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Caitlin Stow was raised and is currently living in Corvallis, Oregon. She has a bachelors in Cinema Studies from the University of Oregon, and works part time at Darkside Cinema, Corvallis' local independent movie theater.
Caitlin was raised working class and learned early on how to live frugally. Now, she takes this history and infuses all her work with aspects of class struggle and low-income living. She also believes in making movies on a budget, and finds the art of cutting costs to be part of the fun of indie filmmaking. Caitlin's queer identity makes its way into most of her stories, as well as her experiences as a plus-sized woman. When Caitlin first discovered her love for media, she was having a hard time in college, and shows like Grey's Anatomy and The O.C. were of the utmost comfort. Although Caitlin's major influences have evolved since then (to include Kelly Reichardt, Bong Joon-ho, Sofia Coppola, Gregg Araki, Todd Haynes, and Jonathan Glazer), she always remembers that movies exist, in part, to heal us, and she atries to infuse her films with hope and connection while still talking about hard, real-world issues.
Caitlin made her first short film in 2016, a psychological thriller about materialism. In 2017 she continued her work with a futuristic political mockumentary. In 2018/19 she put together a longer, more ambitious period piece about a trans boy’s imaginary world; this film, “Don’t Call Me Rebecca,” won multiple short screenplay awards and screened at the Golden Door International Film Festival. Caitlin sees these three films as her personal film school. Their faults are a testament to her determination to learn on her own. Later in 2019 she produced a professional level short film for a film professor at Oregon State University; Caitlin also acted as casting director and first assistant director on this project. After founding the Corvallis Anarcho Film Collective (CAFC), a local filmmaking cooperative focused on inclusive and flexible productions, Caitlin and the cooperative made "Guts" and "...and Blood!", two zombie short films. In 2023 Caitlin acted as producer and 1st AD for another member of CAFC, Grace Dominguez, on her short film "Post Mortem" (currently in post-production). After this experience, Caitlin released how much she loves assistant directing, and decided to pursue this along with her own personal projects. To date, she has AD'd on one feature film (Backslider, dir. Kitsann Means & Salvatore Langella, currently in post-production) and numerous short films in Corvallis, Portland, and Eugene. She has also continued to make her own shorts, completing her most ambitious project, "Lorelai" (currently in its festival run) and shooting "Necking," a body-neutrality-focused nudist rom-com, both in 2024.
Caitlin hopes to keep following her gut when it comes to creative and professional decisions. Her choice to remain in her home town and to prioritize creative independence over industry entrance has been the most difficult decision of her career. At the end of the day, however, Oregon inspires her and she wants to prioritize artistic integrity and community building over a traditional Hollywood career trajectory. Caitlin believes that film sets can be one hundred percent inclusive and produce efficient, high-quality content. Part of the fun of filmmaking is finding new and innovative ways to make each new project as accommodating as possible to crew members and collaborators from all walks of life.
Caitlin was raised working class and learned early on how to live frugally. Now, she takes this history and infuses all her work with aspects of class struggle and low-income living. She also believes in making movies on a budget, and finds the art of cutting costs to be part of the fun of indie filmmaking. Caitlin's queer identity makes its way into most of her stories, as well as her experiences as a plus-sized woman. When Caitlin first discovered her love for media, she was having a hard time in college, and shows like Grey's Anatomy and The O.C. were of the utmost comfort. Although Caitlin's major influences have evolved since then (to include Kelly Reichardt, Bong Joon-ho, Sofia Coppola, Gregg Araki, Todd Haynes, and Jonathan Glazer), she always remembers that movies exist, in part, to heal us, and she atries to infuse her films with hope and connection while still talking about hard, real-world issues.
Caitlin made her first short film in 2016, a psychological thriller about materialism. In 2017 she continued her work with a futuristic political mockumentary. In 2018/19 she put together a longer, more ambitious period piece about a trans boy’s imaginary world; this film, “Don’t Call Me Rebecca,” won multiple short screenplay awards and screened at the Golden Door International Film Festival. Caitlin sees these three films as her personal film school. Their faults are a testament to her determination to learn on her own. Later in 2019 she produced a professional level short film for a film professor at Oregon State University; Caitlin also acted as casting director and first assistant director on this project. After founding the Corvallis Anarcho Film Collective (CAFC), a local filmmaking cooperative focused on inclusive and flexible productions, Caitlin and the cooperative made "Guts" and "...and Blood!", two zombie short films. In 2023 Caitlin acted as producer and 1st AD for another member of CAFC, Grace Dominguez, on her short film "Post Mortem" (currently in post-production). After this experience, Caitlin released how much she loves assistant directing, and decided to pursue this along with her own personal projects. To date, she has AD'd on one feature film (Backslider, dir. Kitsann Means & Salvatore Langella, currently in post-production) and numerous short films in Corvallis, Portland, and Eugene. She has also continued to make her own shorts, completing her most ambitious project, "Lorelai" (currently in its festival run) and shooting "Necking," a body-neutrality-focused nudist rom-com, both in 2024.
Caitlin hopes to keep following her gut when it comes to creative and professional decisions. Her choice to remain in her home town and to prioritize creative independence over industry entrance has been the most difficult decision of her career. At the end of the day, however, Oregon inspires her and she wants to prioritize artistic integrity and community building over a traditional Hollywood career trajectory. Caitlin believes that film sets can be one hundred percent inclusive and produce efficient, high-quality content. Part of the fun of filmmaking is finding new and innovative ways to make each new project as accommodating as possible to crew members and collaborators from all walks of life.