Zack Snyder
Encyclopedia
Zachary Edward "Zack" Snyder (born March 1, 1966) is an American actor, film director, screenwriter, and producer. After making his feature film debut with the 2004 remake Dawn of the Dead
, he gained wide recognition with the 2007 box office hit 300
, adapted from writer-artist Frank Miller
's Dark Horse Comics
miniseries of the same name, and later went on to direct the 2009 superhero film Watchmen
, an adaptation
of the comic book of the same name
. He is the co-founder of Cruel and Unusual Films
, a production company he established in 2004, alongside his wife Deborah Snyder
and producing partner Wesley Coller. His first family film was the 2010 animated family adventure film Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, based on the first three books of the series by Kathryn Lasky
. His most recent film is Sucker Punch
, which he directed and co-wrote. He has also been hired by Warner Bros. to direct a reboot of the Superman film series currently titled Man of Steel.
, Wisconsin, and was raised in Greenwich
, Connecticut. His father was an executive recruiter and his mother was a painter and a photography teacher at Daycroft School
, which Snyder later attended. Zack attended Camp Owatonna in Harrison, Maine during the summer months as a child. Snyder's mother inspired him to study nude paintings a year after high school at Heatherley School of Fine Art
in England, although he had already begun filmmaking. Afterward, Snyder attended the Art Center College of Design
in Pasadena
, California (where his classmates included Michael Bay
). Snyder still lives in Pasadena with his second wife, producer Deborah Snyder, and has six children.
, television commercials for such clients as the automobile companies Audi
, BMW
, Subaru
and Nissan, among others. Other commercial work has been for clients including Nike
, Reebok
, and Gatorade
.
Snyder made his feature film debut with the remake Dawn of the Dead
(2004), and scored a box office hit with 300
(2007), adapted from writer-artist Frank Miller
's Dark Horse Comics
miniseries
of the same name. His Warner Bros.
film Watchmen
was released on March 6, 2009 and grossed $185 million worldwide. His follow-up project/animation debut titled Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole was released on September 24, 2010. Snyder produced, co-wrote, and directed the unsavory flop Sucker Punch
, which was released on March 25, 2011. The film, based on a script written by Snyder and Steve Shibuya, was about a young woman in a mental hospital who fantasizes of escape with her fellow inmates.
He has announced that he will be directing the upcoming Superman: The Man of Steel film for Warner Bros., which will be a reboot of the franchise, and plans to write and direct a sequel to Legend of the Guardians. He also wants to direct a segment for an upcoming Heavy Metal 3.
Media speculation about a possible parallel between the Greco-Persian conflict and current events began in an interview with Snyder that was conducted before the Berlin Film Festival. The interviewer remarked that "everyone is sure to be translating this [film] into contemporary politics." Snyder replied that, while he was aware that people would read the film through the lens of contemporary events, no parallels between the film and the contemporary world were intended.
in fight scenes in his films, which Amy Nicholson of Boxoffice
magazine remarked separates the director from other filmmakers who make multiple cuts and close-ups during a fight. A minute-long shot from 300 shows King Leonidas walking down as he slaughters his enemies, and the camera only dollys in and out to emphasize each kill.
"Frisbee
" commercial. He also won an award for his humorous commercial "General's Party".
Dawn of the Dead (2004 film)
Dawn of the Dead is a 2004 horror film directed by Zack Snyder in his directorial debut. It is a remake of George A. Romero's 1978 film of the same name and stars Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, and Jake Weber. The film depict a handful of human survivors living in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin shopping mall...
, he gained wide recognition with the 2007 box office hit 300
300 (film)
300 is a 2007 American fantasy action film based on the 1998 comic series of the same name by Frank Miller. It is a fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae. The film was directed by Zack Snyder, while Miller served as executive producer and consultant...
, adapted from writer-artist Frank Miller
Frank Miller (comics)
Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...
's Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
miniseries of the same name, and later went on to direct the 2009 superhero film Watchmen
Watchmen (film)
Watchmen is a 2009 superhero film directed by Zack Snyder and starring Malin Åkerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson. It is an adaptation of the comic book of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons...
, an adaptation
Film adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
of the comic book of the same name
Watchmen
Watchmen is a twelve-issue comic book limited series created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colourist John Higgins. The series was published by DC Comics during 1986 and 1987, and has been subsequently reprinted in collected form...
. He is the co-founder of Cruel and Unusual Films
Cruel and Unusual Films
Cruel and Unusual Films, Inc. is an American production company that was established in 2004 by filmmaker Zack Snyder, his wife Deborah Snyder, and their producing partner Wesley Coller.-Company:...
