Joseph Yates

Joseph Yates, born in Ketchikan, Alaska, raised in Craig, Alaska. He bounced around house to house as he also lived in Ketchikan, Klawock and Hydaburg, Alaska. While going to eight different schools, it was hard to lay down a foundation of a hometown. He later on went to a trade school in Palmer, Alaska for business as he completed in less than half the time it was suppose to be required. Joseph grew up with an alternative business background as his mother her own alternative medicine business. That was were he knew he was made for business, but that's not where his love laid. After Joseph graduated trade school, he did not want to go back home and tried living out of state, Washington. He worked as a waiter for over a year before deciding he did not want to just have a job, but a career instead. Joseph did not know at the time what he loved to do, but was told that he was great with children. With encouragement, he went to the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) Juneau Campus for education. That is where he met the love of his wife, Charleen. UAS was also the place where Joseph first attended an Ethnographic film making class. He worked on his first video, Native Oratory 2011, for over 12 hours a day, everyday of that semester. Taking four years off from college with Charleen, they started a family as they got married and later-on became parents. During that time, both Charleen and Joseph were managers of a run-down Boys & Girls Club and turned it around to an award winning clubhouse. With the kids, Joseph made basketball highlights and other fun videos with the children. That is when he knew he loved making films where it brought him back to when he made his first video from four years earlier. Joseph and Charleen decided to go back to school, University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). With UAF being the only school in Alaska that has a film major program, it was a no brainer on where to attend. Within his first year of making films he produced three films and started his own production: Fbx Films.