*STILL UPDATING - STAY TUNED*

October 9-10, 2009:

Two movies I starred in appear on the big screen this weekend in Manchester, Connecticut!

"Snooze" on Fri, October 9th at 3 pm, and "Kharon's Fare" on Sat, October 10th at 12:30 pm.

They are screened as part of the Silk City Flick Fest.

More info at: http://www.silkcityflickfest.com/schedule.cfm

August 28, 2009:

I made my stage directorial debut in Stratford, Connecticut tonight. The play was "Shakespeare for the Shakespeare Challenged", writted by Jack Rushen, and starring the brilliant David Thomas McLaine (left) and Mike Greca (right). It was received very well by the audience of 150 people! We are going to perform the play at other local venues in the next month!

Click here to watch the performance on YouTube!

August 5, 2009:


Appeared on the TV show "CT Style" with Christian Shaboo from the New Haven Theater Company, talking about the Reel New Haven Film Festival, and my new film "Elm City Pulp" which will premiere there at the festival.

Watch the interview by clicking here.

July 26, 2009:


Finished a new film, "Elm City Pulp", which I wrote, directed, edited, and starred in alongside Cassandra Ritone, Haydria Bish, and Leo Petry. The film is 12 minutes in length, and tells the story of a fictional murder mystery set in 1949. It will premiere on the big screen on August 5th at 7 pm, part of the Reel New Haven Short Film Festival, taking place at BAR in New Haven, CT. We will be up for awards, and a Q & A will take place after the screening. Stay tuned for more photographs and a video highlight of the event.


Watch the movie trailer by clicking here!

June 23, 2009:

Film Threat reviews the short film "Kharon's Fare", starring myself and Leo Petry

(excerpt from article below)

"By the opening scene, it’s clear damage has already been done: the younger hitman, Tom (Joel Vetsch), holds a gun, while the older hitman, Michael (Leo Petry), holds his bloodied stomach. No back-story is given or even necessary. All the viewer needs to know is that one of these two thugs has reached the end, and now it’s time for the victor to milk his opponent’s precious final minutes.

While there’s obviously much tension (one guy did shoot the other, after all), there’s also an unspoken sense of respect between Tom and Michael. Perhaps it’s reading too much into the film to suggest that Michael was Tom’s mentor at one point, or that Tom was clearly seen by the crime underworld as Michael’s eventual successor. Nonetheless, the two hitmen are on a first-name basis, and they clearly share a history of some kind."

Click Here to read full article on FilmThreat.com

June 12, 2009:


Quoted in CNN article with the creator of Tetris on it's 25th anniversary

(excerpt from CNN article below)

"I would just play it for hours and hours," said iReporter Joel Vetsch of New Haven, Connecticut, who got addicted to Tetris on a Game Boy when he was 10. "I'm 29 now, and I still love it."
Vetsch became so obsessed with Tetris that the game even showed up in his dreams.
"I'd go to sleep and in my head I'd see blocks. . .going into each other," he told CNN. "It was weird."

Click Here to read full article on CNN.com

 June 8, 2009:

June 6, 2009:

May 31, 2009:

 April 2, 2009:

Article on "Kharon's Fare" in the Independent Press newspaper

March 28, 2009:

February 9, 2009:

January 22, 2009:

December 25, 2008:

December 4, 2008:

November 8-10, 2008:

October 9, 2008:

October 1, 2008:

September 25, 2008:

September 22, 2008:

July 31, 2008:

July 11, 2008:

June 19, 2008:

May 16, 2008:

April 23, 2008:

March 13, 2008:

January 22, 2008:

January 1, 2008:

December 2, 2007:

Film Threat reviews music video "Gypsy (Improv)", which I directed/shot/edited, featuring musician Joey Rainbow and cellist Brandon Smith.

(excerpt from article below)

"The combination of Smith's madly original musical composition and Rainbow's boner-generating gyrations, couple with filmmaker Joel Vetsch's wonderfully warped camera tracking, results in a hallucinogenic video experience. Watch this one with the lights off and the wine glass filled to the rim – it makes this funky whirlwhind all the more intoxicating."

Click Here to read more of the article on FilmThreat.com

Watch the video itself on YouTube by clicking here.

October 9, 2007:

My first appearance on CNN!

