Zachary Laoutides is an American actor, screenwriter and filmmaker from Chicago, Illinois. In 2014, he co-founded independent film company Ave Fenix Pictures, the first Latinofilm studio in Chicago and originator of an art house filmmaking style known as "la raza". Inspired by La raza cósmica, this technique involves working together with the urban youth in recreating their own stories, regardless of film background. His first starring role was in the film Adiós Vaya con Dios, which earned him nominations for Best Actor and Best Screenplay at the Bel Air Film Festival. He also wrote and acted in Ave Fenix Pictures' Arise from Darkness, based on the story of psychic Lázaro Rubén Torres, and Black Ruby, claimed to be the "first feature to be shot on an iPhone 7."
Laoutides's first role was in Adiós Vaya con Dios, released worldwide by Indican Pictures on January 19, 2016. Laoutides starred in the film and wrote the screenplay while living in an urban Latino neighborhood, about a half white and half Mexican gang member trying to leave the barrio. Adiós Vaya con Dios was the first movie to use real gangs and streets artists. Laoutides was nominated as Best Actor and Best Screenplay writer at the Bel AirFilm Festival where Adiós Vaya con Dios earned an Official Selection and Runner-up for Best Audience Feature Film. He was also the finalist out of Chicago for Simon Fuller's XIX Entertainment nationwide talent search for new actors. Laoutides was a musician on the Adiós Vaya con Dios soundtrack, composing and producing several songs. The movie was first to integrate a British and Mexican rock soundtrack over a Latino urbanized film. In 2014 Laoutides co-founded Ave Fenix Pictures with Mónica Esmeralda León. Ave Fenix Pictures is the first Latino film studio in Chicago. In 2016 Laoutides wrote and starred in Arise from Darkness, an official selection at :es:Film Invasion L.A.|Film Invasion L.A. based on true events in the early life of psychic Lázaro Rubén Torres, who was declared clinically dead five times. Laoutides composed and produced several tracks for the movie's soundtrack. Laoutides was nominated for Best Screenplay and shared in the nominations for Best Feature Film and Best Director. The film received three four stars reviews from Examiner.com, Inquisitr, and The Levity Ball, with critics comparing Laoutides performance to the opening of Javier Bardem's character Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men. In 2017 Laoutides premiered the film Black Ruby at the London Independent Film Awards. The company claimed it was the first to be shot with an iPhone 7. He earned nine nominations in London and Rome. Laoutides also changed his eye color, skin tone, and hair color for his role in the movie. His performance was compared with Montgomery Clift and Marlon Brando. The Los Angeles Film Forum Awards critics called him "the best natural independent actor of 2018 and a master at subtlety." He was named one of the Top Indie actors to look for in 2019. Laoutides being referred as a “method actor”, whose schooling was in journalism and sees acting as an extension using research to create his characters. He was compared to a young independent dark version of Ryan Gosling at the Los Angeles Film Festival.
