Mike Nichols

Mike Nichols (born 6 November 1931) is an American television, stage and film director, writer, and producer. Nichols is one of the few people to have won all major entertainment awards: an Oscar, Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award.

Born Michael Igor Peschkowsky in Berlin, Germany, he and his German-Russian Jewish family moved to the United States to flee the Nazis in 1939. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1944. While attending the University of Chicago in the 1950s, he began work in improvisational comedy with the Compass Players, a precursor to The Second City, and later started the long-running Midnight Special folk music program on radio station WFMT.

Nichols formed a comedy team with Elaine May, with whom he appeared in nightclubs, on radio, released best-selling records, made guest appearances on several television programs and had their own show on Broadway, directed by Arthur Penn. They were accompanied by Chicago pianist Marty Rubenstein, host of the television show Marty's Place. Personal idiosyncrasies and tensions (the latter culminating in the out-of-town closing of A Matter of Position, a play written by May and starring Nichols) eventually drove the duo apart to pursue other projects in 1961. They later reconciled and worked together many times, with May scripting his films The Birdcage and Primary Colors. They appeared together at President Jimmy Carter's inaugural gala and in a 1980 New Haven stage revival of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? with Swoosie Kurtz and James Naughton.
Nichols was chosen to direct Neil Simon's Barefoot In The Park in 1963. He realized almost at once that directing was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Nichols's production of Simon's play was a blockbuster hit, running for 1530 performances. He went on to direct (and occasionally produce) many other Broadway hits, including several more by Simon. He has won numerous theatre awards, including the Tony Award for Best Direction for seven different productions.
He's also had an illustrious career as a film director, starting with Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), for which he received an Oscar nomination, and The Graduate--the biggest hit film released in 1967--for which he won the Best Director Oscar. He's also won Emmy Awards for his direction of Wit (2001) and Angels in America (2003).
Nichols has been married four times, most notably to TV journalist Diane Sawyer, whom he wed on April 29, 1988. He has three children, Daisy (born 1964), Max (born 1974) and Jenny (born 1977). His daughter-in-law is ESPN reporter Rachel Nichols.
Nichols is a contributing blogger at The Huffington Post. He is also a founder (along with George Morrison and Paul Sills) of The New Actor's Workshop [1] in New York City, where he occasionally teaches. These three world class Master Teacher/ Directors have coached the likes of Jeff Keogh from Melbourne, Australia; Matthew Clarke, from Vancouver, Canada; Damian (Maximum) Gerard Coyle from Belfast, Ireland; Kathy Hendrickson, Noelle Lynch, Jason Hale, Aditi Das, Josh Day, John Zibell, Caroline Sanchez, Martha Rainer, Douglas Gorenstein, Diane Paulis, Katie Caufield, David Turner, Brendon Bates and Matt Skollar of the USA including many others.

Nichols was married four times. His first wife was to Patricia Scott from 1957 to 1960, followed by Margo Callas in 1963. After having one child his marriage with Callas ended in 1974. His third marriage a year later was to actress Annabel Davis-Goff with whom he had two children, actors Max Nichols and Jenny Nichols. After his divorce from Davis-Goff in 1986, he married his current wife, 60 Minutes news correspondent Diane Sawyer on 29 April 1988.

Nichols was the director of theese films:
Charlie Wilson's War (2007)
Closer (2004/I)
"Angels in America" (4 episodes, 2003)

Perestroika: Chapter Four - Stop Moving! Heaven, I'm in Heaven (2003)
Wit (2001)
What Planet Are You From? (2000)
Primary Colors (1998)
The Birdcage (1996)
Wolf (1994)
Regarding Henry (1991)
Postcards from the Edge (1990)
Working Girl (1988)
Biloxi Blues (1988)
Heartburn (1986)
Silkwood (1983)
Gilda Live (1980)
The Fortune (1975)
The Day of the Dolphin (1973)
Carnal Knowledge (1971)
Catch-22 (1970)
Teach Me! (1968)
The Graduate (1967)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

