Biography
Jonathan Wacks is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He produced the 1984 cult film Repo Man, directed by Alex Cox. His early documentary Crossroads/South Africa (1980) won a Student Academy Award.
Wacks directed the feature films Powwow Highway (1989), Mystery Date (1991) and Ed and His Dead Mother (1993). He has also directed episodes of television series including 21 Jump Street, Sirens and Going to Extremes. Powwow Highway won the Sundance Film Festival Filmmaker's Trophy and was added to the National Film Registry in 2024.
Before directing, Wacks served as vice president of production at the Samuel Goldwyn Company. He has held academic positions including founding director of the Barry R. Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema at Brooklyn College and chairs at several film schools. He was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 4 July 1948.
