Zak is Kartemquin Films’ Director of Production and has been on staff at Kartemquin since 2002. Most recently he served as Co-Producer on At the Death House Door which premiered at the 2008 SXSW Film Festival and went on to win won Best Documentary at the 2008 Atlanta Film Festival and the Inspiration Award at the 2008 Full Frame Documentary Festival.
Currently, Zak is developing a project with Gordon Quinn focusing on the organizers of the Chicago Public School Boycotts of the early and mid-1960’s. Zak is also the Associate Producer of Kartemquin’s current documentary co-production with The Chicago Tribune, Prisoner of Her Past.
Zak served as the Location Sound Recordist for At The Death House Door, In the Family, Prisoner of Her Past, and Typeface. Previously, he has acted as sound recordist on a variety of documentaries for the CBC, Channel 4, and PBS.
Zak served as Post Production Manager, Audio Mixer and Assistant Editor on the acclaimed PBS documentary mini-series, The New Americans. Additionally, he worked as Technical Adviser on MC5: A True Testimonial and Reel Paradise. Zak also acted as Assistant Editor on Kartemquin’s Golub: Late Works are the Catastrophes. He received his Bachelor’s Degree from Columbia College Chicago in 2001 in Film and Video.
The deadline for Summer internships at Kartemquin has passed. Applications are currently being accepted for the Fall.