules of dating, set against the 90s Seattle grunge scene. Finally, we close out the show with Ben Stiller's debut feature and the ultimate 90s angst movie, Reality Bites. Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, Ben Stiller, Janeane Garofalo, and Steve Zahn star as a college friend group trying to find their way through careers, relationships, and their own feelings towards each other post-college. This is an episode you won't want to miss. Whether you're a fan of grunge or not, we can all admit to feeling a little lost in our twenties. Let us know what your favorite grunge bands and angsty movies are from the 90s! ❗️SEND US A TEXT MESSAGE ❗️ Support the show Sign up for our Patreon for exclusive Bonus Content. Follow the podcast on Instagram @gimmethreepodcast You can  keep up with Bella on Instagram @portraitofacinephile or Letterboxd You can keep up with Nick: on Instagram @nicholasybarra, on Twitter (X) @nicholaspybarra, or on Letterboxd Shout out to contributor and producer Sonja Mereu. A special thanks to Anselm Kennedy for creating Gimme Three's theme music. And another special thanks to Zoe Baumann for creating our exceptional cover art.

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, unglamorous climb: moving from Venezuela to the United States, showing up in Los Angeles with two bags, taking whatever work paid the bills, then using a National Geographic cameraman credit and years in TV post production to learn how studio-level projects actually get delivered. From there we dig into how The Shadow of the Sun came to life: two brothers chasing a music contest to escape poverty, with the younger brother deaf and the older brother becoming his voice. The themes hit hard: brotherhood, deaf culture, Venezuelan spirit, and the kind of persistence that keeps going even when the odds feel insulting.  We get specific about craft and authenticity: crossing back into Venezuela, casting a deaf lead actor from within the community, directing sign language performances with interpreters at the monitor, and shaping the visual language with anamorphic cinematography and a deliberate 40mm approach to landscape. Miguel also shares what’s next, including genre projects and an English-language remake, then closes with three picks for your watch list: Meet Joe Black, The Sea Inside, and Take Shelter. If you like behind-the-scenes filmmaking stories with real stakes, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show. ❗️SEND US A TEXT MESSAGE ❗️ Support the show Sign up for our Patreon for exclusive Bonus Content. Follow the podcast on Instagram @gimmethreepodcast You can  keep up with Bella on Instagram @portraitofacinephile or Letterboxd You can keep up with Nick: on Instagram @nicholasybarra, on Twitter (X) @nicholaspybarra, or on Letterboxd Shout out to contributor and producer Sonja Mereu. A special thanks to Anselm Kennedy for creating Gimme Three's theme music. And another special thanks to Zoe Baumann for creating our exceptional cover art.

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 time, we blend it with science fiction in the wildly underrated and pulse-pounding film Event Horizon. - Finally, Sam Neill explores his softer side in the tender and hilarious Taika Waititi film Hunt For The Wilderpeople.  Let us know what you think of these films and what your favorite Sam Neill performance is.  ❗️SEND US A TEXT MESSAGE ❗️ Support the show Sign up for our Patreon for exclusive Bonus Content. Follow the podcast on Instagram @gimmethreepodcast You can  keep up with Bella on Instagram @portraitofacinephile or Letterboxd You can keep up with Nick: on Instagram @nicholasybarra, on Twitter (X) @nicholaspybarra, or on Letterboxd Shout out to contributor and producer Sonja Mereu. A special thanks to Anselm Kennedy for creating Gimme Three's theme music. And another special thanks to Zoe Baumann for creating our exceptional cover art.

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 Segment, highlighting three films that inspired her filmmaking career, including Star Wars, Sleepless in Seattle, and The Matrix.  Stay tuned for the Los Angeles Diversity Film Festival dates and be updated by signing up for our newsletter at: https://www.ladff.com/ or following us on Instagram @ladiversityfilmfest Become a member or sign up for AWD's newsletter at: https://www.allianceofwomendirectors.org/ ❗️SEND US A TEXT MESSAGE ❗️ Support the show Sign up for our Patreon for exclusive Bonus Content. Follow the podcast on Instagram @gimmethreepodcast You can  keep up with Bella on Instagram @portraitofacinephile or Letterboxd You can keep up with Nick: on Instagram @nicholasybarra, on Twitter (X) @nicholaspybarra, or on Letterboxd Shout out to contributor and producer Sonja Mereu. A special thanks to Anselm Kennedy for creating Gimme Three's theme music. And another special thanks to Zoe Baumann for creating our exceptional cover art.

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 audiences to Nolan's fascination with fractured narratives, identity, obsession, and deception. Next, Bella champions The Prestige, a masterfully layered exploration of ambition, sacrifice, and the cost of greatness. Finally, Trey makes the case for Tenet, sharing why he believes it's one of Nolan's most misunderstood—and exhilarating—films. What's your favorite Christopher Nolan film? And are you excited to see The Odyssey? Let us know! ❗️SEND US A TEXT MESSAGE ❗️ Support the show Sign up for our Patreon for exclusive Bonus Content. Follow the podcast on Instagram @gimmethreepodcast You can  keep up with Bella on Instagram @portraitofacinephile or Letterboxd You can keep up with Nick: on Instagram @nicholasybarra, on Twitter (X) @nicholaspybarra, or on Letterboxd Shout out to contributor and producer Sonja Mereu. A special thanks to Anselm Kennedy for creating Gimme Three's theme music. And another special thanks to Zoe Baumann for creating our exceptional cover art.