The Plaza Classic Podcast
by El Paso Community Foundation
Welcome to The Plaza Classic Podcast! The podcast pulls back the curtain on the El Paso Community Foundation’s annual Plaza Classic Film Festival, which has taken over Downtown El Paso, Texas, each summer since 2007.Join hosts and film festival Program Advisory Committee members, KVIA News anchor Stephanie Valle and El Paso Community College Mass Communications Professor Lisa Elliott, as they’re joined by a range of guests to discuss what to expect during the 11-day event.
Episodes
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This is (the) Halloween (episode)!
"Life's no fun without a good scare!" That's not just a line from Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, it's also the mantra of Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle, who were the only two members of the Plaza Classic Film Festival Advisory Committee who enjoy horror films. Finally, another…
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Night of the...
A title can lend so much to the theme of a film. What does a filmmaker want an audience to think or feel when they include the word "Night?" In this episode, the focus is on movies that have been shown at the Plaza Classic Film Festival that contained "Night" and "of the" in the title. The films...
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The Power of Local Cinema!
Local filmmakers and hundreds of their friends, family, loved ones, fans, plus cast and crew members, filled the Plaza Theatre for the Local Flavor Showcase on July 26. Of the 60 entries, a panel of judges chose eight films for the screening event, and of those 8, four were awarded. First-place...
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"Oranges" is the New Black
Valeria Contreras is having a moment. The El Paso filmmaker's short film Oranges is set to make the festival circuit this fall. It comes on the heels of the work-in-progress concept by the same name making its debut during the 2026 Plaza Classic Film Festival. The Director Incubator Fellow joined...
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Celebrating 100 years of Marilyn
June 1, 2026 marked the 100th anniversary of Marilyn Monroe's birth. Jack Fields, the Plaza Classic Film Festival Advisory Committee's Los Angeles Field Officer, joined podcast hosts Stephanie Valle and Lisa Elliott during the festival in July to talk about how LA was honoring the Blonde…
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Fantastic Mr. Fox at Chalk the Block
Chalk the Block is back! This all-ages festival easily draws over 40,000 people to Downtown El Paso to gaze at the artwork – or try their hand at their own – interact with the art installations, or listen to live music, and more. Rebecca Muñoz, the director of the Mexican American Cultural…
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Onstage Q&A with Ann-Margret
On the opening of Season 8, Plaza Classic Podcast hosts Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle take you back to the summer, when the Plaza Classic Film Festival was in full swing, and movie legend Ann-Margret was in El Paso. Ann-Margret engaged in an interview with TCM host Scott McGee ahead of both…
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Q&A with Selena Director Gregory Nava
Curtains on the 2026 Plaza Classic Film Festival! Among the approximately 100 films we screened, guests were also treated to a Q&A with the director of Selena live on-stage. Plaza Classic Film Festival Advisory Committee member and co-host of this podcast, Stephanie Valle, interviewed Gregory…
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Filmmaker's Brunch
How to you get your idea for a film out of your head and into a script - and better yet, onto the big screen? Allen Gilmer is the man who knows how to get that done. Gilmer, an El Paso native, is a film producer who, with his wife and partner Riki Rushing, runs Tiki Tane Productions. Gilmer is...
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Animations, Muppets, and Mazes
If you're listening to this podcast episode the day it dropped, you're in luck. The world’s largest classic film festival has sprouted like a magic beanstalk in Downtown El Paso. This isn't some fairy tale: The Plaza Classic Film Festival is starting off its second week showing classics for all...
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Showcasing Student Talent at PCFF
Student filmmakers have an incredible opportunity to see their creations on the big screen during the Plaza Classic Film Festival this year. The inaugural UTEP/EPCC Student Showcase will be held on July 18, the first weekend of the film festival, in the Philanthropy Theater. Ramon Villa of UTEP…
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"Shake and Bake!"
