At Zacuto, we pride ourselves on innovation.   We are constantly striving to develop new ideas for products that can make our client’s shoots easier.  Our product designers come from a variety of different backgrounds and experiences.  Each team member’s unique craft and exposure to the industry helps us brainstorm new product ideas.   Even with their combined expertise, we are always looking for fresh ideas. If you have any product ideas, please send them to operations@zacuto.com.

Steve Weiss began shooting photography and Super 8 movies with his dad at age thirteen.  Steve has always been into creating new markets so he doesn’t have to compete with others and 1st Generation Video (his first production company) was no exception.   It was here that he created a market called POPV, or point of purchase videos.   The first example of this was using fashion videos to create excitement on the department store floor.  That may seem funny today with 100s of televisions in every department store but in 1985 there were no department stores that had monitors for customers to actually see the products in action.  Steve actually rented monitors and video recorders in 165 department stores around the country to present his fashion videos for companies like I.B. Diffusion, Hartmarx and Christian Dior.  Over the years, Steve created other many other niche markets like historical videos for fortune 500 companies, video news releases, new product releases and interviews where he focused on getting specific quotes from high profile CEO’s and politicians for marketing purposes.  His last work for hire was interviewing Rudy Giuliani directly after 9/11 for Nextel.  At the end of his work for hire career, Steve had worked on over 600 projects in almost 20 years.

In 2000, Steve Weiss formed Zacuto Rentals with Jens Bogehegn.  Zacuto Rentals was one of the first companies to rent the new Panasonic Varicam 24p HD camera.  Once again finding a niche market with little competition, Zacuto specialized in creating turnkey HD camera rental packages with all the bells and whistles.  In 2005, the first small HD 24p camera (the HVX200) was released.  Steve and Jens felt that the camera’s form factor made it difficult to use so they created their own products to make the camera functional for the new burgeoning independent filmmaker’s market.   By 2011, Zacuto USA’s product line had grown to over 215 items, making Steve and Jens leading trendsetters in camera accessories and camera package design.  Steve and Jens have created many firsts in the market that have subsequently been adapted by others.  Some examples of this are Quick-Release technology, using rods to mount accessories off of the back of the camera, shoulder rigs with counter balance, gunstocks, the first DSLR rigs and the Kleenex of optical viewfinders, the Z-Finder.

While Zacuto USA was growing rapidly, Steve and Jens began to miss their almost 20 year career in filmmaking and wanted to get back to their passion.  This time they would do it on their own terms instead of working for clients.  In December of 2008, Steve and Jens created their first webisodic series, FilmFellas.  Because Steve has worked in the film and video business since 1983 as a corporate/commercial director, product designer, photographer, web series producer/director and host, his knowledge base is unmatched in the industry.  Since 2008, FilmFellas has had 8 individual casts and 40 webisodes.  It also garnered a 2010 Emmy nomination.  In August 2009, Steve and Jens launched their second webisodic series Critics. This new show, co-hosted by Steve Weiss and Philip Bloom, candidly critiques web based video content.  Their third web series The Great Camera Shootout 2010 showed the world how DSLR cameras would fare against 35mm film in a battery of tests. The series was a huge hit and has close to 2 million views. It was also the first web series to win a 2010 Emmy Award for excellence in informational programming.  In 2011, Zacuto introduced two new web series: BTS, a documentary about making a documentaries and The Great Camera Shootout 2011.  BTS received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Documentary Programs while The Great Camera Shootout 2011 was nominated for Outstanding Achievement for Informational/Instructional Programming.  The Revenge of the Great Camera Shootout 2012 is currently in production.