Mike Nichols (született: 1931. november 6.) amerikai TV, színház és filmrendező, író és producer. Egyike azon keveseknek, akik minden jelentősebb díjat megkaptak, amit a szakmán belül kiosztanak. Polcán sorakozik Oscar-, Grammy-, Emmy-, és Toni-díj is. Olyan fontos filmtörténeti alkotások köthetők hozzá, mint a Diploma előtt, A 22-es csapdája, a Dolgozó lány, a Farkas, a Közelebb, valamint a Charlie Wilson háborúja, továbbá az Angyalok Amerikában című TV sorozat négy epizódját is Nichols rendezte.
Díjai és jelölései:
1968 - Oscar-díj - a legjobb rendező (Diploma előtt)
1968 - Golden Globe-díj - a legjobb rendező (Diploma előtt)
2005 - Golden Globe-jelölés - a legjobb rendező (Közelebb)
1994 - Oscar-jelölés - a legjobb film (Napok romjai)
1989 - Oscar-jelölés - a legjobb rendező (Dolgozó lány)

László Moholy-Nagy - Moholy-Nagy (Weisz) László

László Moholy-Nagy (July 20, 1895 – November 24, 1946) was a Hungarian painter and photographer as well as professor in the Bauhaus school. He was highly influenced by constructivism. He was a strong advocate of the integration of technology and industry into the arts.
Moholy-Nagy was born László Weisz to a family of mixed Jewish and Hungarian heritage. He changed his German-Jewish surname to the Magyar surname of his uncle, Nagy. Later, he added the pseudonym Moholy to his surname, after the town in which he grew up (today in Serbia, Mol). After studying law in Budapest and serving in World War I, Moholy-Nagy was in Vienna in 1919, where he first discovered constructivism in exhibitions of works of Malevich, Naum Gabo and El Lissitzky.
In 1923, he replaced Johannes Itten as the instructor of the preliminary course at the Bauhaus. This effectively marked the end of the school's expressionistic leanings and moved it closer towards its original aims as a school of design and industrial integration. The Bauhaus became known for the versatility of its artists, and Moholy-Nagy was no exception. Throughout his career, he became proficient and innovative in the fields of photography, typography, sculpture, painting, printmaking, and industrial design. One of his main focuses was on photography. He coined the term "the New Vision" for his belief that photography could create a whole new way of seeing the outside world that the human eye could not. His theory of art and teaching was summed up in the book The New Vision, from Material to Architecture. He experimented with the photographic process of exposing light sensitive paper with objects overlaid on top of it, called photogram. While at the Bauhaus, Moholy's teaching in diverse media -- including painting, sculpture, photography, photomontage and metal -- had a profound influence on a number of his students, including Marianne Brandt.
He was editor of the art and photography department of the European avant-garde magazine International Revue i 10 from 1927 to 1929. Moholy-Nagy resigned from the Bauhaus in 1928 and worked in film and stage design in Berlin, where he was required to submit his work to be censored, and then in Paris and Holland before moving to London in 1935. In England, Moholy-Nagy formed part of the circle of émigré artists and intellectuals who based themselves in Hampstead. Moholy-Nagy lived for a time in the Isokon building with Walter Gropius for eight months and then settled in Golders Green. Gropius and Moholy-Nagy planned to establish an English version of the Bauhaus but could not secure backing, and then Moholy-Nagy was turned down for a teaching job at the Royal College of Art. Moholy-Nagy made his way in London by taking on various design jobs including Imperial Airways and a shop display for men's underwear. He photographed contemporary architecture for the Architectural Review where the assistant editor was John Betjeman who commissioned Moholy-Nagy to make documentary photographs to illustrate his book An Oxford University Chest. In 1936, he was commissioned by fellow Hungarian film producer Alexander Korda to design special effects for Things to Come. Working at Denham Studios, Moholy-Nagy created kinetic sculptures and abstract light effects, but they were rejected by the film's director. At the invitation of Leslie Martin, he gave a lecture to the architecture school of Hull University.
In 1937, at the invitation of Walter Paepcke, the Chairman of the Container Corporation of America, Moholy-Nagy moved to Chicago to become the director of the New Bauhaus. The philosophy of the school was basically unchanged from that of the original, and its headquarters was the Prairie Avenue mansion that architect Richard Morris Hunt designed for department store magnate Marshall Field.
Unfortunately, the school lost the financial backing of its supporters after only a single academic year, and it closed in 1938. Paepcke, however, continued his own support, and in 1939, Moholy-Nagy opened the School of Design. In 1944, this became the Institute of Design. He authored an account of his efforts to develop the curriculum of the School of Design in his book Vision in Motion.
Moholy-Nagy died of leukemia in Chicago in 1946.
Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest is named in his honour.
Pieces of his are currently on display at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

Moholy-Nagy László (eredetileg: Weisz László) (Bácsborsód, 1895. július 20. – Chicago, 1946. november 24.) magyar fotográfus, konstruktivista festő, ipari formatervező, a Bauhaus iskola kiemelkedő tanára, a kísérleti filmek egyik magyar úttörője. Vezetéknevének ejtése: [moholi-nagy].

