Filmmakers Making A Social Impact: Why & How Filmmaker Zach Merck Is Helping To Change Our World

More research, more awareness: I hope that our film emphasizes the importance of continued research into NMOSD, and that it helps raise awareness to prompt earlier diagnoses and eventually, better outcomes.

As a part of our series about “Filmmakers Making A Social Impact” I had the pleasure of interviewing Zach Merck.

As a filmmaker, Zach Merck works tirelessly to find unique, authentic stories and is widely recognized for his extensive body of work in commercials, television, and documentary films. His work in the Healthcare space recently received both a Silver and Bronze Clio for his campaign for SMA awareness titled Spaces. Zach’s award-winning feature documentaries and series include the Emmy-nominated For the Love of Music: The Story of Nashville (ABC), Racing Under Green (Discovery), Six Beers of Separation (Fox Australia), The Art of Walking (Nat Geo), Punk Like Me (SXSW Audience Award 2006), the hit Netflix reality series, TwentySomethings, and his newest television series — the docuseries Rennervations for Disney+. Currently, Zach is set to executive produce and direct Sneakers for Warner Bros, a new scripted hiphop horror series from the Stephen King universe, produced by Ridley Scott and Tom Moran, and written by Diallo Riddle and Bashir Salahuddin. He is also set to direct Sleeping Beauty for Scott Free Films, starring Madelaine Petsch (The Strangers, Riverdale), and produced by Ridley Scott, Tom Moran and Vera Meyer.

Thank you so much for doing this interview with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit. Can you share your “backstory” that brought you to this career?

I’ve wanted to be a Film Director since I was seven years old. My Dad was a movie theater manager in Buffalo, NY. So, growing up, instead of having a babysitter, I would go to the movies. I watched everything I could — twice. So growing up in that environment, I never wanted to do anything else! I’m grateful that all these years later, I get to spend my days telling stories and creating art with and for people I admire.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

One of my favorite memories from early in my career wasn’t necessarily a mistake, but it did set the tone of how I’ve worked with my crews throughout my career. I remember I was making a music video and it was the first time I had a really good budget. I was so grateful to have real money to bring my idea to life that I remember getting to set before anybody else and was there to help each of the departments start their days. I was young, so the teams on set didn’t even realize that I was the director until the producers showed up a little later in the morning. The crew assumed I was one of the production assistants for the project. At the end of that first day, I remember thanking everybody on the team as well — one-on-one with a handshake. It set the bar for how I run my sets twenty years later. I love my crew.

Who are some of the most interesting people you have interacted with? What was that like? Do you have any stories?

I’ve been lucky to work with some incredible people all over the world. I once made a show for National Geographic with Dr. John Francis, otherwise known as “The Planetwalker”. He traveled throughout most of the Americas on foot. He literally walked from San Francisco to the southern tip of South America before taking a boat to Antarctica. I was working with him along the Great Ocean Walk in Australia and a few of us camped together one night with John away from the rest of the team. His perspective on how our behavior toward one another can be a mechanism on how we treat our planet had us talking around the campfire for hours. Then, there was his story about meeting a tiger in the jungles of the Amazon, but I’ll save that for another time.

Which people in history inspire you the most? Why?

As far as historical figures, I’ve always been partial to Abraham Lincoln for a variety of important reasons. I’m sure that’s a pretty common answer. I’ve also always admired Nikola Tesla for his ideas, essentially creating Wi-Fi half a century before everybody else. Can you imagine a world without Wi-Fi? Haha. For filmmaking, my favorite director will always be Steven Spielberg. There’s a reason his films are well-known across a variety of cultures all over the world.

Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview, how are you using your success to bring goodness to the world? Can you share with us the meaningful or exciting social impact causes you are working on right now?

I love to tell stories. As I grew as a filmmaker, my focus started to shift to “real” stories. I’ve found a lot of success in documentary filmmaking which I think simply comes from a love for people. I’ve found myself in a lot of living rooms all over the world hearing the anecdotes of family adventures and personal struggles. Perhaps that’s why I’ve been able to build an impressive resume of work in healthcare.

For me, telling the story of a real person’s narrative living with a condition is a way that I can “help”. A way for me to make an impact through storytelling. Recently, I was asked by Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease, to direct a film called Rare Connections in NMOSD to raise awareness for a rare disease called neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, or NMOSD. It’s a rare and devastating disorder of the central nervous system, that can cause problems with vision including eye pain and blindness, severe weakness and impaired mobility, and paralysis. Those living with it can experience unpredictable attacks, also referred to as relapses, which can lead to long-term disability. At first, I knew little to nothing about it. But wanted to make the film for two important reasons — to learn and understand NMOSD but more importantly, to give a voice to the beautiful people I met with this rare condition.

