Who?
Zach L. Wilson is a writer, producer, and director for the nerdiest live-streaming shows. A Jewish-Armenian-American who’s also somehow descended from Charlemagne, he prefers simply: New Yorker (despite living in Burbank). That mixed heritage informs his writing, as his characters often feel out of place, even if they look like they fit in. Influenced by his nerdy passions, Zach lives for the comedy in the unseen personal moments that happen between superhero team-ups or A.I. world takeovers. After all, even that badass Minotaur occasionally needs a shoulder to cry on after a break up. Zach found his voice studying at Emerson College and as a member of the Pack Theater’s house sketch teams.
Professionally, his work has appeared on Twitch’s Emmy-winning interactive, sci-fi drama "Artificial” (writer/director/supervising producer), Geek & Sundry’s sketch/news show "Game Engine" (head writer), and The Art Directors Guild Awards hosted by Yvette Nicole Brown (written by). He has also written many fanfics that would, no doubt, embarrass his mother.
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Zach specializes in interactive storytelling. From direct interaction with characters on Artificial to changing the ending of a soap opera in the pilot for As The Game Loads, he has used streaming technology to create unique audience experiences. Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter… each platform can be a chance for unique storytelling. As a writer and a technical producer, Zach is there to bring the most ambitious ideas to life.
Recent Work
Artificial (Twitch/96 Next)
Aritificial was an interactive, live sci-fi series created for and produced by Twitch. The scripted drama centered around a series of AI beings learning about humanity by chatting with the Twitch audience. The audience influenced the direction of the story through polls, live chat, and competitive redemptions via Twitch. Season 4 became a true video game/TV show hybrid as the audience was divided into competing factions who could use Twitch’s native currency, “Channel Points,” to affect the outcome of the season and the two animated "VTuber" characters at the heart of the story.
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During my time working on the show, it was awarded an Emmy, a Webby, and was nominated for three PGA Awards.
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Sample scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOOEH0sDxgM
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The Art Directors Guild Awards
Since 2022, I've been the writer for the Art Director's Guild Awards. This has included writing the opening monologue and mid-show bits for hosts Yvette Nicole Brown and Max Greenfield, as well as presenter speeches for each award and some of the night's introduction speeches for Lifetime Achievement awards (including speakers like Nicole Kidman and Annette Bening). The show has been a hit with the audience and the producers each year I've worked on it and I left the 2022 show with a very awkward story of my interaction verifying Kevin Costner's speech script for the night.
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Sample Link: https://vimeo.com/707677257
Faster, Purple Worm! Kill! Kill! (Hasbro/eOne)
This show was basically Whose Line Is It Anyway crashed into Dungeons & Dragons. Produced by Hasbro for the FAST channel, Dungeons & Dragons Adventures, I served as the shooting director, laying out shots and directing cameras in real time. Even as the comedians literally ran in circles to make my life more difficult.
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Game Engine (Legendary Digital Networks)
Game Engine was a live video game news and content show for Legendary's Geek & Sundry network. As head writer for the show, Zach created the segment "Quick Bytes" which featured Weekend Update-style news segments and a weekly sketch. Sketches featured characters from the "Game Gremlin" who causes game delays to Waluigi defending himself from campaigns to get him into Super Smash Bros.
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Quick Bytes Sampler: https://youtu.be/9XDVC8nqs_U
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Honest Ad - The Legend of Vox Machina (Fandom)
Interactive Jim Henson Biography (Fandom)
A branded advertisement spot using the "Honest Trailers" format to promote Amazon Prime's "The Legend of Vox Machina. I laughed, critters laughed, the client approved 98% of the first pass copy.
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Link: https://www.fandom.com/video/EtuylmC0/vox-machina-honest-ad
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Created for Fandom's "Muppet Wiki", this interactive video lets visitors to the wiki click through an informational timeline of Jim Henson's life, with fun tidbits and information spread throughout. Each decade also includes an Era Video, essentially providing a fifteen minute documentary of Henson's life. I poured every ounce of my muppet-loving soul into writing this piece and also provided the voice over for the video portion.
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Link: https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Muppet_Wiki:Interactive_Timeline