Charles Poekel
Producer, cinematographer, director and writer · Born April 17, 1984 (42) · Summit, New Jersey, USA
Charles Poekel is a writer, director, and non-fiction cinematographer. He began his career shooting and producing theatrical documentaries including "Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead", "Hey Bartender", "Making the Boys", "Fake It So Real" and others. His feature-length fiction debut, "Christmas, Again", premiered at the Locarno Film Festival and went on to play at Sundance, the MoMA, and Lincoln Center, and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award in 2016. He frequently directs music videos, short films, and behind-the-scenes documentaries. Charlie is an alum of The Gotham and the New York Film Festival Artists’ Academy, a MacDowell Colony fellow, and a contributor to the website Hammer to Nail. He's repped by ICM and 3 Arts.
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Biography from TMDB.
- April 17, 1984 (42)
- Summit, New Jersey, USA
- Producer, cinematographer, director and writer
- 4 on MovieCove · 5 credits in all
What are Charles Poekel's films like?
Across a limited sample of 4 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Power.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 4
Light 1 · Serious 3 · Dark 0
Grounded 4 · Stylized 0 · Heightened 0
Gentle 1 · Charged 3 · Intense 0
Steady 3 · Shifting 1 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 1 · Some laughs 2 · Funny 1
Slow burn 2 · Even-paced 2 · Relentless 0
Casual 2 · Engaged 2 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 2 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 0
Resolved 3 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Charles Poekel's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 3 of their 4 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Charles Poekel's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
5 credits, 4 with a MovieCove page.
ONE HOUR PARTY (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)
Christmas, Again(2014)
Midcredits score: 74th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 84th percentile of all films
Fake It So Real(2011)
Midcredits score: 68th percentile of all films
All In: The Poker Movie(2009)
Midcredits score: 55th percentile of all films
Career shape
A full career of 4 titles from 2009 to 2026.
How do Charles Poekel's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 71st percentile, the median of all 4; across a limited sample of 4 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 74th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up1
- 50th to 74th3
Shape of the crowd
3 of their 4 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Crowd Pleaser3
- Mixed1
Reviewers score the cinematography 55/100 in their films, across 3 reviewed titles; fans 61, detractors 35. The element that speaks to their work as a cinematographer.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Charles Poekel work with?
People who share at least 2 of Charles Poekel's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Douglas Tirola shares the most, 3.
Directors
- Douglas TirolaShared titles: Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead (2015), Fake It So Real (2011), All In: The Poker Movie (2009)See all 3 shared titles with Douglas Tirola
Cinematographers and editors
- Sean Price WilliamsShared titles: Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead (2015), Christmas, Again (2014), Fake It So Real (2011)See all 3 shared titles with Sean Price Williams
- Robert GreeneShared titles: Christmas, Again (2014), Fake It So Real (2011), All In: The Poker Movie (2009)See all 3 shared titles with Robert Greene
- G. Jesse MartinezShared titles: Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead (2015), All In: The Poker Movie (2009)See all 2 shared titles with G. Jesse Martinez
- Nick HigginsShared titles: Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead (2015), All In: The Poker Movie (2009)See all 2 shared titles with Nick Higgins
Producers
- Danielle Rosen ShapiroShared titles: Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead (2015), Fake It So Real (2011), All In: The Poker Movie (2009)See all 3 shared titles with Danielle Rosen Shapiro
- Susan BedusaShared titles: Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead (2015), Fake It So Real (2011), All In: The Poker Movie (2009)See all 3 shared titles with Susan Bedusa