1895. július 20. körül születhetett: a pontos dátum azért nem ismert, mert akkor még élt az a szokás, hogy csak a biztosan megmaradó gyermekeket anyakönyveztették.
Miután édesapja Weisz Lipót az ő születése idején hagyta el a családot, 1910-ben nagybátyja, dr. Nagy Gusztáv pártfogásába vette az apa nélkül maradt családot.
Ő és testvérei is Moholra, majd 1905-ben Szegedre költöztek, ahol az Állami Főgimnáziumba íratták, (melyben Babits Mihály is tanította).
Vezetéknevét bár megörökölte, 1910-ben nagybátyja tiszeletére, ő és testvérei vezetéknevüket Nagy-ra változtatták.
Első művészi próbálkozásai sikeresnek bizonyulnak, 1913-ban a Szegedi Napló néhány költeményét leközölte. Az érettségi után Budapestre költözött, ahol jogot kezdett tanulni, de a világháború közbeszólt,
1916-ban tüzérségi megfigyelőnek sorozták be a Magyar Királyi Hadseregbe. A keleti frontra vezényelték, ahol több száz rajzot készített a frontélet mindennapjairól, kitépett lapokra, tábori levelezőlapokra, melyeket kezdetben a frontról, majd miután 1917-ben megsebesült, az ogyesszai katonai kórházból küldözgetett haza.
Miután 1918-ban leszerelt, hazatért Budapestre folytatni jogi tanulmányait, de záróvizsgáit már nem tette le, a félév végén otthagyta az egyetemet. Még ebben az évben mutatkozott be először a nagyközönség előtt, műveit a Hadviselt Művészek című kiállítás keretében állították ki.
Ebben az időben a festészet mellett a Jelenkor című újságba is írogatott.

