Zach Riley is a senior at Hart High School and a passionate filmmaker. Riley has participated in Video Production all four years of  high school. His passion for filmmaking is very apparent in his hardwork on Hart TV and his personal short films. Before joining Video Production, Riley participated in Kidflix at Placerita, and before that he started making short films with his older brother Kevin.

“I gained an interest in filmmaking from Casey Neistat, in like fifth grade,” said Riley.

 Riley admired Neistat’s dedication and commitment to his craft. 

“I know he made these short films with his brother, Van, and I wanted to make things, too. I guess I’m more inspired by Van because he doesn’t really do vlogs, he makes short films that are kind of artsy and that’s more of my thing,” Riley said.

Riley’s brother first got him hooked on filmmaking when he made a few short films with friends in 5th and 6th grade, asking his younger brother to help out. 

“Everything Kevin made was really kind of weird and surreal, but still funny, and I think a lot of my stuff is inspired by that,” Riley said. 

Zach has a Youtube channel that he’s been posting on since 2015. The variety of content ranges from vlogs to short films, all inspired by the Neistat brothers. A natural progression from his personal projects on the channel, Riley delved into Kidflix in his middle school years, and then into Video Production his freshman year, which he would continue with throughout the rest of high school.

 “I never really knew what I wanted to do in high school, except for Video Production. Being in that class with other serious filmmakers is what made me realize I wanted to maybe work in the movie industry,” Riley said.

Riley hopes for a career in the film industry, as making movies has been his passion for so long, but he doesn’t want to be the director. 

“I just want to work on any set. I want to help make someone else’s vision come together,” Riley said.