Send us a text Fifty episodes. Eighteen clips. One unforgettable year. To close out 2025, The Fixate & Binge Podcast does something a little different. This special milestone episode brings together 18 standout moments from conversations with filmmakers, actors, writers, producers, critics, and creatives from around the world — moments that stayed with me long after the microphones were turned off. There’s no narration layered over these clips. No analysis interrupting them. Just the voic...

Send us a text In a rare solo episode after ten straight guest interviews, Joe Curdy returns to the mic solo with a full-on Podcast Stew — a wide-ranging, unfiltered mix of film reflection, pop-culture spectacle, and spoiler-free criticism. The episode opens with reflections on Rob Reiner and his enduring film legacy, using his body of work as a reminder of how cinema can shape memory, comfort, and cultural conversation. From there, the discussion pivots sharply — and unapologetically — ...

Send us a text Writer/director Jeff Hupp joins The Fixate & Binge Podcast to discuss his 2025 indie feature BAND ON THE RUN— a heartfelt, DIY road-trip film shot in just eight days that captures a fleeting moment in the late 1990s Detroit Garage Rock scene. Centered on the rock trio 'Hot Freaks', the film follows drummer Jesse Grant (Matthew Perl) as he rallies his bandmates to chase a last-chance opportunity to play SXSW, hoping to escape the gravitational pull of dead-end jobs and inher...

Send us a text This week on The Fixate & Binge Podcast, Joe sits down with writer/director Freddy Macdonald -- the breakout filmmaker behind the Neo-noir crime caper SEW TORN, which premiered at the 2024 SXSW and went on to debut on streaming giants like Amazon Prime and -- as of December 1, 2025 -- now on Netflix! Shot on location in the Swiss Alps SEW TORN. follows introverted seamstress Barbara Duggen (Eve Connelly) as one split-second decision on a quiet mountain road spirals in...

Send us a text In this episode of The Fixate & Binge Podcast, host Joe Curdy sits down with writer/director Zoë Eisenberg and starring actress Mitzi Akaha to unpack their acclaimed 2024 indie film CHAPERONE -- a poignant, quietly powerful coming-of-age story set against the lush, time-suspended backdrop of Hawaiʻi. Drawing on his own experiences living in Hawaiʻi, Joe explores the film’s deeply human themes from the film: arrested development, identity, the illusion of timelessness ...

Send us a text In this episode of The Fixate & Binge Podcast, host Joe sits down with writer/director Vito Trupiano, actor Shiloh Fernandez, and breakout newcomer Alyx Ruibal to dive deep into their heartfelt 2024 film HELLBENT ON BOOGIE. They discuss the origins of this unexpectedly tender story, the challenges and joys of making an intimate family drama, and the genuine on-screen chemistry that drives the film. Alyx opens up about portraying Quinn, a character with Autism — an expe...

Send us a text Ladies and gentlemen, please make sure your seatbelt is fastened and that your seat and tray tables are in the upright position! This week on The Fixate & Binge Podcast, I’m joined by directors Eli Kooris and Joshua Shaffer, the creative force behind AMERICAN SKYJACKER, a wild and gripping docudrama chronicling Martin McNally’s audacious 1972 skyjacking and the five-day national chase that followed. We dive into the film’s tense reenactments, its interview access to McNally...

Send us a text On this episode of The Fixate & Binge Podcast, host Joe sits down with acclaimed writer-filmmaker GG HAWKINS and writer-actor MADISON LANESEY to discuss their bold and intimate new film, I REALLY LOVE MY HUSBAND. Set against the lush backdrop of Panama, the film examines love, honesty, and what it means to truly know your partner -- and yourself. Together, Hawkins and Lanesey share the tory behind crafting a modern exploration of marriage that subverts romantic expectations...

Send us a text On this episode of The Fixate & Binge Podcast, host Joe sits down with acclaimed writer-filmmaker GG HAWKINS and writer-actor MADISON LANESEY to discuss their bold and intimate new film, I REALLY LOVE MY HUSBAND. Set against the lush backdrop of Panama, the film examines love, honesty, and what it means to truly know your partner -- and yourself. Together, Hawkins and Lanesey share the tory behind crafting a modern exploration of marriage that subverts romantic expectations...

Send us a text Host Joe Curdy sits down with writer-director Michael Diliberti and actor Johnny Simmons to talk about their new 2025 action-comedy film BAD MAN — a wildly entertaining, small-town crime farce starring Seann William Scott, Rob Riggle, and the late Chance Perdomo. The conversation dives into the film’s creation, the mix of chaos and charm behind its southern-fried humor, and how the cast brought this offbeat world of loveable lawmen and outlaws to life. From writing and producti...

