Alex Goyette

Alex Goyette (born October 5, 1988) is an American filmmaker, YouTuber, actor and visual effects artist. He is known for writing, editing and directing the horror film Breeder.

Early life Goyette was born on October 5, 1988 to a Canadian father and a Japanese mother. He began making films at the age of eleven, when he created a parody of Saving Private Ryan. At the age of 15 he wrote his first feature film "The Safe" and began shooting it during his sophomore year of high school.

In 2007, Goyette moved to California to pursue a career in filmmaking. He first attended Orange Coast College before transferring to California State University Northridge where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Film Production.

Career Off the success of his YouTube channel, he was hired as a writer/director for AwesomenessTV creating some of their earliest comedy videos. When they were acquired by Dreamworks his teen comedy pilot was extended into a feature, Expelled (2014), which would receive a limited theatrical release with 20th Century Fox and would go on to be acquired by Netflix.

In 2026, he directed the horror film Breeder, which premiered at the Tribeca Festival on June 8, 2026. Independent Film Company and Shudder acquired the film after the premiere and is set to be released in the United States on October 16, 2026.

YouTube Goyette created his channel, JouleTheif, on April 17, 2011 and uploaded monthly sketch comedy videos. The videos would accumulate 13 million views by July 25, 2022.

AwesomenessTV In early 2012, Goyette would begin working with AwesomenessTV, a YouTube channel funded by YouTube's original channel program. On his channel, Goyette directed, produced, wrote, and starred in a fake trailer centered around the Waldo character. Goyette's video Waldo The Movie -Trailer Parody [HD] gave him the opportunity to have a pitch meeting with Brian Robbins and Joe Davola of AwesomenessTV. The video would go on to earn over 6 million views and be covered by Today. Goyette has worked on other videos with Awesomeness, and has uploaded other prank videos as well.

Internet Icon In 2013, Goyette used his fake Waldo trailer video as a submission video for the second season of the YOMYOMF web series, Internet Icon. The video earned him a spot in the top 10 of the competition. Goyette placed fifth in the competition.

Overview of Internet Icon No.Video titleChallengeResult — Waldo The Movie – Trailer Parody Submission Video Advanced 1 Video Nuking "The Next YouTube Trend Challenge" Advanced 2 The Westerners Water Bottle "The Vlog/Ugly Truth Challenge" Winner 3 How to Submit a Challenge Video "The How-To Challenge" High Score 4 The Top Floor "The Chase Sequence Challenge" Advanced 5 LA Studio Noir "The Murder Mystery Challenge" Advanced 6 Amy's Will "The Prop Challenge" Eliminated

Filmography Feature films Expelled (2014) – director, writer, producer Breeder (2026) – director, writer, editor

Short films Lucky Day (2009) – director, writer, producer, editor, cinematographer Close Before Midnight (2015) – director, writer, producer, editor Voltron 101 (2017) – director, writer, producer, editor Agatha (2017) – director, writer, producer, editor Under the Stairs (2017) – director, writer, executive producer Hope Street (2017) – director, editor, cinematographer BFF Buried (2019) – director Helix (2019) – VFX artist Winnebago (2020) – director Nightmare Smile (2020) – director, editor Claralina (2020) – director, writer, editor Tomahawk (2020) – director, writer, producer, editor Deep Breaths (2020) – director, writer, editor, cinematographer, VFX artist True North (2021) – VFX artist Water and Smoke (2021) – director, editor Ringworms (2022) – VFX artist