He began his career at
HBO, where he worked as a
Producer and
Cinematographer on various shows, including the Emmy Award-winning series
24/7. Heinzerling's critically acclaimed debut feature,
Cutie and the Boxer, premiered at the
2013 Sundance Film Festival where it won the 'Best Director' award. The film featured on many Top 10 film lists of 2013, including that of Joe Morgenstern of the
Wall Street Journal and
A.O. Scott from
The New York Times. The film went on to receive a field leading three 2014 Cinema Eye Honors, for Outstanding Debut Feature, Outstanding Original Score, and Outstanding Visual Effects. Heinzerling was awarded the Charles Guggenheim Emerging Artist award at the 2013 Full Frame Film Festival and was the recipient of the 2013
International Documentary Association's Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award.
Cutie and the Boxer went on to b|e nominated for the 2014
Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Documentary, and the
Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Heinzerling directed a five-part web series with
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter entitled
Self-Titled to coincide with her 2013 album
Beyoncé. In 2019, he directed an episode of
Dirty Money for
Netflix. Heinzerling directed the critically acclaimed 6-part series
McCartney 3,2,1 starring
Sir Paul McCartney and
Rick Rubin which premiered on
Hulu in 2021. In 2023, Heinzerling's directed the documentary series,
Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence, about the victims of cult leader Larry Ray. ==Filmography==