Zachary Laoutides

Zachary Laoutides (born December 13, 1986) is an American actor, screenwriter and filmmaker from Chicago, Illinois. In 2014, he co-founded independent film company Ave Fenix Pictures, originator of an art house filmmaking style known as "la raza". Inspired by La raza cósmica, this technique involves working together with the urban youth in recreating their own stories, regardless of film background. and Black Ruby, claimed to be the "first feature to be shot on an iPhone 7."

Early life Laoutides was born in 1986 in Chicago where he studied media and journalism. He spent his early years working in community outreach and introducing the performing arts to youth at risk. He resides in Chicago and is still active in community outreach working with Mónica Esmeralda León.

He is of Sephardic, Greek, Turkish and Slovenian heritage. His Eastern European ancestry were ethnic minorities from the Austrian Empire and Russia Empire; Slovenian with some Polish and Scandinavian. His Jewish heritage traces back to Levite rabbinical families Halevi and Benveniste of the 11th to the 15th century in Barcelona. His background includes Moroccan Jewish, Indian Jewish and distant Latino roots from his father's grandmother Laoutides starred in the film and wrote the screenplay while living in an urban Latino neighborhood, about a half white and half Mexican gang member trying to leave the barrio. Adiós Vaya con Dios was the first movie to use real gangs and streets artists. Laoutides was nominated as Best Actor and Best Screenplay writer at the Bel Air Film Festival where Adiós Vaya con Dios earned an Official Selection and Runner-up for Best Audience Feature Film.

He was also the finalist out of Chicago for Simon Fuller's XIX Entertainment nationwide talent search for new actors.

Laoutides was a musician on the Adiós Vaya con Dios soundtrack, composing and producing several songs. The movie was first to integrate a British and Mexican rock soundtrack over a Latino urbanized film.

In 2014 Laoutides co-founded Ave Fenix Pictures with Mónica Esmeralda León. Ave Fenix Pictures is the first Latino film studio in Chicago.

In 2016 Laoutides wrote and starred in Arise from Darkness, an official selection at Film Invasion L.A. based on true events in the early life of psychic Lázaro Rubén Torres, who was declared clinically dead five times . Laoutides composed and produced several tracks for the movie's soundtrack. Laoutides was nominated for Best Screenplay and shared in the nominations for Best Feature Film and Best Director. The film received three four stars reviews from Examiner.com, Inquisitr, and The Levity Ball, with critics comparing Laoutides performance to the opening of Javier Bardem's character Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men (film). The film was ranked number one in the 10 Best Supernatural Horror Movies Of The Last Decade, Ranked According to IMDb Rating.

In 2017 Laoutides premiered the film Black Ruby at the London Independent Film Awards. The company claimed it was the first to be shot with an iPhone 7. and Rome. His performance was compared with Montgomery Clift and Marlon Brando. The movie completed shooting in Chicago and New York in March 2022.

Filmography + Film Year Title Role Notes 2006 Let's Go to Prison Mexican gang member 2016 Adiós Vaya con Dios Rory King Nominated—Bel Air Film Festival: Best ActorNominated—Bel Air Film Festival: Best Screenplay 2018 Arise from Darkness Lázaro Nominated—Film Invasion L.A.: Best ActorNominated—Film Invasion L.A.: Best Screenplay 2019 Black Ruby Louis Katz Nominated—London Independent Film Festival: Best DirectorNominated—London Independent Film Festival: Best ActorNominated—London Independent Film Festival: Best ScreenplayNominated—London Independent Film Festival: Best Feature FilmNominated—London Independent Film Festival: Best International ActorNominated—London Independent Film Festival: Best Foreign Feature Film

Nominated—Rome Film Awards: Best ActorNominated—Rome Film Awards: Best International FilmNominated—Rome Film Awards: Best DirectorNominated—Rome Film Awards: Best FeatureNominated—Rome Film Awards: Best WriterNominated—Rome Film Awards: Best Foreign Actor

Los Angeles Film ForumWon—Los Angeles Film Forum: Best ActorWon—Los Angeles Film Forum: Independent Spirit AwardWon—Los Angeles Film Forum: Best Adapted Screenplay Feature 2024 Where Sweet Dreams Die Unknown Upcoming Film

+ Television Year Title Role Notes 2005–06 Prison Break Prisoner 2006 Triple Cross: Bin Laden's Spy in America Wadih el-Hage National Geographic TV documentary