Interested in photography and filmmaking since childhood, Jens Bogehegn has been shooting short movies since 1978. Because of his early exposure to the craft, Jens easily transitioned into the role of High School Yearbook and Newspaper Photographer before heading off to college.  After high school, Jens attended Drake University where he studied journalism but ended up completing his education at Columbia College as a film major.  It was during his Columbia experience that Jens worked as a camera intern on the Brian De Palma film, “The Untouchables.”  Jens has been a professional freelance cameraman since 1985 and worked on numerous projects as a Steadicam owner/operator from 1988 through 1998.  As a member of IATSE Local 600, Jens’s union credits include: The Untouchables (TV), Waynes World II and U.S. Marshals.   His independent credits include: The Oprah Winfrey Show, Watch It and Cosmic Voyage (IMAX). You can check out his IMBD page for a more detailed listing of additional credits and projects.

In 1988, Jens began working with Steve Weiss as a DP and camera operator.  Together, Jens and Steve worked on over 400 productions together in the corporate/commercial/political video world.  In 2000, Jens and Steve became partners and Zacuto Films was born.  Starting out as a production house, Zacuto Films evolved into a rental facility and soon after became a manufacturer of custom camera support accessories.   By 2005, Jens and Steve had developed a variety of products under the Zacuto USA brand. With over 24 years of shooting experience, Jens’s background and hands-on experience make him an excellent source of inspiration as he offers a unique approach to innovative product design.

Since 2009, Jens and Steve have come full circle and are once again in full production mode with Zacuto Films.   However, this time Jens and Steve are producing their own creative content with the webisodic series: FilmFellas, [critics] and bts.  In 2010, Jens and Steve earned an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement for a Program Series (Midwest Chapter) for “The Great Camera Shootout 2010″, and an Emmy Nomination for Best Program Series FilmFellas Cast 7: Masters of Non-Fiction.

Mandy Rogers hails from a small town called, Monrovia, Indiana.  After graduating from Monrovia High School, Mandy attended Purdue University where she received her undergraduate degree in psychology in 2007.  Soon after graduating college, Mandy began working at Zacuto.

At Zacuto, Mandy soon started out by joining in on product meetings and soon began to brainstorm ideas for new products.  After only four short years, Mandy worked her way all the way up from an entry level position to Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Zacuto.  In 2009 Mandy also received a graduate degree in Human Resource Management from Roosevelt University.

Mandy recently moved to Apex, North Carolina with her husband, Eric Rogers.  You can follow her on twitter as @zacuto_mandy.

 

 

Patrick Fee grew up in New Castle, Pennsylvania where he attended New Castle and Kennedy Christian High Schools.  In 2004, he graduated from Kent State University with a degree in Television production.  Patrick has been with Zacuto since the very beginning.   Since the development of Zacuto’s camera accessories product line, Patrick was there proving that he ain’t no geek off the street.  No.  Patrick earned his keep.

In his free time, Patrick brews his own beer and serves as the Director of Photography for the Sci-fi/Comedy/Adventure web series, Hank Frisco: Galaxy Defender.  You can see his work at www.hankfrisco.com.

Patrick now resides in Chicago with his wife Allison and their three cats.  You can’t follow him on twitter.

 

 

 

Robert B. Zajeski, Jr. is president and founder of ZETA Engineering Company. In 1974 he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Aerospace Engineering and a Masters Degree in Business Administration in 1982. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in Illinois and a Private Pilot.

Early in his career he worked in the Power Generation field for companies such as General Electric, Gulf & Western, and UOP. In 1979 he began working for Panduit Corporation as a Project Engineer. For 4 years this position led him through the various stages of Product Development. He then was promoted to CAD/CAM Manager and implemented Panduit’s first CAD/CAM system, Unigraphics.

In 1988, as Manager of Manufacturing Technology, he came across Stereolithography. Realizing a potential market for a Rapid Prototyping Service using Stereolithography, he founded ProtoTech Engineering, Inc.

ProtoTech Engineering, Inc. was one of the first Rapid Prototyping Service Bureaus to combine secondary processes with Stereolithography by offering in-house Silicone Rubber Molding, Spray Metal Molds, Epoxy Molds, and Short-Run Metal Molds.

