Jason Zada

History

Jason Zada is an award-winning storyteller and director. In 2016, his first theatrical feature film, The Forest was released into theaters by Focus Features. Previously, Jason was most recognized for the Emmy Award-winning cinematic personal experience ‘Take This Lollipop’, which has been seen by over 100 million people all over the world. The film gathered 13 million Facebook Likes, making it the fastest growing FB app of all time. Jason’s unique blend of multi-screen storytelling landed him in Adweek/Creativity’s Top 50 most influential creative personalities of 2012. Starting at an early age, Jason was attracted to non-traditional storytelling. Creating Super8 films, programming text adventures on his Commodore 64 and video games formed a strong foundation as both an avid geek and storyteller. During the 1990’s Jason spent time telling stories in CD-ROMs and on the Internet. In the fall of 2000, Jason started the digital advertising agency Evolution Bureau and over the next 8 years grew EVB into a 65-person, world-renowned agency. This led to the holding company, Omnicom, to acquire a majority stake in the company. As a commercial director, Jason has worked with some of the most prominent advertising agencies in the world, such as Weiden + Kennedy, Crispin Porter Bogusky, Sid Lee, Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi, RPA, Y&R, Draftfcb, Kaplan Thaler and Grey on a variety of digital and broadcast projects. A lover of telling stories in front of strangers, Jason is often asked to speak at a variety of industry events including Cannes, South by Southwest and FITC. Jason’s work has appeared in New York Times, Forbes, Fast Company, Adweek, Shoot Magazine, Communication Arts, IndieWire, Contagious and a variety of other film and advertising publications.

Movies

Twenty One Pilots: Livestream Experience
Director
A one-night livestream concert performed by Twenty One Pilots on May 21, 2021, introducing their newest album "Scaled and Icy".
Take This Lollipop
Writer
The first Lollipop warned people of the dangers of sharing personal information online. Now we want to show the world how someone can actually become you.
Take This Lollipop
Director
The first Lollipop warned people of the dangers of sharing personal information online. Now we want to show the world how someone can actually become you.
After She Wakes
Producer
After tragic death of her baby son, a narcoleptic mother with young daughter suffers from terrifying sleep disruptions as they try to deal with ongoing pain and grief. They begin experiencing different episodes of parasomnia including night terrors and sleep paralysis, leaving them unable to move and only able to witness horrific visions. These nightmares become too disturbing as they create a rift in their own realities causing the mother to believe someone or something is watching her sleep every night. Soon the terrifying visions from their dreams begin to manifest into a sinister reality, leaving the mother vulnerable.
The Forest
Director
Set in the Aokigahara Forest, a real-life place in Japan where people go to end their lives. Against this backdrop, a young American woman comes in search of her twin sister, who has mysteriously disappeared.
The Houses October Built
Writer
Beneath the fake blood and cheap masks of countless haunted house attractions across the country, there are whispers of truly terrifying alternatives. Looking to find an authentic, blood-curdling good fright for Halloween, five friends set off on a road trip in an RV to track down these underground Haunts. Just when their search seems to reach a dead end, strange and disturbing things start happening and it becomes clear that the Haunt has come to them…
Take This Lollipop
Writer
Using information gleaned from a viewer's Facebook page, this interactive film personalizes the film for that particular viewer.
Take This Lollipop
Director
Using information gleaned from a viewer's Facebook page, this interactive film personalizes the film for that particular viewer.