WHO IS MOVIES?

In the summer of 1984, Stirling McLaughlin's family took him to the movies for the very first time. The movie was Ghostbusters. He lasted approximately 11 minutes and 38 seconds before a shush from a ghost in a library basement sent him screaming from the theater. (He was four.)

A few weeks later, Stirling's parents tried again. This time with the comparitively less terrifying The Muppets Take Manhattan. Stirling ate so much popcorn during the previews that he puked himself to sleep and had to be caried home. 

Shortly afterwards his parents gave up trying to go to the movies altogether, and instead bought a VCR. After that Stirling was able to see an entire movie from beginning to end. It turns out they're pretty great. From that moment on, Stirling decided that movies would be the only thing he thought about. And besides that brief moment in 1997 when he also thought about ska, he has remained true to that promise for forty two years and counting.

Stirling founded Movies The Store in 2026 as a way to share his cinephilic obsession with the world.  Not just for hardcore cinema like Ghostbusters and The Muppets take Manhattan, but for anything and everything having to do with the movies. However it is you like to enjoy them.

When Stirling isn't thinking about movies, he enjoys thinking about making movies. His films and scripts have won awards at Filmquest, deadCenter Film Festival, Nightmares Film Festival, Renegade Film Festival, and Geneblast. He has been a finalists at Anchorage International Film Festival, Nashville Film Festival, and Sidewalk Film Festival among many others. He and his creative partner Wilder Konschak were also recipients of Best Feature and Best Director(s) at the Best of the Midwest (BMA) Awards. His debut feature COLD WAR is currently available on most major streaming platforms through distributor Stadium Media.