Zachary Treitz was raised in Louisville, Kentucky. He later moved to New York City where he produced The Pleasure of Being Robbed and co-produced Daddy Longlegs, both of which premiered at the Directors’ Fortnight section of Cannes. Zachary directed the short film We’re Leaving, which premiered at Sundance and is available on the Criterion Channel, and the feature film Men Go to Battle, which won the Best New Director prize at the Tribeca Film Festival and was distributed by Film Movement.
After years of hearing his childhood friend Christian Hansen talk about his research into Danny Casolaro’s Octopus conspiracy, Zachary and Christian began filming and investigating the story together. This began a years-long odyssey around the United States to discover the connections between Danny Casolaro’s death and his unfinished book about a complex web of interconnected political conspiracies. With Zachary directing and Christian as lead researcher, they partnered with Stardust Frames and Duplass Brothers Productions to create the four-part documentary series American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders, released by Netflix in February 2024.