In the original Scream 2 script, Joel (Duane Martin) had a much bigger role: he was dating Hallie McDaniel, Sidney’s best friend, and sat inside Sidney Prescott’s Windsor College friend group alongside Derek, Mickey and Randy. After the script leaked online before filming, extensive rewrites turned him into Gale Weathers’ cameraman.
Joel is Gale’s cameraman in the finished Scream 2, but originally he had a much closer connection to the students at the center of the story. Kevin Williamson’s original script had him killed by Ghostface, with his body discovered during the theater finale.
In the finished film, Joel learns that Gale’s previous cameraman, Kenny, was killed during the original murders. When Randy Meeks is murdered in the news van, Joel gives Gale his footage and takes a taxi out of town. He returns at the end, after the killers have been defeated.
Production trivia also credits Martin with asking director Wes Craven to let the character survive by choosing to leave town.
