Behind the Lens

I'm Joey Mendolia, a Denver-based multimedia producer, documentary filmmaker, and photographer. I founded Mendolia Media Productions after seven years making films and photo stories for PBS, NPR, and audiences around the world.

My background spans two sides of visual storytelling: the journalistic and the scientific. I'm a trained environmental journalist and environmental sustainability consultant, and I'm currently completing a PhD in Media Communications at Colorado State University where my research focuses on how narrative strategies in environmental media change the way people think and act.

In the field, that means I know how to find the frame that makes a story land, whether I'm embedded with a conservation team in Alaska, documenting a corporate sustainability initiative, or shooting a commercial campaign in Denver. I work with businesses, nonprofits, NGOs, academic institutions, and international organizations who need visual content that goes beyond good-looking.

Content that communicates, persuades, and endures.

Awards & Recognition

🏆 Edward R. Murrow Award — Best Documentary, RegionalRadio Television Digital News Association · June 2021 WTIU-TV (PBS) · A Mother's Justice: The Trials of Lisa Montgomery

🏆 First Place — Investigative ReportingSociety of Professional Journalists · June 2021 WTIU-TV (PBS) · A Mother's Justice: The Trials of Lisa Montgomery

🏆 Edward R. Murrow Award — Excellence in Video, NationalRadio Television Digital News Association · October 2020 Alaska Public Media · The Legend of Maryann Sundown

🏆 Edward R. Murrow Award — Excellence in Video, RegionalRadio Television Digital News Association · May 2020 Alaska Public Media · The Legend of Maryann Sundown

🏆 Best Use of VideographyAssociated Press Television and Radio Association · May 2020 Alaska Public Media · Bringing Water to Lower Kalskag

🏆 Best Multimedia PresentationAlaska Press Club · April 2020 Alaska Public Media · Can Bethel Afford the Cost of Climate Change?

🏆 Best Online VideoAlaska Press Club · April 2020 Alaska Public Media · A Record Breaking Finish in the 40th K300

⭐ Northwest Regional Emmy Nomination — Human Feature National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences · April 2020 Alaska Public Media · Packrafting Alaska While It's Still Wild