PREMIERES
I Saw the TV Glow
Good One
Dream Team
Give Me Pity!
IN PRODUCTION
Joybubbles
Sour Minnows
Nell
FILM LIBRARY
We’re All Going to the World’s Fair
Strawberry Mansion
Clara’s Ghost
Chowder
Men Don’t Whisper
The Feeling
Moneybag Head
The Starr Sisters
The Follower
Call Your Father
Ching Chong Blues
A Key for the Kid
Whiskey Fist
Tond
Affections
ABOUT
Smudge Films is an independent production company dedicated to making personal films with unique worldviews.
Founded in 2016 by producer Sarah Winshall, our films have played at Sundance, New Directors/New Films, SXSW, AFI Fest, Rotterdam, SFFilm, SIFF, CPH:DOX, Outfest, Rotterdam, BAM Cinemafest, MoMA, on the Criterion Channel, as Vimeo Staff Picks, and more.
We make shorts, features, docs, experimental videos, music videos, commercials, web series, and TV shows. We are based in Los Angeles.
© 2023 Smudge Films Too LLC.
Los Angeles CA
Joybubbles
in production
Joybubbles is a feature documentary about a genius named Joybubbles (née Joe Engressia, 1949-2007) who discovered how to hack into the telephone network by whistling a magic tone. He was blind and started experimenting with the phone as a lonely kid trying to connect with people, eventually becoming one of technology’s greatest pioneers. His story takes an unusual turn when he declares himself to be five years old forever, and legally changes his name to Joybubbles. To tell this stranger-than-fiction story, the film weaves together traditional interviews, audio recordings, and archival footage, and integrates open audio description and captions for a radically accessible cinematic experience.
Gotham Doc Lab 2022
Film Independent FastTrack 2021
DIRECTOR Rachael Morrison
PRODUCERS Sarah Winshall, Will Butler
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS Rhianon Jones, Tristan Scott-Behrends
EDITORS Patrick Lawence, Matt Yoka
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