Joel McElvaney

Joel McElvaney currently serves as a Script Reader for the Austin Film Festival and has been a Teacher with the San Francisco Unified School District since August 2022. As a Freelance Screenwriter since January 2019, Joel has completed five feature films, two short films, and one original TV pilot, achieving recognition as an Austin Film Festival Second Rounder, Atlanta Film Festival Semifinalist, and Top 5 in the Save the Cat! Screenplay Challenge. Prior experience includes roles as an English Teacher specializing in Dramatic Writing for Theatre, Film & TV at Fulton County Schools from 1998 to 2020, and as a Secondary English Teacher with the Hawaii State Department of Education from 1991 to 1997. Joel holds a Bachelor's degree in Secondary Education and Teaching/English from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and a Master's degree in Adolescent Education/Secondary English from Kennesaw State University.