, a production company he established in 2004, alongside his wife Deborah Snyder
Deborah Snyder
Deborah Snyder is an American producer of feature films and television commercials. She is married to filmmaker Zack Snyder, and has worked as his frequent producing partner on films such as Watchmen and 300...
and producing partner Wesley Coller. His first family film was the 2010 animated family adventure film Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, based on the first three books of the series by Kathryn Lasky
Kathryn Lasky
Kathryn Lasky is an American author whose work includes several Dear America books, The Royal Diaries books, Sugaring Time, The Night Journey, and the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series.-Biography:...
. His most recent film is Sucker Punch
Sucker Punch (film)
Sucker Punch is a 2011 action-fantasy thriller film, directed by Zack Snyder and co-written by him and Steve Shibuya. It is Snyder's first film based on an original script. The film stars Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, and Oscar Isaac...
, which he directed and co-wrote. He has also been hired by Warner Bros. to direct a reboot of the Superman film series currently titled Man of Steel.
Personal life
Snyder was born in Green BayGreen Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...
, Wisconsin, and was raised in Greenwich
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...
, Connecticut. His father was an executive recruiter and his mother was a painter and a photography teacher at Daycroft School
Daycroft School
The Daycroft School was a coeducational private boarding school founded by Sarah Pyle Smart in 1928 in Stamford, Connecticut and later relocated to Greenwich, Connecticut. There, it eventually occupied the Rosemary Hall campus from 1971 until Daycroft's closing in 1991...
, which Snyder later attended. Zack attended Camp Owatonna in Harrison, Maine during the summer months as a child. Snyder's mother inspired him to study nude paintings a year after high school at Heatherley School of Fine Art
Heatherley School of Fine Art
The Heatherley School of Fine Art was named after Thomas Heatherley who took over as principal from James Mathews Leigh . Founded in 1845, the school is affectionately known as Heatherley's...
in England, although he had already begun filmmaking. Afterward, Snyder attended the Art Center College of Design
Art Center College of Design
Art Center College of Design is a private college located in Pasadena, California, and was cited by BusinessWeek as one of the 60 best design schools in the world. The college’s industrial design program is consistently ranked number one by both DesignIntelligence and U.S...
in Pasadena
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
, California (where his classmates included Michael Bay
Michael Bay
Michael Benjamin Bay is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing high-budget action films characterized by their fast edits, stylistic visuals and substantial practical special effects...
). Snyder still lives in Pasadena with his second wife, producer Deborah Snyder, and has six children.
Career
Snyder went on to shoot, as a director and as a cinematographerCinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
, television commercials for such clients as the automobile companies Audi
Audi
Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand , positioned as the premium brand within the Volkswagen Group....
, BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
, Subaru
Subaru
; is the automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Fuji Heavy Industries .Subaru is internationally known for their use of the boxer engine layout popularized in cars by the Volkswagen Beetle and Porsche 911, in most of their vehicles above 1500 cc as well as...
and Nissan, among others. Other commercial work has been for clients including Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
, Reebok
Reebok
Reebok International Limited, a subsidiary of the German sportswear company Adidas since 2005, is a producer of Athletic shoes, apparel, and accessories. The name comes from the Afrikaans spelling of rhebok, a type of African antelope or gazelle...
, and Gatorade
Gatorade
Gatorade is a brand of sports-themed food and beverage products, built around its signature product: a line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo, distributed in over 80 countries...
.
Snyder made his feature film debut with the remake Dawn of the Dead
Dawn of the Dead (2004 film)
Dawn of the Dead is a 2004 horror film directed by Zack Snyder in his directorial debut. It is a remake of George A. Romero's 1978 film of the same name and stars Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, and Jake Weber. The film depict a handful of human survivors living in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin shopping mall...
(2004), and scored a box office hit with 300
300 (film)
300 is a 2007 American fantasy action film based on the 1998 comic series of the same name by Frank Miller. It is a fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae. The film was directed by Zack Snyder, while Miller served as executive producer and consultant...
(2007), adapted from writer-artist Frank Miller
Frank Miller (comics)
Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...
's Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
of the same name. His Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
film Watchmen
Watchmen (film)
Watchmen is a 2009 superhero film directed by Zack Snyder and starring Malin Åkerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson. It is an adaptation of the comic book of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons...
was released on March 6, 2009 and grossed $185 million worldwide. His follow-up project/animation debut titled Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole was released on September 24, 2010. Snyder produced, co-wrote, and directed the unsavory flop Sucker Punch
Sucker Punch (film)
Sucker Punch is a 2011 action-fantasy thriller film, directed by Zack Snyder and co-written by him and Steve Shibuya. It is Snyder's first film based on an original script. The film stars Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, and Oscar Isaac...
, which was released on March 25, 2011. The film, based on a script written by Snyder and Steve Shibuya, was about a young woman in a mental hospital who fantasizes of escape with her fellow inmates.
He has announced that he will be directing the upcoming Superman: The Man of Steel film for Warner Bros., which will be a reboot of the franchise, and plans to write and direct a sequel to Legend of the Guardians. He also wants to direct a segment for an upcoming Heavy Metal 3.
