ABOUT JOEL
I started my first business at 16 - the year I started college - doing wedding videography with my father. It taught me how to work with clients, how to be creative with my equipment, how to solve technical problems with limited resources, and how to produce great original content. I've been building on those skillsets ever since.
I graduated from college at age 20 and moved to Los Angeles, working for VFX company Luma Pictures. Before I could legally buy a beer, I had worked as an artist on Thor, Xmen: First Class, and Captain America: The First Avenger, and would later go on to do compositing work for films like The Avengers and Wizard of Oz.
In 2012, I had the opportunity to start another company with my college roommate called Studio229. We would go on to create award-winning content for brands such as Disney, Nabisco, LEGO, and more, with our work shown in movies, on television, on YouTube, and live on the stage! Starting in 2015, we helped pioneer some of the first Virtual Reality content to release to consumers, working with major brands to bring a powerful new medium to the masses. Working in a game engine opened up new possibilities of telling stories. From then on, creating interactive content became my passion, launching multiple successful games and interactive AR, VR, and traditional content for various agencies, companies, and brands.
My skillsets grew to support Web3 and Blockchain development when I worked with a talented international team to pioneer the next generation of development in a distributed worldwide platform. Building compelling Web3 games and experiences with a foundational creative discipline allowed the projects I worked for to thrive.
I started as an artist, forged my talents as a creative with a deep technical skillset, and now I get the incredible opportunity to produce amazing content with some really incredible people who do some really incredible things. Because I know what it's like to do the hard, tedious work as an artist, I've become a better director. I’m hugely collaborative, spontaneously creative, and there’s not a technical challenge I haven’t overcome.
I love what I do. I hope it shows. Check out some of my personal video work to see how I view the world.
Also I own a 1981 DMC DeLorean and drive it daily. Lifelong dream achieved. It has its own instagram.
All content copyright 2022 Joel Gerlach & Tophat Creative unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.