Charlie Tyrell is a Canadian filmmaker whose work has screened at major international festivals including Sundance, SXSW, TIFF, Hot Docs, DOC NYC, and Tribeca. His films have also been featured online through The New York Times’ Op-Docs, The Atlantic, Vimeo Staff Picks, CBC Gem, Short of the Week, and Topic.
His debut feature documentary, The AI Doc or: How I Became an Apocaloptimist, will premiere at Sundance 2026 before its theatrical release on March 27th. The film is an ambitious and personal exploration of artificial intelligence, optimism, and existential risk.
Previously, Tyrell directed the autobiographical short My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes, which was shortlisted for the 2019 Academy Awards and won both the Canadian Screen Award for Best Documentary Short and a Cinema Eye Honors Award. His subsequent film, Broken Orchestra, premiered at Sundance 2020 and went on to receive awards at the Florida Film Festival and the Philadelphia Film Festival. He later served as Director of Visual Segments on Amanda Mustard’s HBO documentary Great Photo, Lovely Life.
Friends have described his work as “funny with a bit of sadness on the fringes” and he has taken an oath not to eat another hot dog until the Toronto Blue Jays win the World Series (he attended last year’s Game 7 against the Dodgers and walked home sad and without a hot dog).
His debut feature documentary, The AI Doc or: How I Became an Apocaloptimist, will premiere at Sundance 2026 before its theatrical release on March 27th. The film is an ambitious and personal exploration of artificial intelligence, optimism, and existential risk.
Previously, Tyrell directed the autobiographical short My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes, which was shortlisted for the 2019 Academy Awards and won both the Canadian Screen Award for Best Documentary Short and a Cinema Eye Honors Award. His subsequent film, Broken Orchestra, premiered at Sundance 2020 and went on to receive awards at the Florida Film Festival and the Philadelphia Film Festival. He later served as Director of Visual Segments on Amanda Mustard’s HBO documentary Great Photo, Lovely Life.
Friends have described his work as “funny with a bit of sadness on the fringes” and he has taken an oath not to eat another hot dog until the Toronto Blue Jays win the World Series (he attended last year’s Game 7 against the Dodgers and walked home sad and without a hot dog).