Dates, Times, And How To See The Film
- 📅 Monday, Jan 26, 6:00 PM, The Yarrow, Park City
- 📅 Tuesday, Jan 27, 9:00 PM, Redstone 1, Park City
- 📅 Thursday, Jan 29, 12:30 PM, Holiday Village Cinema 1, Park City (open captions + open audio description)
- 📅 Friday, Jan 30, 9:30 PM, Broadway Centre Cinemas 6, Salt Lake City (open captions + open audio description)
- 📅 Saturday, Jan 31, 2:45 PM, Park City Library Theatre, Park City
A New Documentary
A new documentary is premiering at Sundance this month, and it’s not only telling a story about disability and technology, it’s modeling what access can look like when it’s designed into the experience from the start. Joybubbles is the kind of project that reminds us why inclusion is not a “nice-to-have.” It’s the infrastructure of belonging.
When accessibility is treated as a core production value, open captions, expertly crafted audio description, and even open audio description in the theater, a film doesn’t just reach more people. It becomes a stronger cultural product, and a clearer blueprint for how the rest of our industries should operate.
A Sundance Premiere With An Uncommon Story At Its Center
Producer Will Butler recently shared news that Joybubbles, a feature documentary he’s been working on since 2021, will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival as part of the U.S. Documentary Competition. The film is directed by Rachael J. Morrison and tells the story of Joe Engressia, a boy born blind who discovers he can control elements of the global telephone system by whistling a “magic tone.” Joe later changed his name to Joybubbles, and his curiosity helped spark a generation of “phone phreaks”, a subculture that had a profound impact on the technology many of us use today.
Will describes Joybubbles as a story about the history of technology and disability, about accessibility, autonomy, childhood trauma, resilience, and the ebullient nature of the human spirit. That combination matters. It signals that disability isn’t a footnote to history; it’s often a driver of innovation and culture.
The Accessibility Milestone That Deserves The Headline
Here’s what makes this premiere especially significant: the team has worked hard to ensure the film is presented accessibly “every step of the way,” including expertly delivered audio description narrated by Thomas Reid and written by Cheryl Green.
And in what Will describes as a first for Sundance, the film will be shown twice with open audio description, audible in the theater, with no headsets, alongside open captions. That is more than a technical choice. It’s a values choice.
Because when access is integrated rather than added on, it becomes part of the shared experience. It stops being something “special” for a subset of the audience and becomes a feature of the event itself.
What “Open” Really Means: Access As A Shared Design Decision
Open captions and open audio description do something quietly radical: they treat accessibility as a public good. They communicate, without explanation, that disabled audience members aren’t an afterthought.
Open audio description, in particular, reimagines who the “default audience” is. It’s no longer “everyone else” plus a separate accommodation track. It’s one audience, one experience, designed to include.
This is what I mean when I say: “Inclusion isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s a strategic advantage.” It’s a strategic advantage for festivals, for filmmakers, and for audiences, because it expands reach, strengthens community trust, and sets a higher bar for what “premiere-ready” should mean.
Dates, Times, And How To See The Film
Will shared these Sundance screening times:
- 📅 Monday, Jan 26, 6:00 PM, The Yarrow, Park City
- 📅 Tuesday, Jan 27, 9:00 PM, Redstone 1, Park City
- 📅 Thursday, Jan 29, 12:30 PM, Holiday Village Cinema 1, Park City (open captions + open audio description)
- 📅 Friday, Jan 30, 9:30 PM, Broadway Centre Cinemas 6, Salt Lake City (open captions + open audio description)
- 📅 Saturday, Jan 31, 2:45 PM, Park City Library Theatre, Park City
He also noted that the Salt Lake City screening on Friday, January 30 may be easier to access than the trek to snowy Park City. Tickets for general audiences go on sale January 14, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. Mountain Time. And if you’ll be in Utah and want to be among the first to experience the film, Will invited people to reach out to him directly.
“Open” Audio As The Bold Choice
Open audio description changes the sound environment for everyone in the room, by design. That’s the point. And it can be an adjustment for audiences who have never experienced description as part of a shared theatrical experience.
But we don’t transform norms by waiting for perfect comfort. We transform norms by building better defaults, and then letting culture catch up.
Practical Implications / What This Means
For Festivals: Joybubbles is a live demonstration that access can be a feature of prestige, not a compromise. When a Sundance screening can include open captions and open AD, it raises the question: why wouldn’t every festival plan for access as a baseline?
For Filmmakers And Distributors: Accessible presentation isn’t just post-production compliance. It’s part of audience development and brand credibility. The teams that treat accessibility as craft, narration, script quality, delivery, will lead.
For The Blindness Community And Disability Advocates: This is a moment to show up, amplify, and reinforce what works. Visibility matters, but so does the method. Open access sends a message about belonging that closed systems can’t replicate.
For Decision-Makers Beyond Film: This is the broader lesson: intention alone doesn’t build equity. Infrastructure does. When accessibility is built in, the whole system becomes more resilient, and more human.
The Invitation
Joybubbles is arriving at Sundance with a compelling story about disability and technology, and with an even more compelling demonstration of what it looks like to treat accessibility as part of the main event. If you care about inclusion, don’t just watch for the story on screen. Watch for the blueprint underneath it: design access into the experience, and everyone gets in.
” Inclusion isn’t just the right thing to do — it’s a strategic advantage. “
Dr. Kirk Adams, Ph.D.
Advocate, Leader and Keynote Speaker on Disability Inclusion & Leadership
Leading the Way to Accessible Innovation
Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion (ISDI)
Executive Director
Strengthening individual and organizational capability for creating diverse, inclusive and equitable workplaces.
Innovative Impact, LLC Consulting
Managing Director
Impactful Workforce Inclusion Starts Here
American Foundation for the Blind
Immediate Past President & CEO
To create a world of no limits for people who are blind or visually impaired.
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