Who We Are
Zemma Productions was incorporated in 2015 in Los Angeles by cinematographer/producer, Emma Kragen, and director/producer, Zach Marion, during their final year of graduate film school at UCLA. We provide full-service video production with a personal touch to organizations big and small. In addition to client work, we released our first feature documentary, Where She Lies, in September 2020. Our company is certified as a Woman-Owned Small Business by Los Angeles County.
Emma Kragen
Cinematographer / Producer
I am a Los Angeles-based producer and cinematographer, and the CEO of Zemma Productions. I work regularly in the commercial, documentary, narrative, and corporate spaces, and maintain a dry sense of humor throughout.
My first foray into the film industry occurred when a book I wrote at age 7, The Twelve Dogs of Christmas, was made into a feature-length film. The book has since gone on to sell over 600,000 copies worldwide and was re-released for its 25th anniversary in the fall of 2023. In 2012, the film spawned a sequel distributed by Sony Pictures.
I am also a proud member of the International Collective of Female Cinematographers, as well as Women in Film. I completed my MFA in Cinematography at the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television, and hold a BA in American Studies from UC Berkeley.
One of my proudest achievements during graduate school was traveling to Antarctica with environmentalist Sir Robert Swan and his organization 2041 to document the voyage. While at UCLA, I was also featured in Variety’s 110 Students to Watch. I am a recipient of both the Motion Picture Association of America Award, as well as the Lisa Wiegand Fellowship in Cinematography.
At Zemma Productions, we are currently in development on a number of narrative and documentary television projects, in addition to feature film endeavors. Our first documentary feature, Where She Lies, was released in 2020 with distributor Gravitas Ventures.
I am unafraid of straddling the border between whimsical and profound, and am most passionate about changing the world through cinema.
Zach Marion
Director/Producer
I grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona chasing lizards and slowly backing away from javelinas. At age 19, my family relocated to Northern Minnesota, and I followed, where I graduated from Minnesota State University Moorhead with a BFA in Film Production. I was shooting 16mm celluloid in 16-below. Suffice it to say, I have run the gamut in terms of climate.
After college, I went to work at Video Arts Studios in Fargo, North Dakota as Head of TV Development. While there, I produced Births Beyond Belief, an hour-long documentary exploring unusual home-birth rituals across the United States. The show aired on Discovery Health and TLC in 2009.
After 5 years in the workforce, I decided to further my education. With my car packed to the gills, I headed west as a newly admitted UCLA MFA Film Directing candidate. While at UCLA, I wrote and directed the short film, Family Unit, which screened as an official selection at LA Shorts Fest, the Hollywood Film Festival, and the Pasadena International Film Festival. As a student, I received the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Directing Award twice.
In September 2020, my debut feature-length film was acquired for distribution by Gravitas Ventures. The documentary, Where She Lies, tells the story of a woman searching for her daughter, who she believes was illegally adopted at birth. Now streaming on all video-on-demand platforms, the film was a selection at the Nashville Film Festival, Atlanta Docufest, and Lake County Film Festival, as well as featured in a number of write-ups and podcasts.