Joel Haver


Joel Haver is a Canadian YouTuber and filmmaker, best known for his rotoscoped skits and low-budget feature-length films.

Early life and education

Haver was born on February 13, 1996, in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, Canada. He grew up in Belchertown, Massachusetts, and has an older brother. He studied film at the Pratt Institute in New York City, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in filmmaking in 2018.

Career

Haver produces comedy sketches and independent films, frequently using rotoscoped animation, a form of animation created by tracing on top of filmed footage. His films are known for their low-budget style, with Haver typically playing multiple roles in acting and production. In addition to his own channel, he has contributed to films, voice-overs, and TV productions.
Haver has hosted an annual "Movies Shot During the Oscars" film festival, in which he encourages independent filmmakers to shoot feature-length films during the broadcast of the yearly Academy Awards ceremony. Throughout the year, in 2024, Haver published a film anthology of 12 movies, each movie being shot and edited in the span of approximately one month. He noted that he is passionate about making filmmaking more accessible.
In July 2022, Joel Haver published the "Toilet Paper Bears" comedy sketch on his YouTube channel, depicting a dispute between the Charmin Bears family, in which the son confronts his father about his dream to be a dancer, to his father's disappointment. Later that year, Saturday Night Live aired the "Charmin Bears" sketch, with similarities to Haver's video. Notably, a young bear confronts his father about his dream to be a dancer, the bears are colored blue, and the father and the son wear similar attire. In late July, following the SNL airing, Haver published a video entitled "SNL stole my video". Despite the title, he denied accusations of theft, rather attributing the similarities to parallel thinking. Haver remarked, "If I still was a smaller creator, which I was for a long time, I could see it rubbing me the wrong way."

Filmography

YearTitleRole
2020Sheep TheaterActor
2021Off the AirDirector, Actor, Animator
2022Making YoutubeActor
2022The Paloni Show! Halloween Special!Actor, Guest Animator
2022Killer ThrillerActor
2022High on LifeVoice Actor
2024Smiling FriendsActor, Guest Animator
2024Hello My Beautiful CreaturesAnimation, Soundtrack
2025DispatchWaterboy