In December of 1992 he founded ZETA Engineering Company which helped new Rapid Prototyping Service Bureaus during startup. He later developed working relationships with them by doing Solid Modeling and Engineering Design on a consulting basis.He now heads up ZETA Engineering Company doing Consulting, Product Development, Engineering, and Rapid Prototyping R&D.

A former professional skateboarder Paul Schneider began his creative career in design and advertising at Ross Roy Advertising in Bloomfield Hills, MI (part of BBDO/Detroit) where he led design on the Jeep Interactive account.

Later joining as Lead Designer alongside Scott and Laurie Makela at the prestigious WPBC Design Studio (Words+Pictures for Business+Culture), Schneider forged his style developing unique, award winning designs for clients such as MTV, Propaganda Films, Director David Fincher (Fight Club), Nike, WHEREISHERE, Raygun Magazine, Idea, EYE and ZOO Publications.

In Los Angeles he then co-founded WIDEOPENSPACES, a multidisciplinary design studio in the heart of downtown. His solutions for clients such as Saatchi & Saatchi, Rossignol, Toyota, the Pasadena Museum of California Art, and CBS earned multiple industry accolades.

He then moved to Chicago to creatively helm the newly formed design/production company DIGITAL KITCHEN where he served as Executive Creative Director for 5 years. In addition to running the daily creative needs of the company, Paul led, directed and creative directed an expansive array of successful projects for broadcast, film, music and advertising. Major clients included HBO, FX, ABC, TIME WARNER, NIKE, GM, Revolution Films, McDonald’s, Microsoft’s XBOX, Target and SHOWTIME’s NIP/TUCK for which he was nominated for an EMMY. Of special note was a long collaboration directing work for Budweiser and also the raw, energetic main title for Denis Leary/FX Channel’s RESCUEME.

After DK, Paul moved into directing full time and has spent the last few years working bi-coastally and internationally with Crossroads Films, AVSO (A Very Small Office) in New York and more recently Hello! & Company, Los Angeles.

Glenn Przyborski has directed and photographed TV commercials since 1971, but he’s been shooting movie film most of his life. Growing up in the Cocoa-Cocoa Beach area of Central Florida, Przyborski had dual interests in the worlds of television electronics and motion picture production.

In the late ’80s, Glenn modified a progressive scan, industrial B&W video camera and added circuitry to a couple of time base correctors to create the illusion of motion picture film that had been transferred to video. It was crude and only B&W, but Przyborski directed and photographed a multi-spot, regional TV campaign for Thrift Drugs and Ketchum Advertising with the cumbersome system.In 1995, the US Patent office issued patent #5475425 to Przyborski and his associates for “a video camera for real time simulation of the visual appearance of motion picture film.”  This patent is currently licensed to Sony, Panasonic/JVC, Canon and other manufacturers.

Today, Glenn and business partner, Jim DeVincentis own Przyborski Productions. This successful business produces film and 1080P high-definition TV commercials for clients and ad agencies across the country. The company also operates a well-equipped HD broadcast edit facility in Pittsburgh, PA. Przyborski’s work in TV commercials has earned numerous national advertising awards including dozens of Telly’s, Addy’s, Emmy’s and regional “Best of Shows”. His years of photographic experience give him the ability to dramatically alter his shooting, lighting and production style to enhance a commercial’s concept. He constantly transitions back and forth between the world of Eastman Color Negative and 1080P digital. When Glenn likes a product, the first thing he wants to do is to make it even better. He’s currently testing an optical anti-aliasing filter system for the Canon 5D Mk2. Przyborski is also working on a couple of unique accessories for the Panasonic GH1 & GH2 cameras.

Glenn Przyborski is an experienced, multi-engine, instrument pilot who resides in Pittsburgh with his wife Carol. Their son, John is a graduate of Allegheny College and works as a senior multimedia producer at Carnegie Mellon University. Daughter, Lisa graduated from Ohio University and is the facilities coordinator at WQED Multimedia. Glenn’s other interests include skiing, pistol shooting, bicycling and still photography.