JOEL MICHALAK

Joel Michalak (he/him) is a Canadian/American, queer/pansexual writer and filmmaker who spent his childhood in the Rust Belt, Bible Belt, and Florida (where belts are optional). His family was poor/working class and moved around often for work. When Joel was seven, his family joined a religious cult that promised wealth and prosperity, though they somehow ended up even poorer by the time they left. In his youth, Joel discovered his love of storytelling. He studied acting and video production in high school, and then film production in college. After moving to Los Angeles to work on set on films and TV, he continued his education at UCB theatre, studying sketch writing and improv, took TV writing courses with Brent Forrester (The Office/The Simpsons), and has been mentored through the CineStory fellowship. Joel has written, directed, and produced dozens of short films, a web series, and an award-winning TV pilot. He's also landed five scripts on Coverfly's top 20 lists and racked up a long list of finalist placements in writing competitions, including in 2025, being a finalist in The Page Awards for a TV comedy pilot, and the horror genre winner of the Shore Scripts feature contest. He's most comfortable writing high-concept, socially poignant, genre-bending stories about underdogs and outsiders with elements of comedy, adventure, horror, and science fiction.