Zack Snyder

Zachary Edward Snyder (born March 1, 1966) is an American filmmaker. He made his feature film debut in 2004 with a remake of the 1978 horror film Dawn of the Dead. Since then, he has directed or produced a number of comic book and superhero films, including 300 (2006) and Watchmen (2009), as well as the Superman film that started the DC Extended Universe, Man of Steel (2013) and its follow-ups, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017).

He also served as co-screenwriter for 300, Sucker Punch (2011), and 300: Rise of an Empire (2014), an executive producer for Suicide Squad (2016), Aquaman (2018) and The Suicide Squad (2021) and as co-writer of the story for Wonder Woman (2017) and Justice League (2017) and producer of Wonder Woman 1984 (2020).

A director's cut of Justice League, commonly referred to as the "Snyder Cut," will be released in 2021 on HBO Max. Snyder had left working on the film due to his daughter's suicide, resulting in Warner Bros. removing his original version. Fan dissatisfaction with the theatrical release of Justice League, which was reworked by Joss Whedon, resulted in the ReleaseTheSnyderCut campaign movement.

Snyder is the co-founder of The Stone Quarry, which was formerly known as Cruel and Unusual Films, a production company he established in 2004, alongside his wife Deborah Snyder and producing partner Wesley Coller.

Early life
Snyder was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and raised in Riverside, Connecticut. His mother, Marsha Manley (née Reeves) (d. 2010), was a painter and a photography teacher at Daycroft School, which Snyder later attended. His father, Charles Edward "Ed" Snyder, worked as an executive recruiter. He has an older sister, Audrey, and was raised as a Christian Scientist. Snyder attended Camp Owatonna in Harrison, Maine, during the summer months as a child. Snyder studied painting a year after high school at Heatherley School of Fine Art in England, although he had already begun filmmaking. Afterward, Snyder attended Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.

Career
Snyder made his feature film debut with the remake of the horror film Dawn of the Dead (2004), and scored a box office hit with the fantasy war film 300 (2006), 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 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 directed 2013's Man of Steel for Warner Bros., a reboot of the Superman franchise and the jumpstart to the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). He signed on direct a yet-to-be-produced remake of the 1969 film The Illustrated Man, and produced the prequel/sequel to 300, 300: Rise of an Empire (2014). He also wants to direct a segment for an upcoming Heavy Metal 3, and plans to write and direct a sequel to Legend of the Guardians.

During Comic Con 2013, Snyder announced that Batman and Superman would share the screen in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, released in 2016. Snyder directed, Cavill reprised his role as Superman, and Ben Affleck played Batman. Snyder directed Warner Bros.' 2017 Justice League, but was replaced with Joss Whedon after having to leave during post-production to deal with the death of one of his daughters.

As of March 2016, Snyder was working on Horse Latitudes, which was formerly known as The Last Photograph, a drama about a war photographer in South America. He was also working on an adaptation of the 1943 novel The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand,  but had abandoned it by 2020. He has also expressed an interest in making a film, in the style of 300, about George Washington, the first president of the United States of America.

On January 29, 2019, Snyder announced that he has signed on to helm Army of the Dead, a zombie horror thriller, for Netflix. Snyder will direct and produce with his partner and wife, Deborah Snyder, via their newly rebranded production company, The Stone Quarry.

On May 20, 2020, Snyder announced that his version of Justice League titled Zack Snyder's Justice League would be released on the streaming service HBO Max in 2021.

Directing style
Snyder often uses slow motion in and out of the 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 slaughtering his enemies, the camera zooming in and out to emphasize each kill and move Leonidas makes.

Snyder said “There are other superhero movies where they joke about how basically no one’s getting hurt. That’s not us. What is that message? That it’s okay that there’s this massive destruction with zero consequence for anyone? That’s what Watchmen was about in a lot of ways too. There was a scene, that scene where Dan and Laurie get mugged. They beat up the criminals. I was like the first guy, I want to show his arm get broken. I want a compound fracture. I don’t want it to be clean. I want you to go, ‘Oh my God, I guess you’re right. If you just beat up a guy in an alley he’s not going to just be lying on the ground. It’s going to be messy.”

Personal life
Snyder lives in Pasadena with his second wife, producer Deborah Johnson. The couple first met in 1996, started dating in 2002, and married on September 25, 2004 at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in Manhattan, New York. He was previously married to Denise Weber.

Snyder has eight children, half of whom are adopted: Olivia, Willow, Autumn, Eli, Ezekiel, Jett, Sage and Cash. He and Denise had Olivia and Eli, and adopted Willow and Autumn from China. Two younger sons, Ezekiel and Jett, are from his relationship with Kirsten Elin, who was his line producer on commercials for some time. Snyder and Deborah adopted Sage and Cash during the course of making Man of Steel.

On March 12, 2017, the suicide of his daughter Autumn prompted Snyder to withdraw from post-production work on Justice League in May 2017 to be with his family, which resulted in Warner Bros. removing his original scenes he filmed and wanted to direct for Justice League and created the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement campaign that led into the "Snyder Cut".

Philanthropy
Following his daughter's suicide, Snyder began a philanthropy career of fundraising and creating shirts and merchandise belonging to the Snyder Cut as part of a campaign and unifying with the cut and The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, which he constantly takes care to promote on Vero and social media, with the fundraising so far reached to a sum total of $430 thousand to the AFSP via merchandising of The Snyder Cut.

Television
Snyder will produce an anime-style web series inspired by Norse mythology for Netflix.

Collaborations

 * Snyder's wife Deborah Snyder has produced all of his films dating back to 300 (executive producer on 300 and Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole).
 * Larry Fong and William Hoy were Snyder's cinematographer and film editor, respectively, on the films 300, Watchmen and Sucker Punch. Fong is also the cinematographer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
 * John "D.J." Desjardin was the visual effects supervisor on Watchmen, Sucker Punch, Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League.
 * David Brenner served as film editor on Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League and the short film Snow Steam Iron.

Favorite Films
In 2009, Zack Snyder gave his five favorite films in addition to two honorable mentions.


 * 1) Excalibur (1981)
 * 2) The Road Warrior (1981)
 * 3) A Clockwork Orange (1971)
 * 4) Blue Velvet (1986)
 * 5) RoboCop  (1987)

For a film to which he always returns, Snyder said The Searchers (1956). For a film he hoped parents show their kids, Snyder said Hope and Glory (1987).

Reception
Critical, public and commercial reception to films Zack Snyder has directed as of November 26, 2017:

Awards and nominations
Snyder's body of work has earned him a number of awards, including two Clio Awards and a Gold Lion Award for his Jeep "Frisbee" commercial. He also won the Society of British Advertisers Award for Humor for his controversial EB Beer commercial "General's Party."