Easily one of the most memorable lines from Talladega Nights, it's also a great way to prepare attendees of the Plaza Classic Film Festival for its Outdoor Movie Series. This year, the 2006 comedy directed by Adam McKay and starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as NASCAR teammates will make…
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Celebrating the Semiquincentennial
In this special Independence Day episode, what better time than to review the movies showcasing the American experience that will be screened during the Plaza Classic Podcast? Being as our nation is celebrating its 250th anniversary, AKA the Semiquincentennial, "Americana" is one thread of this...
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A Tribute to Jay Duncan and Camilla Carr
Jay Duncan and Camilla Carr both loved film, and both proudly served on the Plaza Classic Film Festival's Advisory Committee. Our committee members were saddened by the passing of both Duncan and Carr earlier this year. The lives and legacies of Duncan, the committee's resident sci-fi expert, and...
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Hello, Birdie! (A Clue to the Festival's Special Guest)
One of the stars of Bye Bye Birdie is flying into El Paso to attend the Plaza Classic Film Festival! Ann-Margret will appear the first weekend of the festival, ahead of both the 1963 musical comedy, and the 1975 rock musical Tommy, for which she earned an Academy Award nomination for Best…
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Go Local!
The Local Flavor Showcase features contemporary films with connections to our border. This is the 9th year the showcase has been featured during the Plaza Classic Film Festival. The 2026 program is on the last day of the festival, July 26, in the Plaza Theatre. For the third year, Local Flavor…
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Disaster Movies! with Grizz
Tsunamis. Collisions with icebergs. Rampaging dinosaurs. Let's be real: watching the world destroyed by the force of Mother Nature is only entertaining on the silver screen, especially when spectacular special effects are on full display. This year, disaster movies are taking the Plaza Classic…
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A Dinner To Love
"A Dinner To Love" is the theme of this year's Dinner and a Movie, a special event during the Plaza Classic Film Festival. The theme is loosely based on a quote from the 2003 romantic comedy "Something's Gotta Give." It stars Diane Keaton as divorced playwright Erica Barry and Jack Nicholson as...
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The Girls Can't Help It
Podcast hosts Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle really can't help it when it comes to puns and wordplay! The title of this episode of the Plaza Classic Podcast refers to the title of a music documentary starring Jayne Mansfield. The 1956 comedy "The Girl Can't Help It" is one of several "rock…
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Behind the Curtain with Bart Weiss
The Plaza Classic Film Festival is celebrating its 19th year of wowing audiences in downtown El Paso. Someone who has been a part of the festival shortly after its inception is Bart Weiss, an award-winning independent film and video producer, director, editor, and educator. Bart joined Lisa...
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April Fool's Day! with Eric Pearson
If you know Eric Pearson, you are all too familiar with his penchant for jokes of all kinds. The passage of April Fool's Day has done little to quench his desire to share his favorite jokes and pranks. The President and CEO of the El Paso Community Foundation was the perfect choice to talk about...
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The Big Oscar (Contest) Winner(s)!
Each awards season, the festival's advisory committee members camp out in theaters and plow through the Academy Award nominees in order to thoughtfully craft the perfect ballot for the committee's Oscar ballot contest. And this year, just like in the Academy Awards itself, there was a tie!...
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U.S.A.'s Semiquincentennial Celebration
The United States of America is marking a special milestone: the nation celebrates its 250th anniversary, also known as the semiquincentennial. The Plaza Classic Film Festival's Program Director Doug Pullen has been teaching Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle -- plus the rest of the festival's...
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Felipa's Oscar Predictions
The Academy Awards will take place on March 15, and we will all finally know which movies and performances Hollywood favored in 2025. Will One Battle After Another win the battle for Best Picture, or will Sinners transform audiences much like the vampires did at the juke joint? Can Jessie Buckley...
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Hollywood and the Sun City Collide! with Robert Holguin
Paul Thomas Anderson's "One Battle After Another" may be the most celebrated film to be set in El Paso, but it certainly isn't the only Hollywood production to take over and showcase the Sun City on-screen. Robert Holguin, filmmaker and primetime anchor on KFOX News at 5 and 9pm, joins Stephanie...
