Early career Hootnick's creative career began with news production positions at
NBC and
MSNBC in the US and Israel, including work with NBC legal correspondent
Dan Abrams and NBC Tel Aviv correspondent
Martin Fletcher. He worked as a producer at
MTV News & Documentaries covering politics and international affairs worldwide, including news and documentary segments and specials tied to the
Iraq War,
Supreme Court decisions on
gay rights and
affirmative action, and the
2004 and
2008 US Presidential elections.
Documentaries Hootnick's first feature,
UNSETTLED, follows several young Israelis during the
2005 withdrawal of Israeli settlements and troops from
Gaza.
UNSETTLED won numerous awards, including the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature at the
Slamdance Film Festival. He directed
What Carter Lost, which tells the story of the
Dallas Carter Cowboys, one of the most talented teams in high school football history, and their dominating 1988 season in Texas, as famously portrayed in the film
Friday Night Lights. The documentary, named one of the year's best documentaries by Sports Illustrated, was Hootnick's second film for
ESPN's Oscar and
Emmy Award-winning
30 for 30 series. His first 30 for 30 film, "Judging Jewell," told the story of Richard Jewell, the security guard wrongly accused of bombing the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and was rated among the top films in the history of the series by
Rolling Stone Magazine. Produced in conjunction with
Grantland and Executive Producer
Bill Simmons, Hootnick's "Son of the Congo" premiered at the 2015
South by Southwest Film Festival. The film follows
Serge Ibaka, who was born and grew up in the
Republic of the Congo before he was drafted to the
NBA. Hootnick also collaborated with ESPN to direct the short films "Pro Day" and "The Outstanding Mind-Bending Basketball Synergy Machine". His project for
United Airlines and Tribeca Studios,
Destination: Team USA, follows five Olympic hopefuls as they compete for spots on the
2016 Olympic team. He founded and continues to run Resonance Story Company, a production company specializing in branded documentaries for clients in various sectors including health care, financial services, and consumer products.
Commercial directing As a commercial director, Hootnick's recent work includes
NASCAR's tribute to
Jeff Gordon, "One Last Time Around", as well as projects for United Airlines,
Facebook,
Tylenol, and the
Clinton Foundation.
Music videos Hootnick's first music video was the
Webby Awards-honoree "Shoeshine" with Brooklyn rock band
Black Taxi. == Personal life ==