JOE BOWDEN

Joe Bowden is a mixed-race Japanese and Korean writer, director, and cinematographer. Born in Denver, Colorado and raised in Anchorage, Alaska he started making films as a teenager in the late 1990's on a Sony Handicam he'd used to make skateboarding videos. After dropping out of high school and losing his father in 1999 he moved to Portland, Oregon to pursue film and music co-founding record label Bladen County Records in 2007 and playing in various bands. In 2016 he founded Desert Island Studios a production company dedicated to creating entertaining and challenging films with equity and inclusion at the heart of the process. In 2020 he directed and was the cinematographer of the award winning short film Private Chat starring Ashley Song. In 2021 he wrote and directed Two Detectives, a short film starring frequent collaborator and avant-garde filmmaker Noel David Taylor that premiered at the Austin Comedy Film Festival and was a Finalist for Best Director at the Portland Comedy Film Festival. In 2021 he was the cinematographer of the feature film Song of Summer directed by Kelly Godell. In 2022 he wrote, directed, and was the Director of Photography for Planet #5, a sci-fi short/music video that won the award for best music video at Oregon Short Film Festival. Later that year he was the cinematographer for Color Theories Directed by Devin Febbroriello, which has screened at BUFF Malmo, FilmFort, Local Sightings Film Festival in Seattle, and Portland Film Festival and Portland Panorama. In 2023 he was the cinematographer for At Skyview Enterprises a short Sci-fi thriller produced by Portland's Catalyst Film Collective, which premiered at Screamfest LA. In the summer of 2024 he was shooting and directing a romantic comedy sci-fi short called Empano Gleasium, which stars Ashley Song, Noel Taylor, and Treasure Lunan, which premiered at Portland Panorama in April 2025. In the fall of 2024 he was the director of photography for a short film called Casualties written and Directed by Jenny Ng which is currently in post production.

2025 Director of Photography Reel

PLANET #5 “God Help Us” (Writer, Director, Director of Photography)

Director Joe Bowden on "God Help Us" AKA "Planet #5" "I had made a couple of videos with The Builders and the Butchers in the past so when they asked me if I had any video ideas for their new record, I went over to drummer/keyboardist Ray Rude’s house and pitched him and Ryan on some ideas- all of which they were lukewarm on. Eventually I mentioned a sci-fi episodic I had been working on comprised of simple stories that take place on one or more strange planets. I originally intended to release these in a short series, more or less as a writing exercise and proof of concept for a larger sci-fi project i'd been working on. My first idea, called "Planet #5", featured a dog that needed to retrieve a MacGuffin in order to save its companion who had helplessly collapsed on a dangerous shoreline. The band loved the script as well as the idea of doing something sort of off-brand for them that intersected with narrative film, so they greenlit it. I found an amazing puppet maker and production designer from Portland, Clifton Chandler, who designed, fabricated, and puppeted the incredible creatures and the script was supported by Portland’s Desert Island Studios. The result is what you see here. Look out for the next installment of the series in whatever form it happens to take."

PRIVATE CHAT (Short Film)(Director, Cinematographer)

In attempt to up her own cam modeling career, a young woman purchases some one-on-one time with another webcam model. When she decides to reveal her true identity, the two of them have a conversation about intimacy, desire, and which angles best showcase your ass. "Private Chat" is a scintillating window into the voyeuristic world of cam modeling, challenging the preconceived notions and stigma around sex work.

TWO DETECTIVES (Short film) (Writer, Director)

Two impossibly inept detectives investigate a disturbing call. In festival Submissions, release date 2021

EZZA ROSE “No Means No” (Writer and Director)