After a stellar career as an All-American student-athlete and honors graduate in Communication Arts, Joe Gough began his professional career as an educator. Teaching history and creative writing allowed him the opportunity to complete summer programs in film production and screenwriting. After earning production and multimedia certifications at the School of Visual Arts and the Hollywood Film Institute, Joe returned to teaching and started the film and screenwriting program at the Orchard Lake Schools. He became Dean in Residence in 1999.

In 2001, he worked with Billy Crystal on his HBO feature "61*". The experience inspired him to create one of the first multimedia web shows "The United Stories of America" with his brother Patrick. When the events of September 11th halted production in New York, the show was abandoned. But Joe returned home and began writing for agencies and web-interactive companies. He got his first real break as a writer from Kid Rock. Joe co-wrote the treatment and assistant directed Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock's award winning "Picture" video in 2002. The success of the video led to numerous commercial and video collaborations with director, JB Carlin. Joe also worked on the video for Eminem's Academy Award winning song "Lose Yourself".