Jeremy Zerechak (born 1979) is an American

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

. He has directed and produced two feature-length documentaries, ''Land of Confusion'' (2008) and ''Code 2600'' (2011).

Background

Born in

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...

, Zerechak joined the

Army National Guard The Army National Guard (ARNG) is an organized Militia (United States), militia force and a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States Army. It is simultaneously part of two differen ...

after high school so he could afford to attend film school. He was enrolled at

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

when his unit was deployed to Iraq in 2004. While serving in Iraq, Zerechak filmed his first feature-length documentary, ''Land of Confusion'', which chronicles his unit's mission in Iraq and the operations of the

Iraq Survey Group The Iraq Survey Group (ISG) was a fact-finding mission sent by the multinational force in Iraq to discover the extent of Saddam Husseins' Weapons of Mass Destruction program that had been the main ostensible reason for the invasion in 2003. Its ...

. Zerechak graduated from

in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts in Film and Video Production. He taught film at

Ohio University Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...

Work

In 2008, Zerechak produced and directed ''Land of Confusion''. The film won two Special Jury Awards at the Florida Film Festival and the Atlanta Film Festival. In 2011, Zerechak produced and directed '' Code 2600'', a documentary about the rise of the Information Technology Age and the history of

hacker culture The hacker culture is a subculture of individuals who enjoy—often in collective effort—the intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming the limitations of software systems or electronic hardware (mostly digital electronics), ...

. The film explores the impact of this new and growing connectivity on our human relations, personal privacy, and security as individuals and as a society. ''Code 2600'' was selected for the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary at the Atlanta Film Festival. In 2012, Zerechak produced and directed ''The Entrepreneur'', a short documentary about American entrepreneur Ron Morris and his terminal battle with pancreatic cancer. In 2013, Zerechak traveled to Jinja,

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

to film ''Hackers in Uganda''. a documentary about a developing African community, its people, and the unique efforts of Hackers for Charity. The group was founded in 2009 by computer hacker and IT security expert Johnny Long, to provide humanitarian services in Uganda.

Filmography

* 2008: ''Land of Confusion'' * 2011: ''Code 2600'' * 2012: ''The Entrepreneur'' (short) * 2013: ''Town & Country'' (short) * 2014: ''Hackers in Uganda'' (in production)

References

1979 births Living people People from Scranton, Pennsylvania American documentary filmmakers Penn State College of Arts and Architecture alumni United States Army personnel of the Iraq War Ohio University faculty United States Army soldiers Pennsylvania National Guard personnel {{US-film-bio-stub