The El Paso Community Foundation’s Plaza Classic Film Festival is in the podcast business. The Plaza Classic Podcast is now streaming on the Plaza Classic Film Festival website and major streaming platforms.

The Plaza Classic Podcast is hosted by KVIA news anchor and three-time Regional Edward R. Murrow Award-winner Borderland Crimes podcaster Stephanie Valle and EPCC Mass Communication Professor Lisa Elliott. Valle and Elliott are members of the Plaza Classic Film Festival Program Advisory Committee. The podcast is produced in partnership with El Paso Community College (EPCC) and the El Paso Community Foundation.

Each episode features guests ranging from committee members to filmmakers who delve into a different aspect of the city’s No. 1 feel-good summer event, including this year’s schedule, the Local Flavor showcase, screenwriting competition, and more.

Episode 1, which examines the history of the festival and the popularity of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, is streaming now. The second episode features committee member and UTEP administrator Jaime Mendez and will be posted May 30. Episodes will be posted weekly through the end of the Plaza Classic. Future episodes feature El Paso filmmaker Josh Pulido, screenwriting competition coordinator Austin Savage, and 2023 screenwriting winner Carrie Silva.

“The Plaza Classic Film Festival is a gift to El Paso. We wanted to share behind-the-scenes details and introduce the people involved in the process,” Valle said. Added Elliott: “There’s also more to say about the films featured than can be covered in our introductions before festival screenings. A podcast was a natural way to do that.”

The 17th annual Plaza Classic Film Festival will be July 18-28, 2024, in and around El Paso’s historic Plaza Theatre. The festival will include movies based on Stephen King stories, a film noir thread, the Local Flavor Showcase and Awards, and movies such as Sunset Boulevard, The Shawshank Redemption, and our 16th annual FREE outdoor showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Passes are on sale at plazaclassic.com/tickets. Individual tickets go on sale in June.