Zachary Laoutides

Zachary Laoutides was born in 1986 in Chicago

Laoutides was born in Chicago in 1986. He has Sephardic, Greek, Turkish and Slovenian roots, and his Jewish family line goes back to the Halevi and Benveniste families of Barcelona.

He studied media and journalism in Chicago. In his early years he worked in community outreach and brought the performing arts to youth at risk.

In 2014 he co-founded Ave Fenix Pictures with Mónica Esmeralda León, a studio that works with urban youth to retell their own stories. He wrote and starred in Adiós Vaya con Dios, about a gang member trying to leave the barrio, and composed songs for its soundtrack. The film brought him nominations for Best Actor and Best Screenplay at the Bel Air Film Festival.

He later wrote and starred in Arise from Darkness, based on the life of psychic Lázaro Rubén Torres, and Black Ruby, which the company said was the first feature shot on an iPhone 7. In September 2020 he was cast in Where Sweet Dreams Die, which finished shooting in March 2022. He lives in Chicago and still works in community outreach.