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Working Women in Films
March is Women's History Month. What better time to recognize and discuss the depiction of women in the workplace than now? Naturally, Leila Melendez, the CEO of Workforce Solutions Borderplex, is focused on screening women in the workplace during the Plaza Classic Film Festival this summer.…
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You Don't Know Jack Fields
Maybe you do know Jack Fields. The El Paso native is a graduate from New Mexico State University and now works at Warner Bros. as a studio facilities staff member. Fields is also a TCM contributor and classic movie buff. Fields, also a member of the Plaza Classic Film Festival Advisory Committee,...
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What Rob Reiner Taught Us About Love
"When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." - When Harry Met Sally Director Rob Reiner's "When Harry Met Sally" was heralded as a romantic comedy classic in part for its natural, witty banter and heartfelt...
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How Movies Depict Teen Dating Violence
February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. It's a time to openly talk about both healthy and alarming behaviors in young relationships, and how teens can stay safe while navigating new romance. This year's theme is "Real Love Respects." Aaron Setliff is the Division Chief of the Protective...
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Film Noir with Alan Rode
With its stark lighting, brooding characters, and dark themes, the film noir style dominated Hollywood in the 1940s and 1950s and inspired generations of filmmakers, from David Lynch to Quentin Tarantino. If you ask Alan Rode to define film noir, he'll say, "you know it when you see it." Rode…
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A Farewell to the El Paso Film Commissioner
On Jan. 23, 2026, El Paso Film Commissioner Drew Mayer-Oakes bids farewell to the city that he helped promote for eight years. Mayer-Oakes, who is taking on a similar role in Corpus Christi, was instrumental to recruiting Hollywood film productions to use the Sun City as their backdrops, most...
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Not Guilty! Pleasures
Is there a movie you enjoy watching in spite of mostly negative reviews? For Plaza Classic Film Festival Advisory Committee member Jaime Mendez, that movie is Xanadu, the 1980 rock musical starring Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly. As a matter of fact, Jaime enjoys this film so much, he can't…
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What Are You Thankful For?
Is there a movie that sets the tone for the "cozy" holiday season? For Plaza Classic Film Festival Advisory Committee member Erin Ritter, she picks her favorite holiday movies like she organizes her Thanksgiving meal, complete with an appetizer, the main course, savory sides, a dessert, and a...
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Holiday Movies at WinterFest 2025
While the weather outside is frightful(ly pleasant), the Holiday Movies at the Plaza Theatre are delightful! The movies are back as a part of WinterFest. We're showing six movies over three weekends starting on Nov. 30. Doug Pullen (the El Paso Community Foundation's Artistic Director and Program...
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Veterans' Stories on the Big Screen
The lives of American service members have often been depicted on film -- from 1998's Saving Private Ryan (shown in the 2025 Plaza Classic Film Festival) to 1979's Apocalypse Now (screened in 2016). But perception isn't always reality. Kristin Trick -- a member of the film festival's advisory...
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"Long Shadows"
During the 2025 Plaza Classic Film Festival, a new take on the Western genre made its debut, complete with red carpet fanfare for the director, producer, and crew -- many of them with ties to the Borderland. Long Shadows is set in the Wild West, and follows one man's mission to avenge his…
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Get Scared with Your Favorite Actor's Favorite Actor
Is Alien a sci-fi, a horror, or both? What about Invasion of the Body Snatchers? Whichever you choose, both are good options for rewatches on Halloween. Veronica Cartwright ("Lambert" in Alien and "Nancy" in Invasion of the Body Snatchers) joins podcast hosts Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle for…
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Hit Us With Your Best Pitch
Great films often begin as strong pitches. But oftentimes, those pitches are critiqued, revised, and refined before they truly shine. That was the process behind the 2025 Plaza Classic Film Festival's Pitch Fest. And out of the ten budding local screenwriters, one El Paso Community College…
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Oculto: It's Baaaaaaaack
It's back! It's growing! And it's even scarier than before! Horror is taking over the border once again for the 3rd annual Oculto Film Festival. Angel Benitez, the festival's co-deputy director, joins Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle to give a sneak peek at what audiences can expect here in El…
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Chalk the Block con Nacho Libre
You don't have to wear stretchy pants to enjoy movies, nor must you believe in science to be a fan of a family-friendly outdoor arts festival. But if you like quoting the Jack Black comedy Nacho Libre (2006), then get that corn out of your face! Be ready to stake your spot outside the Mexican...
