Jonah Zeiger

Jonah Zeiger is a media, entertainment, and creative industry leader as well as a producer, director, actor, and writer who has worked in film, television, and theatre on dozens of projects in various capacities. In 2022, he was appointed by the Mayor of Chicago to serve as Deputy Commissioner of the Chicago Film Office in the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events where he oversees the City of Chicago's commitment to and support of Chicago's film and television industry including supporting such projects as FX's The Bear, Apple's Dark Matter, NBC's Chicago Fire, PD, and Med, Showtime's The Chi, and Starz' Force. The Chicago Film Office also supported CBS's The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Comedy Central's The Daily Show during their 2024 residencies in Chicago. Jonah spearheaded a unique collaboration with Sundance for its first U.S. partnership with a major American city: Sundance Institute x Chicago 2024: Championing Creative Independence, a joint project of Sundance, Choose Chicago, and the City of Chicago. Jonah is committed to building Chicago is a sustainable and essential hub for independent film and original content in an inclusive, transparent, socially engaged, and environmentally conscious way. Under Jonah's leadership, the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois announced an all-time high in film expenditures in 2023 of nearly $700 million which represents an overall economic impact of over $1 billion. Jonah has articulated a new vision for strategic investment in all essential components of the content pipeline from youth media to creative development to financing, production and post, including film scoring, music recording, and synergistic distribution in the age of streaming. He also launched a film sustainability initiative to help green Chicago's film industry. Prior to his appointment to run the Chicago Film Office, Jonah taught and served as industry liaison at Northwestern University's School of Communication. Prior to that he taught at DePaul University's School of Cinematic Arts where he spearheaded DePaul's ongoing partnership with Cinespace Studios and DePaul's Visiting Artists Series, which featured guests such as Werner Herzog, Paula Wagner, Tim Robbins and many others. He holds an MFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.