1919 márciusában ő is aláírta a magyar aktivisták közös forradalmi nyilatkozatát, de a Tanácsköztársaság eseményeiben nem vett részt. Időközben ismét nevet változtatott, vezetékneve elé odabiggyesztette szeretett nagybátyja lakóhelyének, Moholnak a nevét is, így innentől kezdve rajzait, festményeit és egyéb műveit már a „Moholy-Nagy” (ejtsd:moholi) szignóval látta el. A forradalom bukása után a retorzióktól tartva Bécsbe menekült, ahol hamarosan csatlakozott Kassákhoz és a többi emigráns magyar művészhez, íróhoz, velük együtt utazott tovább Berlinbe 1920 elején.
1920 áprilisában Berlinben ismerkedett meg Lucia Schultz-cal, későbbi feleségével, ő vezette be a fotográfia művészi világába. 1921-ben házasodtak össze.
1922-ben A Der Sturm galériában rendezett kiállítása zajos sikert aratott, neve hamar ismertté vált szerte a városban és az országban. Szintén ebben az évben jelent meg Kassákkal közösen szerkesztett írása, az Új művészek könyve. Moholy-Nagy művészeti illusztrációs anyaggal látta el Kassák Lajost és Kállai Ernőt (Ma, Tett, Die Aktion, Der Sturm folyóiratok).
A sikernek tudható be, hogy Walter Gropius őt kérte fel 1923-ban a távozó Johannes Itten helyére a Bauhaus oktatói közé. Olyan nevek közé csöppent, mint Paul Klee, Vaszilij Kandinszkij, Oskar Schlemmer és bár mellettük ő ismeretlennek számított, mégis a Bauhaus eszmeiségének egyik védjegyévé vált. 1921 és 1928 között két könyvet is írt, Festészet, fényképészet, film (1925) valamint Az anyagtól az építészetig (1927) címmel, illetve a Bauhaus színháza című kötet társszerzője is volt.
1928 mozgalmas év volt az életében, Walter Gropius-szal együtt otthagyta a Bauhaust, elvált feleségétől Luciától, visszaköltözött Berlinbe, ahol fotográfiai, tipográfiai és reklámgrafikai munkákat vállalt, miközben színházi díszleteket is tervezett (Hoffmann meséi, Berlini kalmár, Pillangókisasszony), szabadidejében pedig fény-alakítási problémákkal foglalkozott.
1929-ben belekóstol a filmezésbe, leforgatja élete első nagyobb lélegzetű filmjét Marseille, régi kikötő címen. 1931-ben a fény-alakítási problémák mintegy megoldásaként alkotja meg a fény-tér-modulátort (Lichtrequisit) mely egy kinetikus plasztika, fém és műanyag szobor – a rá vetülő fény pedig a környező falakon színes fényjátékot teremtett. Ez ihlette Fekete-fehér-szürke (1932) és a Nagyvárosi cigányok (1932) című filmjeit is.
1931 végén ismerte meg Sybille Pietzsch-et, akivel 1933-ban házasodtak össze, első lányuk Hattula is ebben az évben született. A nácizmus előretörése miatt 1934-ben Amszterdamba költöztek, ahol Moholy-Nagy egy helyi nyomda tipográfiai tanácsadójaként helyezkedett el. A munkahelyén foglalkozott életében először színes fotográfiával. Második lánya, Claudia (1934) itt született.
Mivel nem érezték túlzottan jól magukat, 1935 májusában Londonba költöztek tovább, ahol már egy sokkal izgalmasabb élet várta. A design szinte minden területén kipróbálta magát, a kirakattervezéstől egészen a filmdíszlet-tervezésig (a szintén magyar származású Korda Sándor Eljövendő dolgok c. filmjéhez) mindenbe belekóstolt, miközben három fotóalbuma is megjelent.
1936-ban az egyik aláírója Tamkó Sirató Károly Dimenzionista manifesztumának.
1937 nyarán Walter Gropius javaslatára felkérték az időközben a tengerentúlra áttelepült Bauhaus iskola, új nevén a New Bauhaus irányítására. Júliusban költöztek át Amerikába, a főiskola 1937 októberében nyitotta meg kapuit Chicagóban.
Korábbi aggodalmai 1938-ban beigazolódtak, mikor alkotásait „elfajzott művészetnek” minősítették és az összes német galériából és múzeumból eltávolították.
1939-ben Moholy-Nagy néhány munkatársával, komoly tőke nélkül alapította meg a School of Design intézetet szintén Chicagóban, mely Institute of Design néven 1944-ben főiskolai rangra emelkedett. Az intézménynek egészen két évvel később bekövetkezett haláláig vezetője volt.
Több rosszullét után 1945-ben került először kórházba, ahol az orvosok leukémiát diagnosztizáltak nála. Mivel a kor még nem ismert semmiféle gyógymódot a betegség leküzdésére, alig több, mint egy évvel a szintén leukémiában megbetegedett Bartók Béla halála után, 1946. november 24-én ő is elhunyt. Hamvait Chicagóban temették el, sírja felett Walter Gropius mondott gyászbeszédet.
1947-ben Vision in Motion címmel jelent meg Moholy-Nagy László posztumusz munkája, mely pedagógiai programjának, művészeti célkitűzéseinek összességét foglalja magában.
A 2006-ban 125 éves Magyar Iparművészeti Egyetem március elsejétől fölvette Moholy-Nagy László nevét és Moholy-Nagy Művészeti Egyetemként működik tovább.

Zachary Efron

Zachary David Alexander "Zac" Efron (born October 18, 1987) is an American actor and singer. He began acting in the early 2000s, and became known to young audiences after his roles in the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical, the WB series Summerland, and the film version of the Broadway musical Hairspray.[1][2] Speaking to Newsweek in June 2006, director Adam Shankman described Efron as "arguably the biggest teen star in America right now."[3] In 2007, right before the release of High School Musical 2, Rolling Stone declared him the "poster boy for tweenyboppers" and featured him in their late August issue.