Send us a text In the second part of this 2-part podcast series of The Fixate & Binge Podcast, host Joe Curdy sits down with filmmaker Heston Horwin — the writer, producer, and star of the hilarious new indie comedy THE MISADVENTURES OF VINCE AND HICK. It’s a buddy crime caper filled with wit, chaos, and heart — featuring standout performances by Chase Cargill, Fiona Rene, Katie Parker, Logan Huffman and many, many others! Joe and Heston dig into the film’s sharp humor, ...

Send us a text In the first part of this 2-part podcast series of The Fixate & Binge Podcast, host Joe Curdy sits down with filmmaker Heston Horwin — the writer, producer, and star of the hilarious new indie comedy THE MISADVENTURES OF VINCE AND HICK. It’s a buddy crime caper filled with wit, chaos, and heart — featuring standout performances by Chase Cargill, Fiona Rene, Katie Parker, Logan Huffman and many, many others! Joe and Heston dig into the film’s sharp humor, c...

Send us a text In this solo episode of The Fixate & Binge Podcast, host Joe Curdy dives headfirst into ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER — Paul Thomas Anderson’s most politically charged and urgent film to date. (And, on a personal note, Joe also pulls back the curtain to reveal two major reasons why he is usually very positive about rating films!) Based on Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel Vineland, Anderson’s latest work unfolds as a sprawling and provocative look at revolution, authoritarianism, and ...

Send us a text On this episode of The Fixate & Binge Podcast, director JC Doler joins host Joseph Curdy to discuss his chilling new film THE TWIN, now streaming on SHUDDER. Equal parts terrifying and emotionally raw, the film confronts trauma and mental illness while keeping audiences on edge. Doler—who co-wrote, directed, and edited the project—pulls back the curtain on his creative process, from building atmosphere and tension to shaping a story that lingers long after the credits...

Send us a text In this second half of my two-part conversation, actor Sedrick Cabrera takes us inside his recent film work and the leap from stage to screen. We explore his experience on FREAKY TALES including what it was like sharing the set with Pedro Pascal, and his role in acclaimed director Michel Franco’s DREAMS (2025) alongside Academy Award–winning actress Jessica Chastain. Sedrick reflects on the lessons learned from collaborating with such celebrated talent, the transitio...

Send us a text In this first half of my two-part conversation, actor Sedrick Cabrera opens up about his roots in Watsonville, California, and how his journey into acting began long before the cameras rolled on FREAKY TALES. We dive into his formative years at San Jose State University’s Theatre Arts Program, where he discovered a passion for stage acting from Shakespeare to Steinbeck. We explore the challenges, breakthroughs, and stage experiences that laid the foundation for his career to pu...

Send us a text On this episode of The Fixate & Binge Podcast, host Joe Curdy welcomes actress, film producer and screenwriter Jennifer Levinson from Los Angeles to the podcast to discuss her 2022 film TRUST which she wrote, executive produced and starred in. This in-depth conversation offers a fascinating glimpse into the filmmaking process from concept to the page to the screen. Jennifer shares what inspired her to tell this story, and why the collaborative process with her director, cr...

Send us a text On this episode of The Fixate & Binge Podcast, host Joseph Curdy sits down with novelist J.L. Flannery, whose debut novel 'Trouble in Atlantic City' plunges readers into the grit, glamour, and danger of 1927 Atlantic City -- at the height of Prohibition. Drawing inspiration from meticulous research and HBO's BOARDWALK EMPIRE, Flannery blends history and fiction to bring bootleggers, speakeasies, and political corruption to life on the page. We dive into the painstaki...

Send us a text This week on The Fixate & Binge Podcast, I go beyond the jump scares and alien horror of FX/Hulu’s ALIEN EARTH to uncover the deeper philosophical questions lurking beneath. *What does it mean to be conscious? *Who controls our autonomy in a world dominated by corporate titans acting as modern-day world powers? *And what does the pursuit of knowledge and exploration—whether into deep space or deep AI—say about humanity’s relentless drive to become gods, or...

Send us a text In this episode of The Fixate & Binge Podcast, I sit down sit down with director Daniel DelPurgatorio and producer Todd M. Friedman to dive deep into their critically acclaimed indie-horror gem, MARSHMALLOW. The conversation explores the film’s clever meta-take on summer camp horror, what it was like filming with such a fantastic cast of child actors, and the unique creative energy between Daniel and Todd that brought this original and terrifying vision to life, from new pr...