Many of us have ideas, dreams, and passions, but never manifest it. But you did. Was there an “Aha Moment” that made you decide that you were actually going to step up and take action for this cause? What was that final trigger?

I realize that I am very fortunate to have the career I always wanted with the support of my wonderful family. My parents instilled in me from a very young age to never give up on my passions. They never seemed to have any doubt that I would one day move to California to make various films and commercials like all my celluloid heroes. So, when I’m offered a project like our film for NMOSD, it’s hard for me to say no. For me, it’s a simple decision — a documentary film like ours is my way to help take action for this cause.

Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?

To me, films are essentially made in the prep stage before the cameras roll. As a director on a project like this, I feel that in a lot of ways I’m both a diplomat and a psychologist on our set for our subjects. I was very fortunate to share quality time with each of our subjects to better understand who each of them is as people and build trust between the subject and the filmmaker. You know?

For example, while working on Rare Connections in NMOSD, it was incredibly valuable to spend time with Alex and her mom and hear about their long journey to a diagnosis before we chatted on camera. I was able to discover how passionate another NMOSD voice, Marie, was about telling her life story so other people with this rare disorder could realize that they are not alone. Those intimate discussions greatly helped me better understand NMOSD and see the similarities between both Alex’s and Marie’s stories.

Our third advocate, Craig, was able to get treatment earlier than the others and still has his eyesight and motor abilities, so his involvement brought an additional perspective and parallel to Alex and Marie’s stories. Again, as a filmmaker on a project like this, it’s impossible to not feel emotionally invested in each of their stories. It made me want to work even harder to make the final film perfect.

Are there three things that individuals, society or the government can do to support you in this effort?

There are a variety of things that we can do to support this effort.

1. Acknowledging our differences: I think we should appreciate the fact that we all come from different backgrounds and experiences in this “rollercoaster of life.” In my mind, we have a duty to be more present with the people that we surround ourselves with — hearing more perspectives is a valuable thing.
2. Access to healthcare: sadly, good quality, affordable healthcare is still not a “given” in a lot of areas. For example, Marie has to travel back and forth across several states for her treatments, and those trips add up.
3. More research, more awareness: I hope that our film emphasizes the importance of continued research into NMOSD, and that it helps raise awareness to prompt earlier diagnoses and eventually, better outcomes.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

I’m an 80s kid, so we watched everything we could on television or the movie theater. There were no smartphone cameras, no social media, no influencers, no YouTube. Crazy right? Haha. So, to become a “filmmaker” outside of Hollywood, you first had to go to film school and then pack up your life into a car and head west with a dream. Then, once you arrived in Los Angeles, you had to compete with all the other hungry filmmakers and talk your way into securing the means to make your project.

If I could go back, I wish I made a lot more super low-budget short films early on with my friends. To “keep shooting.” To be on set as much as possible. A famous director once told me that I “should get a job at Target, save all my money, and make my movie” instead of working a desk job as his assistant. That seemed so risky to me at the time, but I also think he was right. I sometimes imagine what I could’ve created with an iPhone and a YouTube account back in the late 1990s.

If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?

For a rare disease like NMOSD, awareness is key for prompting conversations with healthcare providers. And think about it this way — by creating projects that educate others, you might have contributed to someone’s successful journey towards an informed diagnosis and a potentially life-changing treatment.

We are very blessed that many other Social Impact Heroes read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, whom you would like to collaborate with, and why? He or she might see this. :-)

I love that so many Social Impact Heroes read this column! I think the best way to answer this question is that I would love to work with and support selfless people that WANT to make a change in somebody else’s life.

For example, last year I made a fantastic documentary series for Disney+ called “Rennervations” with Jeremy Renner. He simply wanted to give opportunities to underprivileged kids so they can be inspired, so we created, built, and donated interesting vehicles for various organizations all over the world. Seeing the reactions these kids had to our efforts was next level. Perhaps the same amount of emotion and accomplishment I felt after completing our film for NMOSD with Alex, Marie, and Craig.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Oscar Wilde once said, “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” That’s a relevant statement on so many levels. It certainly helped me learn to trust myself and my instincts. To learn and better myself from my mistakes. To experience and embrace the individuality of others. To pay it forward.

How can our readers follow you online?

Thank you for taking the time to learn a little about me! This was a cool interview for sure. I’m on the various social media platforms, but I love to feature my photography on Insta at @zachmerck and my website is www.zachmerck.com. Please feel free to look me up!

This was great, thank you so much for sharing your story and doing this with us. We wish you continued success!