Michelle Joy is a filmmaker who is passionate about collaborating with actors to achieve authentic performances and creating safe, empowering sets for exploring important and sometimes challenging topics.
She released her debut feature film SUNDAY in 2014/15, across NZ and Australia, which played 50+ Cinemas, Television (Rialto Channel, GEM, Maori TV), VOD (iTunes, STAN, Google Play, Bigpond Movies, Xbox, Sony), DVD and Airlines (Jetstar + Air NZ). It has received multiple festival nominations, along with winning “Best Foreign Feature” at the Female Eye Film Festival and “Best Female Actor” at NYC Independent Film Festival.
She has directed brand commercials that are playing on national TV, cinemas, and online in Australia. More recently, she was responsible for the creative direction of all media content for the government funded RMHive app, supporting the mental health of healthcare workers during the height of COVID-19.
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"Director Michelle Joy announces herself as one of Australia’s brightest young directional talents as she takes the script written by herself and real life and on-screen couple Camille Keenan and Dustin Clare and turns it into a thought provoking relationship drama that well and truly draws its audience in."
- Subculture Media
"Sharing writing duties with real-life partners Clare and Keenan, the direction of feature debutant Michelle Joy skilfully crafts a realistic portrait of tarnished love"
- Screen-Space
"This is an honest, heartfelt, skilful, admirable, and truly likeable film. Bravo."
- The Dominion Post
"In a bumper year for New Zealand cinema Sunday can hold its head up high as a fine meditation on both human relations and the relationship we have with the places in which we live and love."
- FilmGuide