Steve Weiss

Steve Weiss, born in Fort Bragg, North Carolina on August 26, 1962, raised in Detroit, now living in Chicago. Soon after moving to Chicago in 1982, Steve opened 1st Generation Video and was one of the first directors working on fashion videos for forward-thinking companies like I.B. Diffusion, Hartmarx & Christian Dior. After 25 years in the commercial market, Weiss, a producer/director/photographer launched Zacuto Films where he produces and directs many award-winning web series. In 2008 Weiss launched his first web series "FilmFellas," which followed the lively and dynamic conversation between various industry leaders as they discussed and debated an array of thought-provoking filmmaking topics. This web series has had eight individual casts and 40 webisodes; it garnered a 2010 Midwest Emmy Nomination and a 2011 Midwest Emmy Award. Notable guests featured in the web series include Joe Swanberg, Rodney Charters ASC CSC, Stephen Goldblatt ASC BSC, Nancy Schreiber ASC, David Grubin & Ondi Timoner. In August 2009, Weiss launched "Critics," his second web series. It offered audiences an eclectic mix of personalities, perspectives and laughter and was co-hosted by himself and Philip Bloom. In the series, the two men candidly critiqued and often sparred with each other about web-based video content. In 2010, Zacuto Films released "The Great Camera Shootout 2010." This web series showed the world how a DSLR would fare against 35mm film in a battery of tests. "The Great Camera Shootout 2010" has had close to 2 million views and won a 2010 Midwest Emmy Award, being one of the first web series to ever win an Emmy Award. In 2011, Weiss produced and directed the web series "BTS" and "The Great Camera Shootout 2011." Both were also nominated for Emmy Awards. In 2012, the controversial "Revenge of the Great Camera Shootout 2012" posed the question whether talent can supersede technology, which resulted in much international debate. It also won Weiss his third Midwest Emmy Award.