Charlie Tyrell

Charlie Tyrell is a Toronto-born Canadian filmmaker and screen artist known for writing and directing documentaries that move between subcultures and intimate personal storytelling. His subjects have spanned everything from hardened pool hustlers to members of the Hells Angels, with work showcased at major festivals including Sundance, SXSW, TIFF, Hot Docs, DOC NYC, and Tribeca.

Tyrell’s films have also found wide online audiences through outlets such as The New York Times Op-Docs, The Atlantic, CBC Gem, Topic, and platforms like Vimeo Staff Picks and Short of the Week. His voice is often described as darkly funny and emotionally edged—humor brushing up against melancholy rather than smoothing it over.

His autobiographical short My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes earned a 2019 Academy Awards shortlist and went on to win the Canadian Screen Award for Best Documentary Short and a Cinema Eye Honors Award. He followed with Broken Orchestra, which premiered at Sundance 2020 and received awards at the Florida Film Festival and the Philadelphia Film Festival.

More recently, Tyrell directed visual segments for HBO’s documentary Great Photo, Lovely Life (from director Amanda Mustard). In I Thought I Told You To Shut Up!!, he turns his lens toward the tension between original creative work and the pull of blockbuster franchises—while maintaining his personal vow to skip hot dogs until the Toronto Blue Jays win the World Series.