Joe Piscatella is known for creating powerful, character-driven stories about unlikely heroes who change the world.

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His critically acclaimed documentary Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower follows the Hong Kong teenagers who sparked a global movement for democracy. The film won the Audience Award at Sundance and was one of Netflix’s highest-profile acquisitions of the festival.

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Joe’s breakout documentary, #ChicagoGirl: The Social Network Takes on a Dictator, tells the extraordinary true story of a teenage girl in suburban Chicago who helped coordinate the Syrian revolution from her bedroom. Premiering at IDFA, it aired and streamed in nearly 100 countries, including on Netflix, ABC’s Fusion, and Al Jazeera. His team was among the first to smuggle HD footage out of Homs, Syria—then the most dangerous place on earth.

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In Who’s Afraid of Nathan Law?, Joe returned to Hong Kong to tell the next chapter in the teenagers’ fight for the democracy they were promised. The film debuted as the #1 Special Presentations title at Hot Docs and aired globally, including on POV (PBS), CBC, and NHK.

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His other documentaries include Mai Khoi & the Dissidents, about a Vietnamese pop star who turned her back on stardom to fight for freedom of speech (part of the BBC’s Why Collection), and Last Known Coordinates, which chronicles legendary big wave surfer Chris Bertish’s quest to become the first person to stand-up paddleboard solo from Africa to North America (a Top 10 hit on Apple iTunes).

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Beyond documentaries, Joe served as creative director, co-writer, and co-director of Food Interrupted, a short-form digital series for Panera Bread that earned an Emmy nomination. He was executive producer on Finders Keepers (Sundance, released by The Orchard), and consulting producer on the Dude Perfect documentary for YouTube Premium.

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As a screenwriter, Joe has developed film and television projects for 20th Century Fox, Spyglass, and Touchstone Television. His credits include Disney’s Underdog, Warner Bros.’ Ozzy & Drix, and NBC’s Stark Raving Mad, along with comedy punch-ups for animated hits like Kung Fu Panda and Hotel Transylvania.

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A former punter at Georgetown University, Joe earned a graduate degree in writing from the University of Southern California. He’s also worked as a journalist, writing food and travel pieces for Cooking Light, Woman’s Day, and in-flight magazines, and contributing to NPR’s All Things Considered. He once spent a summer as Ted Koppel’s intern.