ZACK SNYDER

'Zack Snyder' (born March 1, 1966, in Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA) is an American film director.

Contents

Early career

Feature films

''Dawn of the Dead''

''300''

''Watchmen''

''The Illustrated Man''

''Army Of The Dead''

Parodies

Filmography

External links

Early career

Snyder started out as both director and cinematographer of music videos (for Morrissey) and commercials (Compuware, Audi, Budweiser, Jeep, Magnum). He has also portrayed sports icons such as Michael Jordan, Martina Navratilova, Troy Aikman and Antonio Margarito for clients Nike, Reebok and Gatorade and he completed a spot for Titleist and the PGA Tour featuring David Duval, Dan Marino and David Robinson, among others.
Snyder's work has garnered numerous awards including three Clios. His spot "Russian Generals", filmed on location in England, attracted the attention of the London advertising community, from which he received an award. Most recently, Snyder completed the 2003 Subaru campaign featuring seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.

Feature films

''Dawn of the Dead''

Main articles: Dawn of the Dead (2004 film)

Snyder made the transition to feature films with the 2004 film ''Dawn of the Dead'', which was a re-imagining of George Romero's famous zombie film Dawn of the Dead. Despite mixed response from both critics and fans of the original film, it was commercially successful and became one of the top-grossing zombie films of all time.

''300''

Main articles: 300 (film)

His next film was an adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel ''300'' and was released in March 2007. Reviews of the film were mixed with some critics praising its action and visual style and others deriding it. According to the New York Times, critics were divided on the merits of Mr. Snyder’s adaptation of Frank Miller and Lynn Varley’s graphic novel about the Spartans’ stand against the Persians at Thermopylae, which A.O. Scott’s review described as “about as violent as ''Apocalypto'' and twice as stupid.” (An admiring Richard Roeper, of the Chicago Sun-Times, called it “gorgeous to behold.”) The film has generated controversy with some accusing it of fascism, especially in Europe. Its portrayal of Persians angered Iranians, with official condemnation from the government of Iran. [1] The film grossed more than $70 million in its opening weekend in the US (March 9-11, 2007), and set an all-time record for a film released in the month of March. It also became the third largest opening for a film with an "R" rating behind only ''The Passion of the Christ'' ($83.8 million) and ''The Matrix Reloaded'' ($91.8 million).

''Watchmen''

Main articles: Watchmen (film)

Snyder is following 300 up with the big screen adaptation of Alan Moore's graphic novel ''Watchmen'' for Warner Bros. Production is set to begin this summer and is slated for a 2009 release. [2]

''The Illustrated Man''

Main articles: The Illustrated Man (film)

Following Watchmen, Snyder will create a feature-film adaptation of the collection of short stories by Ray Bradbury entitled "The Illustrated Man."

''Army Of The Dead''

Main articles: Army of the Dead (film)

Zack Snyder's semi-sequel to the critically acclaimed Dawn Of The Dead remake or "re-imagining", takes place in a quarantined Las Vegas where a man puts his life on the line to save his daughter from the ravenous undead cannibals.

Parodies

Both of his feature films have been parodied by ''South Park'' (''300'' in the episode "D-Yikes!", and ''Dawn of the Dead'' in the consecutive episode "Night of the Living Homeless").

Filmography

★ ''Dawn of the Dead'' (2004)

★ ''300'' (2007)

★ ''Watchmen'' (2008)

★ ''Army of the Dead''

External links

★

★ Zack Snyder at Believe Media

★ Culture Café (French)

★ Ad Week's ''Best Spots'' for Nokia commercial

★ Ad Week's ''Best Spots'' for Corona "Ship in a Bottle" commercial