Joel Potrykus

Assistant Professor
Film & Video Production
Office: 219 Lake Superior Hall
Phone: (616) 331-3548
Email: p[email protected]
Biography
Joel Potrykus is a Michigan-based independent filmmaker and visiting professor, specializing in screenwriting and fiction film production. His work has screened at the Lincoln Center for the Arts, the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles, Cinémathèque Française in Paris, and the Munich Film Museum. His debut feature film, Ape, won Best New Director at the Locarno Film Festival, and his follow-up, Buzzard, won the FIPRESI Prize at the Ljubliana International Film Festival and was invited to be part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Science Permanent Collection. His feature film The Alchemist Cookbook, and his most recent film, Relaxer, premiered at the SXSW Film Festival, both produced by Oscilloscope Laboratories, founded by Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys. He’s been the subject of retrospectives at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Valdivia Film Festival in Chile, and the Black Canvas Film Festival in Mexico City.
Education
MFA, Writing for Film and Television, Emerson College
BS, Film & Video Production, Grand Valley State University
Courses
- FVP 261 - Scriptwriting I
- FVP 321 - Fiction Filmmaking I
- FVP 362 - Scriptwriting II
- FVP 421 - Fiction Filmmaking II
Works

Ape, 2012

Buzzard, 2014

Relaxer, 2018

The Alchemist Cookbook, 2016