Efron was born in San Luis Obispo, California and later moved to Arroyo Grande, California. His father, David Efron, is an engineer at a power plant, and his mother, Starla Baskett, is a former secretary who worked at the same power plant as Efron's father.[5][6] Efron had a self-described "normal childhood" in a middle class family, and has a younger brother, Dylan.[1] Efron is of Jewish ancestry and was raised agnostic, having never been religious.[7][8] He has said that he would "flip out" if he got a 'B' and not an 'A' in school, and that he was a "class clown."[9] Efron's father encouraged him to begin acting when Efron was eleven.[5] He subsequently appeared in theater productions at his high school,[10] worked in a theater called The Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville,[1] and began taking singing lessons.[5] Efron performed in plays such as Gypsy, Peter Pan, Or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, Little Shop of Horrors, and The Music Man. Efron was recommended to an agent in Los Angeles by his drama teacher, Robyn Metchik (the mother of actors Aaron Michael Metchik and Asher Metchik).[11][12] He was later signed to the Creative Artists Agency.

Efron graduated from Arroyo Grande High School in 2006,[14] and was then accepted into the University of Southern California, but he deferred his enrollment while he worked on film projects. He plans to return at some time.[15] Efron also attended Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, a community college located in Santa Maria, California, which provided him with the opportunity to perform as a "young player" during the years of 2000 and 2001.

In 2002, Efron began to appear in guest roles on several television series, including Firefly, ER, and The Guardian. He portrayed Cameron Bale on the now-cancelled WB series Summerland. Originally introduced as a recurring character, Efron became a regular cast member on the show in the second season in 2004, starring opposite the likes of Kay Panabaker, Lori Loughlin and Jesse McCartney. Since appearing in Summerland, he has also had guest roles on the shows CSI: Miami, NCIS (TV series), The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and The Replacements. In 2003, Efron starred in the Lifetime original television movie Miracle Run. He played Steven Morgan, one of two autistic twins. For his performance, he was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie, Mini-series or Special — Supporting Young Actor.[17] In 2005, he played a main character in Hope Partlow's music video for her song "Sick Inside." Also in 2005, he played horse-loving Patrick McCardle in The Derby Stallion, where his character wants to beat the town bully at the steeple chase race.

In 2006, Efron starred in the Disney Channel original movie High School Musical as Troy Bolton, the popular student and captain of the basketball team. The film, which he initially made with "low expectations",[1] helped Efron gain recognition among teenage audiences as both an actor and a singer. As a result, he placed as high as #4 on the IMDBPro's STARMeter for the week of January 29, 2006.[18] In August 2006, Efron won a Teen Choice Award in the Breakout Star and the TV — Choice Chemistry categories, shared with Vanessa Hudgens. The film's cast, along with Efron, toured Sydney, Australia, London, England, and other locations to promote the film.
Shortly after High School Musical aired, Efron debuted with two simultaneous charted songs on Billboard Hot 100 on February 4, 2006, with "Get'cha Head in the Game" and "Breaking Free," a duet with Vanessa Hudgens from the film. On the following week's chart, Efron had five simultaneous song credits from High School Musical: "Get'cha Head in the Game," "Start of Something New," "What I've Been Looking For: Reprise," "We're All in This Together" and "Breaking Free." "We're All in This Together" was credited to the whole High School Musical cast. "Breaking Free," at the time, made the fastest climb in the history of the Billboard charts, from #86 to #4 between the two weeks; the record has since been beaten by Beyoncé and Shakira's "Beautiful Liar."[19] Efron also appeared in the 2006 Disney Channel Games as captain of the Red Team.
Efron's singing talents were disputed when it was revealed that Andrew Seeley's voice was blended with his on the soundtrack of High School Musical.[20] An August 23, 2007 interview in Rolling Stone magazine revealed that he had been cast in High School Musical after the songs were written, and the songs (written for a tenor) were somewhat out of his baritone vocal range. However, Efron stated in interviews that he felt his future is that of a serious dramatic actor, not necessarily a singer.