I filmed a viewer feedback video submission on a whim after hearing a call for that very briefly on CNN yesterday. I uploaded my clip and received an email and phonecall today of interest from the Sr. Writer for Prime News with Erica Hill. They aired it twice this afternoon on the show around 3:37 pm and 4:37 pm mountain time.
I think it turned out well. I was speechless when it aired. That is a big thing, since my mouth is known to be usually so full of speech. But anyways, thought I would share this recent news with all of you.

Now everyone can take a peek at my brief appearance on international tv news seen by many millions of people tonight.
Click here to watch segment on YouTube.

August 31, 2007:

June 12, 2007:

June 1, 2007:

GUARDIAN UK selects my short film "Cigarette Sessions: Bukowski" as an online short film to watch, alongside high profile mega-hit video "The Landlord" starring Will Ferrell!


"Before the UK smoking ban descends upon us on July, we thought we'd celebrate the fuggy artistry of the demon weed with Joel Vetsch's moody black and white paean to smoking. To the accompaniment of Charles Bukowski's ultra-cool drawled reading of his poem to the everyday "Something for the Touts, the Nuns, the Grocery Clerks and You", our hero fires up more fags (English slang for cigarettes) than Dot Cotton, while mooching artily around the frame. Savour the smoke, Bukowski's gravelly delivery, or just wallow in the sheer existential ennui of it all."

Click here for the article on Guardian.co.uk.

Watch the short film on YouTube by clicking here.

November 20, 2006:

To watch the short film on YouTube, click here.

October 7-16, 2005:

 
On a chilly night, across the world in Warsaw, Poland, I had the privilege of attending the closing gala of the Warsaw International Film Festival. It was a red carpet event, with the director and stars there, and a great opportunity to mingle with them.

The film was called 'Jestem' (in English it means 'I am'), and it was a Polish film directed by Dorota Kedzierzawska. It starred Piotr Jagielski and Agnieszka Nagórzycka, with Pawel Wilczak.

Before watching the movie, we heard a summary of the successful festival from the directors of the festival and a brief statement from the film's director herself, in front.

The lights dimmed, and the movie began.

The film is the story of a boy searching for his place in life, his identity. After running away from an orphanage and being rejected by his mother, the resolute 11-year-old finds a "home" on a deserted old barge. I think it came out well. I enjoyed the film, and thought the young actor in the main role did a fine job.

After the movie, we converged into a splendidly dressed up room. There were assorted cakes, and treats, with lots and lots of alcohol. A Polish alcohol called Zubrówka, and screwdrivers (as they're called in the USA). I had a few cakes, talked with some of the actors/actresses and others, and drank quite a bit of Zubrówka. There was a nude scene in the film, where the boy's mother was in an overcoat, and it was hung wide open, exposing a full-frontal view. So there she was, chatting and drinking, in her dress after the premiere of the film (this time her dress was buttoned up). An example of the contrast between an actor's film life and real life. I did not get a chance to speak with this actress. After about an hour we departed into the cold night air. The walk and ride home on the tram was definitely a warm and fuzzy one. That was a night I will never forget.

Since it was an international festival, I was treated to something I had never had the luxury of having with a Polish film there - subtitles in English! The festival overall allowed me to see many films from around the world, including Slovenia, Austria, France, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, Norway, and even an American film about Dan Aykroyd talking about UFOs! A fantastic dream come true for a devout foreign film enthusiast - be in a foreign country and watch assorted foreign films subtitled in your own language.

There were a few well known film directors attending, but I only saw a handful of them. The president of the European Film Academy, the Academy Award nominated German director Wim Wenders, was showing his recent film, 'Don't Come Knocking', at the festival. The movie was filmed primarily in Butte, Montana. Imagine being possibly the only American in the large audience of this theatre, and seeing a film that told a story against the wide expansive backdrop of the American West. It was completely familiar to me, my home state in the west, but to all the others in the audience it was a bit exotic, and possessing a real mystique. In a city inhabited by millions, the concept of land where the sky stretches and you hear absolutely nothing has a definite mythical quality.

Poland is a great country. I have been there five times, over the past 6 years (2001-present). I have made many fond memories there. Visited most regions of the country over the year that I have spent there in total. Besides that, the people themself are so wonderful. The cuisine there in Polska is delicious - pierogi, bigos, golabki, soup, kielbasa, on and on.