Island-born cinematographer Jeff Zwicker takes on hit-show ‘The Last of Us’

Jeff Zwicker has come a long way from his days as a boy making home movies on his parents’ camera, using sidewalk chalk to write film credits with other neighbourhood kids in Victoria.

He’s now a director of photography (DP), turning heads in the film industry with his impressive cinematography.

Zwicker’s work has received multiple awards and nominations, including Best in Cinematography at Sin City Horror and Vancouver Badass Film Festival, for his efforts on the 2023 horror short film In the Shadow of God. The film received 40 awards in total across multiple departments.

Now he’s taken on one of the buzziest projects on TV. He’s currently working as a camera operator on The Last of Us, a showthat gained an instant following and across-the-board praise from critics and viewers alike.

Before premiering, the show came with a built-in fan base. Having been based on a popular video game of the same name, the first season managed to exceed expectations.

The show is set in post-apocalyptic North America, where a zombie-like fungal infection has ravaged the population. The plot predominantly follows main characters played by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey who travel cross-country to help develop a vaccine against the pathogen.

Their journey—or at least, the cast and crew’s journey—brought them to Nanaimo, where filming for the second season took place in April and May, temporarily turning the Harbour City’s downtown core into a zombie wasteland. This was a perk for Zwicker, who was able to briefly visit his family before jumping into his duties. Filming is also taking place in Vancouver and other areas of BC.

Didn't see the show until he was asked to work on it

Having made a name for himself in the horror/thriller genre, Zwicker was called about taking on the position. He hadn’t watched the show prior to hearing about the opportunity—he often chooses to watch a film instead of a TV show—but once he got the call, he binged The Last of Us. Twice.

“Once, just to watch the story, and then I watched it without the sound so I could get an idea and really focus on the look and the cinematography of it, what the camera operating looks like. Just take it all in, aside from the story,” he said. “Because, you know, it’s such a damn good show.”

He has a demanding schedule with long hours on set. But his love of filmmaking keeps him excited. Though he’s busy with his work in Vancouver—and potentially soon in the US, where he’s thinking of relocating—it’s hard to make it back to the Island frequently. But now an uncle to his sister’s three kids, Zwicker makes it a priority to spend a few weeks throughout the year back home—the place where his creativity was first sparked.

Started at Spectrum in Saanich

Zwicker’s interest in filmmaking grew while he was a student at Spectrum High School, where he took a community prep course on film and TV. While at school, The Art Institute of Vancouver (AIV) came to visit, showcasing its film program. Zwicker thought “this is it” and attended AIV after graduating from Spectrum. But his time there was cut short after about a month when he realized how much the program would cost. So, he decided to get hands-on experience while making money. He pored over Facebook and Craigslist postings for Vancouver film jobs and soon scored his first gig.

“To me at the time, it was the biggest thing I could have possibly landed and I was over the moon excited,” Zwicker laughs. “But looking back, it was probably like a $200K movie where nobody was getting paid.”

Still, it got the ball rolling and a decade or so later, he’s working on projects valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars— The Last of Us is considered one of HBO’s most expensive series costing $10M per episode. The first season, filmed in Alberta, generated more than $182M and created upward of 1,500 jobs for the locals.

Coming soon to a screen near you

Zwicker will soon have another project out, a horror film called Defile, directed by Brian Sepanzyk,who also directed In the Shadow of God. It’s slated to hit the upcoming festival circuit this year, running through 2025.

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Correction: A previous version of this article identified Zwicker as Director of Photography for The Last of Us.