Zackary Lowell Stentz is an American

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

and producer of film and television,

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

, and

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

, best known for his work on

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

properties with former writing partner

Ashley Edward Miller Ashley Edward Miller (born March 16, 1971) is an American screenwriter and producer best known for his work on the television series '' Andromeda'', '' Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles'', and ''Fringe''. He also worked on the films ''Tho ...

Career

Stentz graduated from

UC Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located on Monterey Bay, on the edge of ...

with a degree in journalism. As a journalist, he wrote and edited for publications such as ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...

'', ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'', ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'', and ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

''. In addition, he was an environmental activist for

Earth First! Earth First! is a radical environmental advocacy group that originated in the Southwestern United States. It was founded in 1980 by Dave Foreman, Mike Roselle, Howie Wolke, Bart Koehler, and Ron Kezar. Today there are Earth First! groups around ...

in the early 1990s. After graduating from UC Santa Cruz with a degree in Journalism, he worked for

Metro Silicon Valley ''Metro'' is a free weekly newspaper published by the San Jose, California, based Metro Newspapers. Also known as ''Metro Silicon Valley'', as well as ''Metroactive'' online, the paper serves the greater Silicon Valley area. In addition to print ...

, writing about television, books and popular culture, as well as the Sonoma County Independent (now the North Bay Bohemian) In 1997, publisher

Dan Pulcrano Dan Pulcrano (born c. 1959) is a journalist, editor, publisher and newspaper group owner in Northern California. He is CEO and executive editor of ''Metro Silicon Valley'', Silicon Valley's alternative newsweekly, as well as its sister publicat ...

tapped Stentz to oversee Metro's rebranding and launch of its San Francisco monthly, The Metropolitan. After turning to screenwriting full-time, from 2000 to 2015 he worked with writing partner

, beginning with Gene Roddenberry's '' Andromeda''. As a team, they co-wrote the films '' X-Men: First Class'', the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...

film ''

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...

'', and ''

Agent Cody Banks ''Agent Cody Banks'' is a 2003 American spy action comedy film directed by Harald Zwart. The film follows the adventures of the 15-year-old title character, played by Frankie Muniz, who has to finish his chores, avoid getting grounded, and save ...

''. He and Miller did some of the initial work on the project that became '' Top Gun: Maverick'', a sequel to the 1986

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Gol ...

film, ''

Top Gun ''Top Gun'' is a 1986 American action drama film directed by Tony Scott, produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, with distribution by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay was written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., and was inspired by an a ...

'', releasing in 2021. As writer and producer, he is currently in post-production on the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

science fiction adventure film ''

Rim of the World ''Rim of the World'' is a 2019 American science fiction adventure film directed by McG from a screenplay by Zack Stentz. It stars Jack Gore, Miya Cech, Benjamin Flores Jr. and Alessio Scalzotto. The film, which was Stentz's modern take on th ...

'', directed by

McG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hem ...

. He has written and produced multiple television programs, including Gene Roddenberry's ''Andromeda'', The CW's ''

The Flash The Flash (or simply Flash) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date ...

'', Fox's ''

Fringe Fringe may refer to: Arts * Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival, known as "the Fringe" * Adelaide Fringe, the world's second-largest annual arts festival * Fringe theatre, a name for alternative theatre * The Fringe, the ...

'', and Fox's '' Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles''. He also created and developed a forthcoming animated show based on a popular franchise for DreamWorks, Universal, and Netflix. He has several projects in development, including television programs for

Skydance Television Skydance Media, LLC (formerly known as Skydance Productions) is an American production company based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by David Ellison in 2006, the company entered a five-year partnership to co-produce and co-finance films wit ...

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

, and

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

, as well as the DC superhero film

Booster Gold Booster Gold (Michael Jon Carter) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Dan Jurgens, the character first appeared in ''Booster Gold'' #1 (February 1986) and has been a member of the Justice League. ...

at Warner Bros. and a remake of ''

Big Trouble in Little China ''Big Trouble in Little China'' (also in known as ''John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China'') is a 1986 American fantasy action comedy film directed by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun and James Hong ...

'' at Fox. Additionally, he co-wrote the acclaimed young adult novel ''Colin Fischer'', and is currently writing an adventure/thriller entitled ''Nevermore''. He also teaches screenwriting in the United States and in China. He was a guest of the Wutianming Foundation in

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

, and of Wanda Studios in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, where he taught young Chinese screenwriters the tricks and techniques of writing American action movies.

Personal life

A native of

Fort Bragg, California Fort Bragg, officially the City of Fort Bragg, is a city along the Pacific Coast of California along Shoreline Highway in Mendocino County. The city is west of Willits, at an elevation of . Its population was 6,983 at the 2020 census. Fort ...

, Stentz was born to a father of German and Irish descent and a mother of Lebanese descent and has described himself as half-Lebanese. His daughter is

autistic The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

, and Stentz himself has been described as exhibiting symptoms of the condition.

Filmography

Film writer * ''

'' (2003) * ''

'' (2011) * '' X-Men: First Class'' (2011) * ''

'' (2019) (Also producer) Television writer

Bibliography

* *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stentz, Zack Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) People from Fort Bragg, California American television writers Screenwriters from California Television producers from California American male television writers American male screenwriters 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American screenwriters American writers of Lebanese descent Screenwriting instructors