On April 7, 2007, Efron appeared in an episode of Punk'd. Efron also starred in the music video for Vanessa Hudgens's single "Say OK", where he played her love interest. The video aired on March 16, 2007 on Disney Channel. That year, he was named one of People magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People in 2007. A picture and short profile of him was in the section "Coming of Age". In it, he related how he was always the shortest kid in school (he is now 5'8")[6] and was teased for the "huge gap" in his teeth.[21]
In 2006, Efron was cast as Link Larkin in a film version of Hairspray released on July 20, 2007. Efron performed all of his own vocals in the role,[3] which was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, from September 5 to December 2, 2006. He cut and dyed his hair dark brown and gained about 15 pounds for the role.[22] Both Efron's performance and the film have received positive reviews.[11] Because of this, he was not able to perform with his fellow castmates in High School Musical: The Concert. Drew Seeley took over for him.
High School Musical 2 was released in August 2007, and Efron topped IMDBPro's Star Meter at #1, indicating that he was the most searched celebrity.[23] Additionally, Lycos reported searches for Efron surged by 81%.[24] The film set a new record, becoming the most watched basic cable program in U.S. history, with 17.2 million viewers.[25] Efron also appeared on the cover of the August 2007 edition of Rolling Stone.[26] The article about him revealed that he hoped to someday play an action hero.
Efron presented the 2007 Teen Choice Award for "Favorite Movie" along with Queen Latifah, and later that year, he co-hosted the Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards with The Veronicas on October 10 in Sydney.[27][28]
Efron's upcoming roles include 17 Again, a high school-set drama/comedy produced by Adam Shankman and based on a pitch by Jason Filardi;[29] the plot involves an adult who is transformed into a 17-year old (to be played by Efron).[30] 17 Again will be released in 2009.
In early 2008, Efron was cast as the lead role in the film Me and Orson Welles. Based on Robert Kaplow's novel of the same name, the story, set in 1937 New York, tells of a teenager hired to star in Orson Welles' production of Julius Caesar, where he becomes attracted to a career-driven production assistant. The film was shot in the Isle of Man, London and New York, during February — April 2008. It is currently set for release in 2009 and was introduced to North America via the Toronto Film Festival on September 5,6, and 11th 2008.[31]
Efron reprised his role as Troy in High School Musical 3: Senior Year, released on October 24, 2008.
Efron is also scheduled to star in Paramount's musical remake of the film Footloose.[32] He has said that he would like to add his "own little bit of flair" to the role originated by Kevin Bacon.

Efron owns an apartment and has two dogs, Australian shepherds named Dreamer and Puppy. He also has a Siamese cat named Simon.[33]
On January 15, 2008, Efron was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for an emergency appendectomy.[34]
Zac Efron was also on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list in 2008, as number 92 with an estimated earning of $5.8 million from June of '07 to June of '08.
Efron was still dating his High School Musical series co-star, Vanessa Anne Hudgens as of September 3, 2008.
Zachary David Alexander Efron (San Luis Obispo, Kalifornia, 1987. október 18. –) amerikai színész és énekes.

Zac a California állambeli San Luis Obispo városában született, de nagyon hamar szüleivel elköltöztek Arroyo Grande városába. Szülei egy erőműnél dolgoznak: apja mérnök-műszerész, anyja pedig titkárnő. Van egy testvére, Dylan. Zac zsidó gyökerekkel rendelkezik, de szülei agnosztikus nevelésben részesítették, így nem gyakorolja a vallást. Elmondása szerint az iskolában A, néha B osztályzatokat kapott.Zac apja adta a színészi ambíciókat, ugyanis 11 éves korában elkezdte őt biztatni a színészet felé. Először a gimnáziumi évek során került kapcsolatba a színészettel, ahol szerepet kapott a The Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville c. előadásban és ebben elsősorban szóló dalokat énekelt; e mellett játszott még a Gypsy, Peter Pan, Or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, Little Shop of Horrors, The Music Man filmekben is. Ezeket követően Los Angeles-be utazott, ahol elkezdte tanulni a színészetet.
Zac 2006-ban végzett az Arroyo Grande Gimnáziumban. Ezt követően felvételt nyert a Dél-Californiai Egyetemre, de a filmes munkálatok miatt szinte be sem tud járni az előadásokra, de ezek ellenére néha-néha benéz az iskolába.A California állambeli Santa Maria városában 2001-ben sikeresen elvégzett egy szóló énekes tanfolyamot.

Zac több filmes sorozatban is szerepet kapott, többek között a Vészhelyzetben is, ahol egy részben egy sebesült fiatalt játszott; továbbá a Firefly és a The Guardian sorozatokban is szerepelt. Ezeket követően a Warner Brothers elindította Zac saját sorozatát, a Summerland-et. Vendég szereplőként ott volt még a CSI: Miami és az NCIS egy-egy epizódjában is.

