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Meet Catholic Screen-Writer Faustina Bowen – 50th Interview

Meet Catholic Screen-Writer Faustina Bowen – 50th Interview

Last updated on: September 1, 2026 at 6:00 am by Mark Wilson

Meet Catholic Screen-Writer Faustina Bowen – 50th Interview 2026-08-31T08:17:33-05:00 Mark Wilson

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I got a degree in communications. I wanted to make movies and go into the business. I never really got there. I have worked on an independent Catholic production, worked at a Catholic cable studio as well as my hometown cable station. I Volunteered in several other cable studios and made videos I’ve put on YouTube and other creations I have only showed a few others. Here’s a video I made when I attended Franciscan University.

But I never video or film making a carrier unlike our next writer who is quite different than any of our previous writers I’ve given the interview to. She doesn’t write books, she writes screenplays and acts in them with her family. Her passion for writing is connected to a passion for writing and producing family friendly films of faith with her family. A passion for the arts infused with Catholic faith has many possibilities. Ms. Bowen also happens to be the 50th interview in my Meet the Writer series. I’m pleased someone so unique and different as a writer can mark a milestone in this series. I hope that she can inspire you in your writing dreams as you…

Meet the Catholic Screen-Writer Faustina Bowen
From Homeschooled Teen to Catholic Screenwriter

1. Tell something interesting about yourself.

I love filmmaking because I like to act first and foremost. Many think of me more as a director or writer, but my real passion is in acting.

2. What makes a good Catholic writer?

Of course, the first thing is not compromising on anything. Whether it’s adherence to Catholic teaching, speaking from your heart, or telling an unpopular story. All that being said, it’s also very important to be honest with yourself. Strip away anything that isn’t strictly necessary. That’s how you find the gold in your story and, in the end, that’s what your audience really cares about, not the random side character with an interesting story you had to cut. When you are writing for film, it’s really important to stick to Catholic moral standards. Everything written will have to be acted out by performers and if it’s not something that you would feel comfortable doing, don’t write it in.

3. What do you like about being a Catholic/Christian Writer?

What do I like about it? What is there not to like about it? I suppose my favorite thing is exploring people. Their motives, their personalities, what influences them. When you write, you are outside of time and can essentially “meet” characters you wouldn’t in real life. This is what makes movies so powerful. Another thing that really excites me about screenwriting is having an idea in my head and seeing that idea develop into a personality on the screen in just a matter of months. It’s like watching your child grow up at warp speed.

4. What is the Main focus of your particular Writing or what do you like to write about?

I’ve enjoyed exploring all kinds of different focuses. Right now, we are developing a story about the early Roman martyrs. This is a very serious story that is, of course, very different from the whimsical series that I am writing about a Christmas elf spreading the true meaning of Christmas to those around her. I recently heard a director say something along the lines of, “You go mad while you are making a movie and do things you don’t normally do. And it’s a good thing because you have to let the story do what it is going to do.” As a director as well as a writer I have experienced this. You get obsessed with the story you are currently telling. Sometimes you sit down to write with no idea what you are going to write about. Then an idea strikes you and away you go! The previous story seems to lessen in importance and you have no foresight on what you are going to be writing and directing next. The story possesses you. This makes this particular question a little difficult for me to answer. I suppose a genre I continually go back to is historical fiction adapted from novels.

5. How does your Catholic Faith influence your writing?

Hugely. Everything I write has a reflection of the Faith. One of the promises we have made as a company is that the Holy Family would be pleased to watch all of our films. Sometimes the tone is lighthearted or just a fun story, but I am always guided by my faith when I write.

6. What’s your favorite article/Post/book/story you have written?

I am personally very attached to the character of Merry Anne Bright because I have been completely uninfluenced while writing her story and feel like it is very much my story.

7. What is your favorite topic/subject to write about?

Stories that explore Catholic heroes and their motivations.

8. Favorite scripture verse.

Mark 8:36 – “For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his soul?”

