About
Zak Mulligan is a cinematographer celebrated for his dynamic visual storytelling across feature films and television. His recent work includes shooting the hit Netflix film Hustle, starring Adam Sandler and the blockbuster sequel Happy Gilmore 2, where his cinematography helped shape the film’s vibrant contemporary look while honoring the original’s legacy. Mulligan is also the Director of Photography on the forthcoming Apple/Plan B feature Little Man, starring Mark Wahlberg and the highly anticipated Al Pacino thriller Killing Castro.
Mulligan first garnered widespread acclaim with We the Animals which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and went on to receive five Independent Spirit Award nominations, including Best Cinematography. His distinctive visual language: intimate, textural, and emotionally resonant, has made the film a touchstone of contemporary independent cinema.
In television, Mulligan’s credits include HBO’s adaptation of Stephen King’s The Outsider, noted for its atmospheric and nuanced palette and Netflix’s YOU. His documentary cinematography includes Open Heart, an HBO feature about children affected by rheumatic heart disease in Africa, which was nominated for an Academy Award.
Earlier in his career he won the Excellence in Cinematography Award at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival for Obselidia, reinforcing his reputation for rich visual craftsmanship. Mulligan was named one of Variety’s “10 Cinematographers to Watch” and was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2019.
Beyond narrative work, Mulligan’s commercial credits span major global brands, including Google, Nike, Reebok, Samsung, and American Express, where his visual sensibility elevates storytelling across media.
Press
American Cinematographer: Spirit Award Nominees / Variety 10 Cinematographers to Watch / Filmmaker Magazine: We The Animals on Super 16mm / Open Heart at the 2013 Academy Awards / Always a Fire Wins Vimeo Best 12 of 2012 / BBC Radio, October 2010, "One Day on Earth" / American Cinematographer, April 2010, Sundance 2010: Expanded Palettes / ICG Magazine, April 2010, First Tracks / American Cinematographer: Sundance Cinematography Standouts / RogerEbert.com / Slash Film / NY Times / WSJ
Client List
Google, Kraft, Sony, American Express, General Electric, Nike, Reebok, Under Armor, Bayer, HBO, Showtime, Netflix, Samsung, DirecTV, NBC Universal, Passion Pit, Cults, Mute Math, Flying Lotus, and Woodhands
Connect
“The standout aspect is the movie’s cinematography. “We the Animals” looks unlike any other movie I watched at Sundance. Shot on 16mm, the images appear as if they were created by rich oil paints with dark undertones. The effect makes Jonah’s world seem scarier at times but also dreamier as his reality slips away into animated sequences of his drawings. This movie is so gorgeous, it even makes drone footage look ethereal rather than pedestrian.”
“Zak Mulligan emphasizes the movie’s 90s setting by choosing mostly 16-millimeter film. This gives its rough-rural exteriors and rundown interiors a dreamy, nostalgic glaze speckled with lambent light, like the fingerprints of memory.”
“A crucial element of the film is Zak Mulligan’s cinematography... Mr. Mulligan gives us images of exceptional purity, grace and intimacy: the brothers’ faces, never still; their darting eyes; the things they touch, the way they snuggle or roughhouse with their parents.”
“Visually, the picture is a thing of great beauty. Zak Mulligan’s lensing with the Red camera system is shimmeringly luminous as well as vigorously agile and was a deserved recipient of the Sundance cinematography award.”