Meet Caitlin McInnis, a homeschooled high schooler. She’s pro-life, and has a knack for filming. Back at the end of 2007 and beginning of 2008, Caitlin hadn’t fully discovered her passion for filming and for life, but that was soon to change.
Caitlin had always been pro-life, and knew that abortion killed an unborn baby, but she didn’t fully understand what being pro-life was all about. In 2007 she saw the movie Bella in theaters, and in January 2008 she went to the March for Life in Washington D.C. For the first time, she saw a graphic picture of an aborted baby at the March for Life, and was brought to tears. How could this be happening? Touched by those events, Caitlin was compelled to research abortion. Only then did she discover the true horror of abortion. She would never be the same.
Around that same time, Caitlin began making films for fun. She didn't have a camcorder, so she started experimenting with stop-animation, making her first film when she was 13 years old. It was a 5 second video of a stuffed elephant running up to the camera, and then falling down. She loved making the films, but wanted to do more with her talent. After finding a yearning to film, and a passion for the pro-life cause, Caitlin continued making those videos and developed her skills into what they are today.
Fast-forward a few years: In the spring of 2011, Caitlin signed up for a film class at a local university. She loved it. For her Editing II class in fall 2011, she decided to use both her talent for film and her passion for life for an assignment. While online, she ran across an anonymous letter from a grieving mother to her aborted baby. The letter explained how much the woman regretted her abortion, and how sad she was to have aborted her baby. Looking back on it, Caitlin knows that God was the one who clicked on that letter. After reading the heart-wrenching words, she decided to use it for her assignment.
Caitlin's class provided the cameras and equipment needed for the film, and she saved up enough money to buy an editing program. She had a vision for the film, and captured the footage over a weekend. She submitted it to her class for viewing the next day.
Little did she know that this film "The Letter" would have a major impact. It went viral in the pro-life community after being posted on Youtube in November 2011, and has been viewed over nine and a half THOUSAND times. Wow! Not only have thousands of people watched Caitlin's video, but it has saved a life. A woman who was considering abortion was sent the video, and decided not to abort her baby after seeing it.
Caitlin would never have guessed the huge impact her video would have, but is thrilled to help spread the message of life. She hopes to submit the film to LifeFest (a pro-life film festival in California), and dreams of directing and editing films with pro-life messages in Hollywood. She sees the need for moral entertainment, and feels called by God to fill that need:"Ultimately, it's up to Him [God], but I have some big-budget film ideas on abortion, euthanasia, and other matters that I would love to be able to create in the near future."
Here's her video The Letter. Please pass it along to your family and friends!
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