Growing up in Portland, Joel eventually wound up working the foggy streets of San Francisco as a cameraman and sound recordist, before moving back to his beloved birthplace of New York City. There he was lucky enough to marry wonderful bride while earning an expensive MFA from Columbia University. The City of Angels is where Joel currently plies his trade as a writer, screenwriter, and story consultant, sharing a small apartment with his patient wife, four impatient kids and two manic cats.