Writer, photographer, filmmaker, grassroots organizer…Joel Caldwell dons many titles, but at the heart of it, he is a storyteller––and a powerful one at that.

An avid outdoors person, Joel grew up in rural Washington, worked on a dude ranch in Montana for a bit, then moved to Colorado, where, as he puts it: was a backcountry-skiing, motorcycle-riding, mountain bike guy in full send.

Eventually, Joel found his way into documenting environmental stories from all around the world. But years of covering environmental destruction started to weigh on him. Around that same time, following a trip to the Londolozi Game Reserve in South Africa, Joel discovered the miraculous world of eco restoration and rewilding––suddenly that helpless feeling shifted to one of empowerment. And every story since has been from that vantage point.

Through the art of storytelling, he’s on a mission to demonstrate there’s no gesture too small, particularly in the built environment. Material choices, plant choices, sourcing choices all have an impact.

In this interview, Joel talks about some of his most recent documentaries, why he believes storytelling is so powerful, particularly the rewilding of our damaged ecologies, and how he finds stories.

Joel also shared a sneak preview of “Grow Like Wild”, the soon-to-be-released film (mentioned during the interview) that he worked on with Rebecca McMackin about the impact of restoring native plant systems. Enjoy!