Joel is an award-winning filmmaker who has now completed two feature films, as well as multiple short films and two web series seasons. At ten years old, Joel decided that he wanted to be a filmmaker and at the age of 26, he still continues to follow the same dream. Joel’s first feature film ‘Taking My Parents to Burning Man’ (made for $10,000) won Audience awards at the Newport Beach Film Festival, Sonoma International Film Festival, and the Maui Film Festival. The film has had over ten sold-out screenings, and it’s popularity continues to grow. Joel’s first narrative feature film ‘Shooting the Musical’ (which he wrote, directed & edited) premiered at the Whistler Film Festival in 2014 and won the best Indie Film Award, Best New Voice in Canadian Film award, at the Canadian Film Festival; as well as several Best of Fest awards at festivals across the USA. Joel’s short films “Why Does God Hate Me?”, “I Love You So Much It’s Killing Them”, which Joel won a Leo Award for Best Director, have been screened at festivals around the world, and have won multiple awards including numerous ‘Best of Fest Awards’.
Since uploading “Why Does God Hate Me?” to Youtube, it has gained nearly 2 million views and continues to grow into a cult classic. In his working life, Joel works with his two business partners at ‘This is a Spoon Studios’ shooting commercials, corporate videos and has recently directed short travel documentaries for Vitamin Water and Expedia. Joel just recently finished directing the 1st season of the “Inconceivable” web series, which he accomplished by winning the grand prize at the Telus Storyhive Web series grant contest. Currently, Joel is developing ‘Inconceivable’ into a half-hour episodic show.” NIC is proud and excited to welcome Joel as our next NIC Talk guest. The event will be held on August 16th at our Granville Campus. Please do not miss this amazing opportunity to gain insight into the world of independent film, and what it takes to have your projects stand out.
