Gimme Three Podcast - A Series For Cinephiles

Nicholas Ybarra & Bella Efstratis
  • 5.0 (7)
  • Film Reviews
  • Updated Weekly

Gimme Three is a love letter to one of the most powerful mediums of artistic expression—a love letter to the films that moved us and to the great experiences we've had watching them. In each episode, hosts Nicholas Ybarra and Bella Efstratis (and frequent special guests) will pick three incredible movies based on a selected theme. The Gimme Three podcast aims to encourage people to return to the theater and expand their watch lists through fun banter and passionate analysis. 

  1. 3d ago

    143 - Gerardo Maravilla (Enseñame Como Morir) - LADFF 2026 pt. 4

    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.

  2. 4d ago

    142 - Deborah Lee Smith & Brian Leahy (Glitterbomb) + Kirby Marshall-Collins (Ways to Fly) - LADFF 2026 pt. 3

    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.

  3. 5d ago

    141 - Louisa Connolly-Burnham (Full Fat) & Terry Franklin & Jeffrey Moline (Love Will Set You Free) - LADFF 2026 pt.2

    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.

  4. Sep 2

    140 - Stephan Fleet & JL Perkel (XY) + Ellen Ancui (Saverio) - LADFF 2026 pt. 1

    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.

  5. Aug 19

    139 - Revisiting Steven Spielberg Summer Blockbusters: (50th Anniversary of Jaws) + E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, & Jurassic Park (Re-release)

    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.

  6. Aug 12

    138 - 90s Angst & Grunge (feat. Jack Efstratis) - Hype!, Singles, & Reality Bites

    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.

  7. Aug 5

    137 - Miguel Ángel Ferrer, the filmmaker behind The Shadow of The Sun

    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.

  8. Jul 29

    136 - Sam Neill Tribute: In The Mouth of Madness, Event Horizon, & Hunt For The Wilderpeople

    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.

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

Gimme Three is a love letter to one of the most powerful mediums of artistic expression—a love letter to the films that moved us and to the great experiences we've had watching them. In each episode, hosts Nicholas Ybarra and Bella Efstratis (and frequent special guests) will pick three incredible movies based on a selected theme. The Gimme Three podcast aims to encourage people to return to the theater and expand their watch lists through fun banter and passionate analysis. 

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