Editor’s Note: Supporting women should not be limited to a month. So at Reel 360 News, we have decided to amplify and promote dynamic women’s voices all year long. Today, let us introduce you to award-winning filmmaker and editor, Caitlyn Greene.
Caitlyn is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker from the American South who tells stories of our beautiful and bizarre existence.
Named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film,” her work has been supported by Sundance Institute, Impact Partners, Doc Society, and International Documentary Association, among others.
The New Yorker acquired her short documentary The Diamond after it premiered at Camden, where it won the Vimeo Staff Pick Award. Her previous short films have screened at festivals around the world and taken home several jury awards, along with Vimeo Staff Picks’ Best of the Year. She has directed work for brands including YouTube, Facebook, and Mercedes-Benz.
Caitlyn received a Primetime Emmy and an ACE Eddie Award for her editing on The Jinx, HBO’s Peabody Award-winning documentary series. Other editing projects include the vérité documentary feature When Lambs Become Lions, which was awarded Best Editing at Tribeca Film Festival and nominated for an IDA Documentary Award; as well as FX’s documentary series A Wilderness of Error, from Marc Smerling (The Jinx) and Errol Morris. She is currently directing her feature debut.
Let’s meet Caitlyn!
What’s your origin story?
I grew up in North Carolina and found film through a photojournalism program that was part still photojournalism, part backpack documentary bootcamp: working as a one‑person crew, chasing stories, doing everything from ideation and reporting to sound and final cut. That hands‑on, relationship‑first approach still anchors my work.
After college, I moved to New York and spent years cutting mostly feature docs and series while directing shorts in between. My time editing was an education in film craft beyond the reportage and instinct of my undergrad experience – kind of film school by immersion.
Today, I’m focused on blending the two: the plot-driven discipline I honed in the edit bay and the poetic, emotion-forward style that shows up in my short-form directing. True to my Pisces nature, I’m a sucker for big emotion—I want the work to feel honest and brush up against something a little larger than the story on the surface, without losing its engine.
How did you break into production and post?
Some of the documentary projects I was part of in college ended up screening at festivals like South by Southwest, and that helped bridge my move to New York. Meeting filmmakers at the festival led to one of my earliest jobs here, assistant editing an indie feature doc.
Since then, it’s been a steady build: assisting and editing short-form projects, then cutting features and series, and now directing my first feature, as well as commercials. I’ve been lucky to find people along the way who were willing to take chances on me, to trust me before I had all the credits.
Who were your mentors, and how did they influence your journey?
As an editor, I had the opportunity to work closely with many incredible directors, editors, and producers, who all taught me a great deal about storytelling, process, craft, collaboration, and even how to practically and strategically build a career.
What fuels your creativity?
When I’m working on a project, it creates a filter through which I see and interpret everything around me. It means I have endless creative input, and also, personally, that I have a meaningful way to engage with the world around me. I also really love diving deep with people. And I really love the pure craft of filmmaking. Every element feels like its own language, and the potential of how all the pieces can elevate each other feels limitless. I’m chasing moments that rise above their parts.
What’s the biggest myth about women in production?
I’m not sure if it’s really a myth, but one idea I sometimes encounter is that being a woman defines your work (and experience of working) in some obvious or singular way. There are absolutely real, systemic biases that exist in this industry. But personally, I try not to focus too much on that in my day-to-day. All I really know how to do is to show up fully and focus on the work in front of me.
Name a creative risk you took that paid off?
I made a short film called The Diamond, which follows people searching for raw diamonds in a field in Arkansas. It’s interview-driven, formed entirely around my conversations with strangers I met in the field. I’d considered focusing the interviews around a central idea — like love or ambition — to give it a cohesive narrative thread. But I decided to approach it like an open-air confessional and let people speak freely about whatever was on their minds.
I had no idea how it would come together in the edit or if the pieces would connect in any meaningful way. But what came out of it felt very real to me. The film ended up being much more somber than I expected—more about grief and grace than quirk or novelty. And I don’t think I would’ve uncovered that if I’d gone in trying to control the story.
What’s your take on the rise of AI?
There is so much to say, and so much we don’t know yet. But for now I’ll just say that I’m interested in making things with gut and soul that explore what it means to be human. I think that the introduction of AI means trust and taste will become increasingly important.
What’s a piece of advice from another woman you carry with you?
Speak slowly.
Are you rebooting Soul Train, American Bandstand or MTV Spring Break?
I watched my fair share of MTV Spring Break growing up, but I have to go with Soul Train. I mean, come on.
How do you balance ambition with self-care?
I’m not great at this balance. But I do take my sleep seriously when I can.
You’re writing a memoir. What’s the title?
Can I borrow from some Les Blank films? I’d go with “Spend It All” or “Long Live the Living!”.
Go to Karaoke song.
Having a contagious go-to karaoke song is a skill I deeply respect but do not yet have. Working on it.
Caitlyn’s Socials:
Instagram: @caitlyn_greene
Vimeo: Caitlyn Greene
To see who else is a Reel Woman, click here.
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REEL WOMEN SPOTLIGHT: Elizabeth M. Stewart, Editor
