Biography
AWARDS: BEST PICTURE, BEST DIRECTOR, BEST SCREENPLAY, BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY, BEST EDITOR, BEST PRODUCER
Multi hyphenate filmmaker Giovanni Zelko has recently won multiple awards for his latest feature film, L.A. 4ORCE, including Best Feature, Bes Director, Bes Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing & Best Producer, while his cast has won a Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress & Best Ensemble Cast awards at film festivals across the world. His unique abilities as a Writer-Director, a Cinematographer and an Editor, all under the umbrella of the Executive Producer allow him to make ambitious, dynamic award winning independent films like L.A. 4ORCE and THE ALGERIAN for very modest budgets that look, feel and sound like much bigger productions.
He released his first feature "THE ALGERIAN" as a limited theatrical release across the U.S. in 2015 in Cinemark & Regal Cinemas, and later as "Sleeper Cell: The Algerian". He wrote, directed, edited, executive produced and co-shot this acclaimed international political thriller which was filmed on two continents and in 6 cities with a diverse international cast. For his efforts, this powerful film won him Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Editor and Best Cinematography awards, as well as a Best Thriller, an Audience Choice and three Best Picture awards at International Film Festivals in the United States and Europe. In addition to winning the Grand Prize International Vision award at the prestigious Rhode Island International Film Festival, he was also nominated for two further Best Director awards and two Best Picture awards at other festivals. THE ALGERIAN also won members of his cast and crew Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Score, Best Cinematography, Best Stunts and Best Sound Design awards. Zelko is also the executive producer and second unit director/cinematographer of H4, a Shakespeare film adaptation of Henry IV, and has Executive Produced, directed, shot and edited three Travel-Leisure documentaries. In 2021, he was an Executive Producer of "3 Tickets To Paradise," a neo-western feature released by Lionsgate.
His latest film as a Writer / Director, "L.A. 4ORCE", which he is also the executive producer, cinematographer, editor and sound designer of, will be released 2025. As a fan of classic film noir and contemporary neo-noir, Zelko wrote, directed and produced L.A. 4ORCE as an homage to the film noir lexicon he so admires, including many homages to the plot and the on-location photography.
The son of European immigrants, Zelko was born and raised in New York while spending numerous summers in his parents' native countries of Italy and Slovenia, giving him a unique mixture of European and American sensibilities that are pronounced in his various works as an artist. He was educated at Boston University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science for Film (see his book on film theory, LIVING THE DREAM,) and a Minor of Arts for English Literature, (see his book of poetry, BODY OF POETRY.) During his four years at Boston University, he also pursued studies in history, where his field of concentration was European Medieval History.
His passion for filmmaking began to blossom at a very early age as a freshman in high school where he first started shooting 8mm stop-animation films and began editing. He had a part-time job at a video store while in high school where he voraciously watched hundreds of movies, and wrote a monthly film review column in his high school newspaper of new releases. This combination of watching and reviewing films was in essence his own personal film-school.
His enthusiasm for filmmaking produced an early short film, BLOODLINE. At the age of 16, Zelko wrote, directed, produced, starred in, shot, stunt-coordinated, costumed, sound scored and edited the 45 minute BLOODLINE, a short film about vampires that he shot on a VHS camcorder. This early film along with his academic excellence helped earn him a scholastic grant to Boston University. Once there, Zelko wrote, directed, produced, shot and edited MY SHADOW, an 8 ½ minute long 16mm film he edited by hand. This second film helped him acquire his internship in Venice Beach, Los Angeles at Roger Corman Studios in 1995 across the street from James Cameron's post VFX studio, Digital Domain; Zelko would later work on various production units next to James Cameron on all three Avatar films, gaining first hand experience from one of cinemas greatest filmmakers.
During the past thirty years, Zelko has logged over fifty thousand hours on sets for some of the world's top directors, actors, cinematographers and music performers, including James Cameron, Christopher Nolan, David Fincher, Sam Raimi, Barry Levinson, Michael Mann, John Frankenheimer, Clint Eastwood, Kevin Costner, Antoine Fuqua, Dennis Hopper, Harrison Ford, Al Pacino, Garry Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt, Will Smith, Mat Damon, Ben Affleck, Billy Bob Thorton, Bill Murray, Michael Cain, Tim Robbins, Martin Sheen, Vin Diesel, Jack Black, Dan Aykroid, Randy Quaid, Alec Baldwin, Ben Stiller, Patrick Stewart, Harry Lennix, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, John Goodman, Danny Devito, Tom Selleck, Gary Sinise, Kevin Bacon, Oliver Platt, Sam Worthington, Michael Fassbender, James Belushi, James Remar, Bill Paxton, Jennifer Lawrence, Angelina Jolie, Zoe Saldana, Emily Blunt, Faye Dunaway, Kate Blanchet, Florence Pugh, Susan Sarrandon, Glen Close, Jennifer Aniston, Sigourney Weaver, Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu, Amanda Peet, Julia Stiles, Michelle Rodriguez, Madonna, U2, Eminem & Dr. Dre.
Zelko has also had the privilege of working for and learning from some of the world's top cinematographers, including Dante Spinotti, (who shot two of his favorite crime thriller films, HEAT and L.A. Confidential,) Russell Carpenter, Janusz Kaminski, Emmanuel "Chivo" Lubezki, Erik Messerschmidt, Bob Richardson, Hoyte Van Hoyteman, Mauro Fiore, Seamus McGarvey, Dion Beebe, John Bailey and Jack Green.
