About
Zak Mulligan is a cinematographer known for his work in film and television. His film We The Animals premiered at Sundance 2018 and was nominated for five Independent Spirit Awards including Best Cinematography. His other work includes the HBO series The Outsider based on a novel by Stephen King starring Jason Bateman and Ben Mendelsohn and the film Obselidia which premiered at Sundance 2010 where he was honored with the Excellence in Cinematography award. His latest film, Hustle, staring Adam Sandler sees Mulligan paired again with Director Jeremiah Zagar.
Zak’s TV work also includes Ava Duvernay’s CBS TV pilot, For Justice and Netflix’s House of Cards, the Showtime series Seven Deadly Sins and the FX original, The Most Dangerous Animal of All. In 2013 he lensed the Academy Award nominated HBO documentary Open Heart about Rheumatic heart disease in Africa. Zak was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in 2019.
Other feature film work includes the Jessica Biel and Zosia Mamet feature, Bleeding Heart and Custody directed by James Lapine and starring Viola Davis and Ellen Burstyn which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in 2016.
Mulligan’s commercial client list includes Google, Nike, Reebok, Samsung, and American Express.
Press
American Cinematographer: Spirit Award Nominees / Variety 10 Cinematographers to Watch / Filmmaker Magazine: We The Animals on Super 16mm / Open Heart at the 2013 Academy Awards / Always a Fire Wins Vimeo Best 12 of 2012 / BBC Radio, October 2010, "One Day on Earth" / American Cinematographer, April 2010, Sundance 2010: Expanded Palettes / ICG Magazine, April 2010, First Tracks / American Cinematographer: Sundance Cinematography Standouts / RogerEbert.com / Slash Film / NY Times / WSJ
Client List
Google, Kraft, Sony, American Express, General Electric, Nike, Reebok, Under Armor, Bayer, HBO, Showtime, Netflix, Samsung, DirecTV, NBC Universal, Passion Pit, Cults, Mute Math, Flying Lotus, and Woodhands
Connect
“The standout aspect is the movie’s cinematography. “We the Animals” looks unlike any other movie I watched at Sundance. Shot on 16mm, the images appear as if they were created by rich oil paints with dark undertones. The effect makes Jonah’s world seem scarier at times but also dreamier as his reality slips away into animated sequences of his drawings. This movie is so gorgeous, it even makes drone footage look ethereal rather than pedestrian.”
“Zak Mulligan emphasizes the movie’s 90s setting by choosing mostly 16-millimeter film. This gives its rough-rural exteriors and rundown interiors a dreamy, nostalgic glaze speckled with lambent light, like the fingerprints of memory.”
“A crucial element of the film is Zak Mulligan’s cinematography... Mr. Mulligan gives us images of exceptional purity, grace and intimacy: the brothers’ faces, never still; their darting eyes; the things they touch, the way they snuggle or roughhouse with their parents.”
“Visually, the picture is a thing of great beauty. Zak Mulligan’s lensing with the Red camera system is shimmeringly luminous as well as vigorously agile and was a deserved recipient of the Sundance cinematography award.”