300 controversy
Before the release of 300, Warner Bros. expressed concerns about the political aspects of the film's theme. Snyder relates that there was "a huge sensitivity about East versus West with the studio."Media speculation about a possible parallel between the Greco-Persian conflict and current events began in an interview with Snyder that was conducted before the Berlin Film Festival. The interviewer remarked that "everyone is sure to be translating this [film] into contemporary politics." Snyder replied that, while he was aware that people would read the film through the lens of contemporary events, no parallels between the film and the contemporary world were intended.
Style
Snyder often uses slow motionSlow motion
Slow motion is an effect in film-making whereby time appears to be slowed down. It was invented by the Austrian priest August Musger....
in fight scenes in his films, which Amy Nicholson of Boxoffice
Boxoffice (magazine)
Boxoffice is a film industry magazine dedicated to the movie theatre business published by Boxoffice Media LP. It started in 1920 as The Reel Journal, taking its current name in 1931 and still publishes today, with an intended audience of theatre owners and film professionals.Boxoffice is the...
magazine remarked separates the director from other filmmakers who make multiple cuts and close-ups during a fight. A minute-long shot from 300 shows King Leonidas walking down as he slaughters his enemies, and the camera only dollys in and out to emphasize each kill.
Awards
Snyder's body of work has earned him a number of awards, including two Clio Awards and a Gold Lion Award for his JeepJeep
Jeep is an automobile marque of Chrysler . The first Willys Jeeps were produced in 1941 with the first civilian models in 1945, making it the oldest off-road vehicle and sport utility vehicle brand. It inspired a number of other light utility vehicles, such as the Land Rover which is the second...
"Frisbee
Frisbee
A flying disc is a disc-shaped glider that is generally plastic and roughly in diameter, with a lip. The shape of the disc, an airfoil in cross-section, allows it to fly by generating lift as it moves through the air while rotating....
" commercial. He also won an award for his humorous commercial "General's Party".
Filmography
| Year | Film | Director | Producer | Writer | Actor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Dawn of the Dead Dawn of the Dead (2004 film) Dawn of the Dead is a 2004 horror film directed by Zack Snyder in his directorial debut. It is a remake of George A. Romero's 1978 film of the same name and stars Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, and Jake Weber. The film depict a handful of human survivors living in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin shopping mall... |
(cameo) | |||
| 2007 | 300 300 (film) 300 is a 2007 American fantasy action film based on the 1998 comic series of the same name by Frank Miller. It is a fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae. The film was directed by Zack Snyder, while Miller served as executive producer and consultant... |
(cameo) | |||
| 2009 | Watchmen Watchmen (film) Watchmen is a 2009 superhero film directed by Zack Snyder and starring Malin Åkerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson. It is an adaptation of the comic book of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons... |
(cameo) | |||
| 2010 | Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole | ||||
| 2011 | Sucker Punch Sucker Punch (film) Sucker Punch is a 2011 action-fantasy thriller film, directed by Zack Snyder and co-written by him and Steve Shibuya. It is Snyder's first film based on an original script. The film stars Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, and Oscar Isaac... |
||||
| 2013 | Man of Steel |
Music videos
- "TomorrowTomorrow (Morrissey song)"Tomorrow" is a single released by English singer Morrissey in September 1992. It reached number one on Billboard magazine's Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart...
" performed by MorrisseyMorrisseySteven Patrick Morrissey , known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career,...
(1992) - "I Know" performed by Dionne FarrisDionne FarrisDionne Farris is an American female R&B/soul musician who sang on three songs with the hip hop group Arrested Development...
(1994) - "Walk This World" performed by Heather NovaHeather NovaHeather Nova, is a Bermudian singer-songwriter and poet. She has released eight full-length albums and has found lasting success in Germany where two of her albums South and Storm have made their way into the Top-5 of German official album chart.-Biography:Heather Nova was born in Bermuda...
(1995) - "Desolation RowDesolation Row"Desolation Row" is a 1965 song written and sung by Bob Dylan. It was recorded on August 4, 1965, and was released as the closing track of Dylan's sixth studio album, Highway 61 Revisited...
" performed by My Chemical RomanceMy Chemical RomanceMy Chemical Romance is an American alternative rock band from New Jersey, formed in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, guitarists Ray Toro and Frank Iero, and bassist Mikey Way and have a diverse sound incorporating elements of punk, emo, glam metal, and progressive rock...
(2009)
External links
- Cruel and Unusual Films – Snyder's production company
- Snyder at MySpace
- Zack Snyder at Believe Media
- Zack Snyder Biography at Tribute.ca
- Zack Snyder Directing 'Superman' at Deadline
- Zack Snyder directing Superman reboot at The Hollywood Reporter