Maria Allred is an award-winning filmmaker interested in pushing cinematic boundaries, both with content and technique, while keeping the audience entertained. Her "unapologetically bold" debut feature film, The Texture of Falling, garnered multiple awards during its festival run and then went on to a theatrical release across four major U.S. cities. Prior to directing her feature, she had three short films with television premieres on PBS. One of which became a part of a 30-minute episode, “Art Beat Goes to the Circus,” that was nominated for an Emmy.

Currently, she is writing the screenplay for her sophomore feature, psychological thriller-fantasy/sci-fi, The Watcher’s Game, under the mentorship of the Stowe Feature Film Campus. Development is planned for spring 2024.

Since childhood, Allred has passionately studied painting, poetry, philosophy, and various forms of dance. Not coincidentally, her filmmaking is poetic, painterly, and philosophically-driven. She graduated summa cum laude from Portland State University with a BS in liberal studies.

Critic Maggie Stacu remarks, “What she has created is, simply put, one of a kind. Not only that, but it’s poignant to our time."