Borderline Optimists
Borderline Optimists is a cozy chaos podcast about chasing dreams, manifesting success, and spiraling with hope along the way. Hosted by Gabrielle Held and Christen Powell, two early-twenties film girls with very different vibes but the same starry-eyed outlook, this show blends film, girlhood, lifestyle, and the messy magic of post-college life. We’re talking following passions, making movies, surviving adulthood, and laughing at ourselves in the process. Will they “make it”? Probably. Will they win Oscars? Manifesting it.
Episodes
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This week, the Optimists are back for a networking crash course. From networking nightmares, to success stories, advice, and everything in between, we have you covered as you navigate your way through the film industry.
This week, the Optimists are back to deep dive into their favorite TV shows. From Glee to The Haunting of Hill House and Dance Moms, Christen and Gabrielle hold nothing back about their love for TV.
Happy New Year! This week, the Optimists are back to reminisce on 2025 and look ahead to 2026. They recount their personal wins, favorite movies, artists, songs, albums, and brain rot from the last year, and dive into their career manifestations and pop culture predictions for 2026.
This week, the Optimists are back for a candid conversation about the origin of their creative passions and why they're still fighting to pursue those dreams. The two reminisce on early creative sparks, the highs and lows of the education system, and the reality of navigating an industry that wasn’t built with them in mind. Along the way, they unpack confidence, competition, representation, and what it really means to bet on yo...
This week, the Optimists get real about what it’s like to chase big creative dreams while trying to keep your friendships alive. In a world packed with hectic schedules, self-doubt, and constantly shifting routines, they explore how intentionality, reaching out first, and finding like-minded people can make all the difference. Building your dream life doesn’t mean leaving your friendships behind—sometimes it means choosing them on ...
This week, the Optimists are joined by Hana Soomro to unpack and debrief our trip to the 2025 SCAD Film Festival. From the premiere of Rachel Sennott's I Love LA to a Halloween screening of Dylan O'Brien and James Sweeney's Twinless, we dive into the every detail of our Savannah adventures and discuss our takeaways from the festival.
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This week, the Optimists welcome our first ever guest: Shanylah Sainvil! Shanylah is a friend, classmate, icon, and star in the making. The three of us reminisce our days in LA with no cars and a dream, break down Shanylah's side quests since graduating college, and talk about our long term creative goals.
Follow Shanylah on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nylah.luvs/
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The Optimists are back—and this week, we’re getting real about something we all face but rarely talk about: rejection. From job applications that vanish into the void to auditions that didn’t go as planned, we’re unpacking the sting of “thanks, but no thanks.”
In this episode, we share our own rejection stories, laugh through the awkwardness of post-audition heartbreak, and explore how those tough moments can actually point us towar...
The Optimists are back–and this week, we're diving into one of our ongoing struggles: creative block. It all started at a coffee shop on a Saturday morning, where a brainstorm session turned into a full on, caffeine-fueled creative freeze. In this episode, we break down ways that we continue to overcome writer’s block, our process when it comes to acting and filming, and discuss the controversial phrase: “good artists copy, gre...
This week, the Optimists get a little… pessimistic. We’re talking about the good, the bad, and the ugly of breaking into the entertainment industry and how we’re keeping our heads high. From battling imposter syndrome to second-guessing ourselves in auditions and interviews, we’re peeling back the curtain on the mental rollercoaster of creative life. We dissect the trap of perfectionism, the burnout that follows, and the never-endi...
Cameras rolling, sound speeding… action! The Optimists are back and today we’re talking about all things movies. We’re chatting about our sacred Double Feature Fridays, our favorite films, and upcoming releases that we’re excited about.
Welcome to the Borderline Optimists Podcast! In this episode we introduce ourselves, share the story of how we met, and talk about what inspired us to start this podcast. From our creative dreams to the little things that make us who we are, this episode sets the stage for the many conversations to come.
In this episode, we take a reflective (and slightly ambitious) dive into time. We chat about where we were five years ago, where we hope to be five years from now, and how our dreams, like winning Oscars and chasing EGOT glory, fit into that journey.
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