Jim Zabilla began his filmmaking career in Minneapolis at Film in the Cities, a film school rooted in the American independent film culture of the 1960s and 1970s.

Zabilla began working as a camera assistant, eventually providing him with the opportunity to work with such talented directors of photography as Bill Butler ASC, Haskell Wexler, Tom Del Ruth, Elliot Davis, Jim Glennon, and Bill Wages. In 1992, Zabilla moved up to director of photography, shooting independent films and television commercials. He has worked on many national campaigns with the likes of Carol Ballard, McG, Rick Dublin, Linzi Knight, Ali Selim, and the directing team Steve Farr and Barry Polterman.

Several of Zabilla's independent features have premiered at various film festivals including "The Usual" (1992), directed by Eric Tretbar and debuted at the Berlin Film Festival, "The Unearthling" (1994), directed by Wrye Martin and Barry Polterman and "Bubblepac" (2000), a black and white short directed by Fick Dublin, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival.

Currently, Zabilla is completing post-production on Peter Brown's "Self Storage," and continues to shoot commercials and long form projects.