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.

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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.