It’s time for some JOYBUBBLES! That’s what first-time doc director Rachael J. Morrison believes—and she’s brought her feature doc to Sundance to share the power of JOYBUBBLES with the world. Rachael’s film introduces the world to Joe Engressia, a blind kid who discovered he could whistle a magic tone and hack the analog telephone system—becoming a pioneer in the world of “phone phreaking.” Joe’s story twists and turns as freaking leads to joy… and he inspires generations of outsiders to find their own unique paths through this life. 

Rachael comes from years of experience as an archival producer, so it’s no surprise that her first directing effort relies heavily on the use of “emotional archival,” playing at the intersection of audio and visual communication techniques. We’ll learn how she stumbled onto Joe's story and how four cassette tapes of him narrating his own life completely transformed the film. Those tapes are right up Ben’s alley, and he shares his experience making a cassette-inspired short doc about telephone pranksters, and Keith confesses to benefitting from a college friend who knew how to hack payphones for free long distance back in the 1990s. Anyone who spent time on twentieth-century party lines, or making 3-way calls with friends will be transported into those landline days when the telephone was a great connector. Rachael spent ten years meeting phone phreaks and making this film, and she shares her affinity for jamband bootleg trading, mixtape culture, and the beauty of sitting by the radio with your finger on the record button. Plus: kids sledding in Park City, shout-out to an Errol Morris deep cut, finding inspiration via the obituary page, and appreciation for Joybubbles’ words of ultimate wisdom: if you love something enough, it loves you back.

Discussion Links:

JOYBUBBLES (2026) | GATES OF HEAVEN (1978) | WINNEBAGO MAN (2009) | READING RAINBOW (2024)

Timestamps:

00:00 Arrival in Park City — crisp is the word of the day 00:49 Meet Rachael J. Morrison (and immediately regret going uphill) 02:00 The JOYBUBBLES pitch — on a steep incline 04:00 Born blind, born to hack: Joe Engressia's story 05:00 Keith's college payphone hack and red boxes vs. blue boxes 07:00 Finding the story through a New York Times obituary 09:00 Emotional archival vs. see-and-say archival 13:00 Four cassette tapes in a closet change everything 15:00 Joe as proto-podcaster: answering machine radio in the '80s 17:00 What is a phone phreak? 19:00 Keith's son gets a landline for Christmas 22:00 Sundance premiere jitters and what audiences might grab onto 23:00 Phone phreaks meet Phish bootleg tape traders 25:00 Mixtape culture and the lost art of analog intention 28:00 Angry Kickstarter backers who turned out to be the biggest fans 30:00 "If you love it enough, it'll love you back" 32:00 The director-editor relationship: finding your band 37:00 From Bard art school to MoMA library to archival producing 40:00 Fair use and why indie docs depend on it 42:00 Lightning Round: GATES OF HEAVEN, Matt Wolf, and what's next 46:00 Where to find JOYBUBBLES