9. What Are you currently working on?

I have several projects going on right now. Industrious Family Films is our family-owned Catholic film studio. My parents are Matt and Kathleen Bowen. They are the producers of our films. My sister, Mary Bowen, and I co-direct the films. Many of our brothers and sisters make up the crew and sometimes even the cast. Currently, we are working on our first full budget film, Fabiola. This is a story about a pagan Roman noblewoman and how the martyrs she encounters influence her toward conversion. This is a story that my sister Mary Bowen and I adapted from Cardinal Wiseman’s novel. I am also helping script a series about Sister Blandina Segale and her encounters with Billy the Kid. The third writing project that is kind of ongoing is my Merry Anne Bright series. This is a short film series that I am writing just as the story comes to me about a Christmas elf and her efforts to spread Christmas cheer. This mission brings her to various different places across many different time periods. The second installment of this series will be released this year at Industrious Family’s Christmas Special.

10. Name a favorite saint or Catholic or some other figure who inspires you in your life.

Someone whose story I really find inspiring is PT Barnum’s. The fact that he built everything he did and an entire industry that survives to this day inspires me. Walt Disney has a similar story and inspires me for the same reason.

I have also been privileged to meet a French Catholic filmmaker named Gregory Soodts. Gregory writes little stories and then makes his stories into movies with his wife and 9 children. This is Gregory’s only career. I aspire to make filmmaking my only job and that makes Gregory Soodts a great inspiration to me!

11. Who is your favorite Living Writer?

I really don’t keep up much with current writers. I love reading the classics. An author who I have met and own every book he has written is James Fitzhenry. I’m getting excited for his next book! (He told me what it’s going to be about but I had to swear secrecy.)

12. If you could have lunch with any deceased writer who would it be, what would you eat and what would you talk about?

So many to choose from! I guess my top pick would be Charles Dickens. I think I’d treat him to an American meal just to see his reaction. Cheese burger (with American cheese) and French fries. We’d probably have a very serious conversation or talk about the weirdest dreams we’ve ever had.

The Catholic Bards with the Great Great Grandson of Charles Dickens

Close seconds would be Robert Louis Stevenson (we’d have cocoa and animal crackers!) or GK Chesterton (over a pipe, I don’t know if I’d have a meal).

13. Name a favorite movie/tv show or music you find worth sharing with others.

One of my all-time favorite miniseries is BBC’s 1995 Pride and Prejudice. I could watch that anytime and I never want to stop halfway. I have to finish it in the same sitting as starting. I recently discovered Seeking Persephone as well and am in the very real danger of liking it just as much!

14. Can you see one of your books being made into a movie or tv series? Who would you want to star or direct?

I’m a writer for film, so most of my ideas are turned into a movie. The one I am the most excited about right now is Fabiola. If I could see anyone in the roles I’d want myself as Fabiola, Sam Neil as Fulvius, and Richard Burton as Sebastian. But it’s already been casted, so “Alas!”

15. Favorite Historical event.

The Nativity of Christ. (I was going to say the Resurrection, but I thought that would be too obvious.)

This interview was published on September 1, 2026

The day these other Historical Trivia events happened.

1831 – The Order of St. Gregory the Great is established by Pope Gregory XVI of the Vatican State to recognize high support for the Vatican or for the Pope, by a man or a woman, and not necessarily a Roman Catholic.

Knight Commander’s cross of the Order of St. Gregory the Great

1836 – Narcissa Whitman, one of the first English-speaking white women to settle west of the Rocky Mountains, arrives at Walla Walla, Washington.

1878 – Emma Nutt becomes the world’s first female telephone operator when she is recruited by Alexander Graham Bell to the Boston Telephone Dispatch Company.

1954- Rear Window directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Jimmy Stewart opens in theaters.

1982 – Blessed Isabel Cristina

Jpmarques – Own work – Statue of Isabel Cristina in a church dedicated to her

1985 – The wreck of the Titanic is discovered by an American-French expedition led by Robert Ballard and Jean-Louis Michel.

Ballard in 1999 with a VHS copy of the film Titanic

16. What else do you want people to know about anything..

Fabiola is currently in the funding phase. This story is extremely important as it encourages us to fight the good fight no matter what the cost.

We can make niche movies with modest budgets that get out to a very limited audience. Or we can make movies that really have an impact and are actually widely distributed. The reach of Catholic films are really just dependent on support, so if people want to be part of this movement, I’d invite them to go to FabiolaMovie.com and vote with their money.

Learn More

Industrious Family Fun Films

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