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Scott McGee and the Classics You Must See
Classic films are timeless and inspirational for both film fans and filmmakers. Scott McGee is somewhat of an expert on the classics. McGee has spent the last two decades curating movies that are shown during the film festival sponsored by Turner Classic Movies. And for almost as long, he's…
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"One Battle After Another"
One Battle After Another, the latest film by acclaimed director Paul Thomas Anderson, took over El Paso when the film crew shot parts of the movie here in 2024. The excitement was palpable as Downtown El Paso's historic buildings and unique facades became the backdrop for several scenes and…
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Onstage with "The Birds" star Veronica Cartwright
Veronica Cartwright is one of Hollywood's busiest character actors. As a child, she started off as a model, then a commercial actor, and even landed a recurring role in Leave It to Beaver. Cartwright's big screen break came at age 14, when she was cast as Cathy Brennan in The Birds (1963)…
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Q&A with "La Bamba" Director Luis Valdez
Luis Valdez influenced a generation of Latinos and Latinas when he showcased their stories on the big screen in the 1980s. The director was the special guest during the first weekend of the 2025 Plaza Classic Film Festival, appearing before the screenings of La Bamba on Friday, July 18 and Zoot...
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Location, Location, Location
Location matters when it comes to setting up a business, buying a house, and filming a movie. Jacob Cena knows El Paso like the back of his hand. It's one of his most prized assets as the Borderland's trusted location scout. Cena will delve deeper into his craft during the Filmmaker's Brunch…
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The Diego Munoz Holguin Film Showcase
Not all the movies shown during the Plaza Classic Film Festival are classics in the traditional sense of the word. Some are making their debut on the big screen during the festival. Local filmmaker Diego Munoz Holguin has the honor of screening several of his short films at the Plaza. Munoz talks...
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The Film Fest's Special Guests are...
Luis Valdez and Veronica Cartwright may not be household names, but they have both played large roles in some memorable films you surely have seen. Valdez directed "Zoot Suit" with Edward James Olmos and "La Bamba" with Lou Diamond Phillips; Cartwright portrayed both Cathy, the teen girl in "The...
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"I'm Just A Girl" Dinner
If you're a fan of "Notting Hill" starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant, then you're in luck. The 1999 rom-com is the star of the newest date night event held during the Plaza Classic Film Festival. The "I'm Just a Girl" Dinner is on Monday, July 21 with a screening of "Notting Hill" to follow.…
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"Jaws in Space"
Do you know the story behind the most famous pitch in film history? It was for 1979's Alien. Legend has it, the screenwriters told the studio heads three words: "Jaws in space." The power of the pitch is clear, and there will be a workshop during the Plaza Classic Film Festival to help writers...
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A Night at the Museum(s)
2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. As part of a massive collaborative effort, the Plaza Classic Film Festival is teaming up with FIVE of El Paso's museums to showcase "Hollywood Goes to War," the festival's major theme commemorating the anniversary. Podcast hosts…
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About this show
Welcome to The Plaza Classic Podcast! The podcast pulls back the curtain on the El Paso Community Foundation’s annual Plaza Classic Film Festival, which has taken over Downtown El Paso, Texas, each summer since 2007.Join hosts and film festival Program Advisory Committee members, KVIA News anchor Stephanie Valle and El Paso Community College Mass Communications Professor Lisa Elliott, as they’re joined by a range of guests to discuss what to expect during the 11-day event.
Hosted by
El Paso Community Foundation
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