- Zal Batmanglij was born on April 28, 1981. He is a writer and producer, known for The East (2013), Sound of My Voice (2011) and The OA (2016).
- In the summer of 2009, when Batmanglij and friend and co-writer/actress Brit Marling were penniless and lacking any prospects, they hopped trains and hung out with "anarchists", personal experiences which are included in their film The East (2013).
- His younger brother is Rostam from the band Vampire Weekend.
- His mother, Najmieh, is a renowned cookbook author.
- He grew up in Washington, D.C.'s Georgetown area. and would often run through Rock Creek Park. After he graduated from college, he worked at a shampoo company.
- If you really want to have an anarchist experience, make a movie with a studio.
- It's awesome to be part of a gay family. Right now, my brother and I can focus on our work, our creative work, and our parents are part of that. These are our weddings...You have to let go of the fantasy or the projection of your life and accept the life that you are living communally.
- Our parents emphasized collaboration in their own lives. That and DIY. So both those things sort of seeped into us organically.
- I storyboard these movies as we're writing the final draft but I never bring that notebook to set.
- I'm a fan of thrillers that have the social anxieties of the times embedded in them; I love those wonderful movies of the Alan J. Pakula did, like The Parallax View (1974), or my favorite film, All the President's Men (1976).
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