Sock It To Me was born of a personal experience I had, not with a stalker, but when my husband and I actually found an unfamiliar sock in our laundry one night. “Does he think I’m cheating?” I thought. “Or did some psycho break in and leave their sock behind?” It’s silly, I know, but I thought it was a great entry way to discuss the fragility of romantic relationships. I wanted to use visual storytelling to explore how a trivial object like a sock can drastically tip the scales of a peaceful situation, and also how the mind can be a scary place.
As a writer-director, I love using comedy to soften the blows of how silly humans can be. The piece is moody, though, and uses suspense, mystery, and dramatic irony to heighten the feeling that Damien and Evie’s love is truly in danger. This work was completed as a thesis project at the Second City Film School, under the advisory of seasoned improvisers and comedic directors. I’m proud of the balance it strikes between camp horror, and psycho-analytical thriller.
Biography
Joelle Velez is an award-winning writer, actress, and filmmaker. She is a recent graduate of the Second City Film School in Chicago, where she received the Independent Film Alliance Mentorship Award.
An emerging screenwriter, she was selected as a Finalist for the Warner Brothers Comedic Voices Fellowship and Oberlin Screenwriting Intensive. Her first film, Fairy Rice Mother, won the Youth Choice Award at Georgia Latino Film Festival and Mi Familia award at the LIFE fest. Using comedy to explore stirring social themes, she aspires to change the world with funny films.
A classically trained actress, Velez is an active performer in Chicago’s comedy scene and has an extensive body of work in indie film. Prior to her creative pursuits, she was an established financial services professional, and used her business acumen to launch her creative consulting services in 2023.