That year, he was awarded the Astro Scholarship Award and was given the opportunity to complete his Cambridge A-Levels at Taylor's University, and to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree at Emerson College, Boston, where he graduated with summa cum laude honor and was inducted in the Gold Key Honor Society.

During his tenure, he was involved in multiple films in various capacities including the two critically acclaimed blockbusters: ·       The Journey (2014) ·       Ola Bola (2016) Franchise Breakthrough In 2015, Joel created the action-comedy film Polis Evo where he served as producer and lead-writer along with his co-workers Kyle Goonting and Anwari Ashraf, who were the recipients of the ‘Astro Scholarship Award’.

Polis Evo also earned eight nominations at the 2016 Malaysian Film Festival, where it garnered two wins for ‘Best Supporting Actor’ and ‘Best Cinematography’ and received the ‘Special Jury Award’ for highest box office.

With a production budget three times higher than the original, Polis Evo 2 was also the first Astro Shaw film to enter the Indonesian market.

Actor Sharnaaz Ahmad credited Joel for supporting his part in the film despite rumors about his alleged difficult behavior on set.