2006-ban a Disney Channel kérésére elfogadta Troy Bolton szerepét a High School Musical c. filmben. Ebben már megmutathatta mind színészeti, mind pedig énekesi tudását. Ez annyira sikeresnek bizonyult, hogy 2006. augusztusában elnyerte a Nickelodeon csatorna Legjobb Fiatal Színészének járó díját, Vanessa Hudgens-sel együtt.

A Forbes magazin 2007-es Celebek listáján a 92-ik helyet foglalta el, ugyanis egy év alatt röpke $5.800.000 keresett.

Joel Silver

Joel Silver (born July 14, 1952) is an American Hollywood film producer and inventor of the sport of Ultimate.

Silver grew up in South Orange, New Jersey. He attended Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey and Northfield Mount Hermon School, where he is credited with inventing the sport of Ultimate Frisbee (now known as just "Ultimate").[1] In 1970, he entered Lafayette College, where he formed the first collegiate Ultimate team. He finished his undergraduate studies at the New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.
He earned his first screen credit as the associate producer on The Warriors.
He appears on-screen at the beginning of Who Framed Roger Rabbit as the director of the animated short Something's Cookin'.
Silver directed Split Personality, (1992), an episode of the HBO horror anthology, Tales From the Crypt.
On July 10, 1999, Silver married his production assistant Karyn Fields.
He currently runs two production companies, Silver Pictures and Dark Castle Entertainment.

Joel Silver is well known as an aficionado of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. In 1984 he bought the Wright-designed Storer House in West Hollywood and made considerable investments to restore it to the original condition. The Storer House's squarish relief ornament then became the company logo of Silver Pictures. In 1986 he purchased the long-neglected C. Leigh Stevens Auldbrass Plantation, in Yemassee, South Carolina, which "catapulted him into joyous rounds of restoration and building". However he once said: “I buy art - I don't make it.

A mindenkori hollywoodi filmgyártás egyik legtermékenyebb és legsikeresebb producere, akinek filmográfiájában több mint ötven film szerepel, köztük olyan kultikussá vált alkotásokkal, mint a Mátrix-trilógia, a négyrészes Halálos fegyver (Lethal Weapon), a Die Hardok vagy az Alienek. Az általa producerként levezényelt filmek világszerte összesen több mint 10 milliárd dollár bevételt hoztak.Legutóbbi producerként jegyzett munkája a Fred Claus című karácsonyi vígjáték Vince Vaughn és Paul Giamatti főszereplésével, valamint a kritkusok által méltatott A másik én (The Brave One) című thriller Jodie Fosterrel és Terrence Howarddal.Silver saját alapítású cége a Dark Castle Entertainment, melynek legközelebbi produkciója a Guy Ritchie rendezte „RocknRolla” lesz. Ezt követi majd a „Whiteout” című thriller, a „The Factory” című horror John Cusackkel, az „Orphan”, valamint a Wachowski testérekkel közösen producelt „Ninja Assassin”.Korábbi Dark Castle-filmjei: Ház a Kísértet-hegyen (House on Haunted Hill), 13 kísértet (Thir13en Ghosts), Szellemhajó (Ghost Ship), Gothika, Viasztestek (House of Wax), A tíz csapás (The Reaping).Silver 1999-es produkciója, a négy Oscar-díjjal jutalmazott Mátrix világszerte 456 millió dolláros bevételt hozott, többet, mint addig bármelyik másik, a Warner Bros. Pictures égisze alatt valaha készült film. Második része, a Mátrix – Újratöltve (The Matrix Reloaded) még ennél is többet, 739 milliót hozott. Ezt követte a trilógia harmadik darabja, a Mátrix – Forradalmak (The Matrix Revolutions), amely ugyan nem rekordösszeget, de tekintélyes 203 milliót aratott. Silver volt a producere Enter the Matrix című videójátéknak és az Animátrix című kisfilmgyűjteménynek is.2008-as filmje a Speed Racer - Totál turbó.További nagyjátékfilmjei közül e legjelentősebbek: V, mint vérbosszú (V for Vendetta), Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, Öld meg Rómeót! (Romeo Must Die), Sebhelyek (Exit Wounds), Kardhal (Swordfish), Kommandó (Commando), Spiclik, sipirc! (Jumpin’ Jack Flash), Az utolsó cserkész (The Last Boy Scout), Pusztító (Demolition Man), Richie Rich – Rosszcsont beforr (Richie Rich), Tűzparancs (Executive Decision), Összeesküvés-elmélet (Conspiracy Theory).