Joel

"Man, gutted, slashed. The guy ain't in the union no more."

- Joel to Gale about her previous cameraman, in Scream 2

Joel is one of the main characters of Scream 2 (1997 film, set in 1998). He was a fresh-faced professional cameraman.

In the Spring of 1998, he became employded under Gale Weathers, replacing Kenny Brown from Scream (1996 film) after he was killed. Apprehensive of earning the same fate as his predecessor, he left town. As a result, he became a survivor of the 1998 Windsor College Murders.

Background
He was a fresh-faced young cameraman, and almost won an award for his camerawork on the Bingo Finals.

The Windsor College Murders
Joel arrives at Windsor College as he has been assigned as Gale's new cameraman. He follows her around the campus with her instructing him on what to do, such as recording the press conference and an interview between Sidney Prescott and Cotton Weary.

When the murders start again, Joel becomes weary of Gale's need to follow the trail. He begins reading her book, admitting her should've read it before working for her, and becomes worried for his own safety after reading what happened to her original camerman.

Joel sits with Gale, Dewey and Randy when they discuss the murders and excuses himself from the conversation when they start talking about the cameraman again. After Randy is killed in his van, he makes the decision to leave Windsor College before he himself becomes a victim.

After Mickey and Mrs. Loomis are killed, Joel returns to campus and prepares to film Gale's exclusive account, however Gale chooses to leave with Dewey and Joel films Cotton for her as he leaves the College.

Age
Given Joel, in early drafts was originally intended as Sidney and Randy's classmate in his late teens or early 20s (and Martin was cast based on this, along with Elise Neal who portrayed Hallie, who were both thirty-one and thirty-two during the release of the sequel), it would correspondingly make his age around twenty in the second film.

Another factor in confirming Joel's young age is Gale's treatment of him. She tells him he is playing "with the big boys now", an infantilizing comment meant to signal his inexperience and youthfulness to the position. Given Courteney Cox is merely one year older than Duane Martin in real life, it is meant to signal Martin's character is much younger.

However, Joel was still most likely to be slightly older in the revision and filmed version of the second film. Given his profession (and script changes), he was likely closer to his early-mid-20s during the second film, though still possibly in an early post-grad age, such as the usual twenty-two age as a graduate and fresh-faced journalist. Correspondingly, this makes his age as a new father to twins approximately late-twenties (around twenty-seven). In summary, Martha and Joel's age gap might only be approximately six years.

Allies

 * Gale Weathers - Boss
 * Dewey Riley † - Acquaintance
 * Randy Meeks † - Acquaintance

Enemies

 * Mickey Altieri † - Killer
 * Nancy Loomis † - Killer

Quotes

 * "I'm gonna get some donuts, some Prozac; see if I can find some crack, Special K, X... not Malcolm, and I'll be back when y'all start talking about somethin' a little more Saved By The Bell-ish."
 * "Gale, gutted, slashed, the guy ain't in the union no more." — talking about Kenny Brown.
 * "No, no you need to have your head examined." — to Gale.
 * "Yeah, let's go get killed." — to Gale.
 * "Brothers don't last long in situations like this."
 * "Yes, I got that on film." — to Hallie.

Trivia

 * He was described as "20s, black, sensible and friendly. A very intelligent face" in the script.
 * It is uncertain if Joel was a specific target, though Gale's speculation on the copycat structure made him suspect he was.
 * Given Nancy Loomis was hiding in his news van, it is likely he was intended to be slain by-proxy with Gale. With his vehicle being used as a murder tool accessory, he counts as a survivor.
 * For the second film, he was simply credited as "Joel". A misconception later emerged with fans, as a Fanon idea emerged that his surname was Jones, the same as Kenny Brown from the original film. As it turns out, Jones was neither Kenny nor Joel's surname, having been made up by a fan.
 * In the original leaked script, Joel was one of Sidney's friends, and Randy was Gale's cameraman instead.
 * In the original script, he was also intended to be one of the victims.
 * Actor Duane Martin was against the idea of killing Joel, and asked Wes Craven for his character to simply walk off after Randy's death, feeling it was more realistic. Wes agreed, and his character was spared.
 * On March 16, 2022, Heather Matarazzo (who portrays Martha) did a Twitter Q&A with fans. She re-fuelled speculation after she claimed to know the identity of her on-screen twin children, Chad and Mindy's father. She liked a tweet, asking her to "confirm or deny" with a screenshot of Joel.
 * Actor Duane Martin's surname is also, of course, Martin, a possible nod to his character all along.
 * Duane Martin, his Scream 2 co-star Jada Pinkett and Deon Richmond (Tyson in Scream 3) worked together in a 1990 TV movie, Moe's World.

Appearances

 * Scream 2 (1997 film)