Justin Oakey is a bilingual (English-French) writer/director from Newfoundland, where he lives with his wife, children, and animals. He lives a traditional lifestyle full of hunting, fishing, raising, and storytelling. Following his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film Studies from Ryerson University, his award-winning films introduced a romantic, atmospheric vision of his home in rural Newfoundland to screens around the world. His claustrophobic micro-budget Riverhead (2016) and tense neo-noir thriller A Fire In The Cold Season (2019) found acclaim at film festivals and nominations at the Canadian Screen Awards. He currently has three features in development.

Also an accomplished editor of film and television, Justin has worked on a number of highly anticipated titles – most recently fantasy drama The King Tide (starring Clayne Crawford and Frances Fisher – TIFF ‘23) and crime thriller Blood For Dust (starring Scoot McNairy and Kit Harington – Tribeca ‘23).

Critical response to A Fire In The Cold Season –
“An impressive thriller with plenty of meat on its genre bones.” – Screen Anarchy
“The season of human cruelty. An artful take on the crime thriller.” – Original Cin
“The contrast of monumental nature and human lowliness.” – XXZ Magazine

Critical response to Riverhead –
“Claustrophobic, bleak, and minimalist.” – Wire Magazine
“Slender, but impressively naturalistic.” – Times Colonist