INDIE AUTEUR VIDEO MESSAGE FROM JOEL-CLICK HERE
IMDB.COM
Joel was born in Tahlequah, Oklahoma where his father's family was from. In 2nd grade he moved to Tishomingo, Oklahoma with
his mother, where her family is from. In 4th grade he moved to Durant, before moving a final time to Anadarko Oklahoma, with
his father, where Joel went to high school.
Joel graduated from Murray State College in Tishomingo, Oklahoma where he studied theatre and starred in 6 plays. He
then moved onto Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, where he studied Broadcasting. He first learned the basics
of film production at Southeastern while taking a Video Production class. Although he had been writing plays and screenplays
since 8th grade and loved film, he didn't think that film was a viable career for someone from southeastern Oklahoma. Certainly
no schools around there had a film program.
It was during his first semester in Video Production that he made his first film, SMOKE, a short about a serial killer,
whose interaction with a victim is played in reverse. The film starts at the end, after the crime, with the killer enjoying
a cigarette and then literally moves backwards revealing what just happened moments before. Joel would then be chosen to Direct
the VP class semester student film, a Spaghetti Western Zombie movie called, Dead Men Walking. This film served as Joel’s
Bare Bones debut in 2012. Joel graduated from Southeastern in 2015 and since 2012 has independently produced over a dozen
films, including 2 full-lengths, HITTERS and the 2019 Bare Bones selection, BLUFF.
BLUFF made its debut at the 2018 EyeCatcher International Film Festival, where is was nominated for 8 awards and won
3, Best Actor (Landry Miller), Best Actress (Tobi Kay) and Best Oklahoma Film. Bare Bones is the 2nd festival to host BLUFF
and the first is the Tulsa area. It’s also a bit of a homecoming for Joel. Having been born in Tahlequah, he remembers
many a journey to Muskogee on the weekends to… see movies with his parents. It was Muskogee where Joel got some
of his earliest film education.
Joel is also an artist and occasional musician. His artwork, which typically consists of photography and digital paintings,
came about as a way to satiate himself between films. His wife Brooke is also an artist and they currently reside together
in Durant, Oklahoma.
Joel is Native American (Creek, Cherokee and Chickasaw) and was educated about his heritage from a very early age. He
loves learning about his tribe and the Mississipian culture that they all came out of. He also enjoys Native American art
and follows many contemporary Native artists.
For BLUFF:
Joel wrote the screenplay,
Directed it,
Was the Cinematographer & camera man
Did the audio
Was the Editor
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