Biography
Robert Zepeda is a proud Californian living in Los Angeles. His past career adventures made New York and Miami home for a time. Working since he was 15 years old, he has long understood the definition of hard work and success. Growing up as an only child, he was often faced with challenges of how to keep himself entertained which allowed him to dream. This real life skill has helped him bring creativity and art to the field of journalism.
His segments have been featured on ABC, Hulu, Disney+, HBOMax, HLN and OWN. Some of the same segments have also gone viral; People, Daily Mail, Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, Perez Hilton and Logo bloggers have all helped to make them sharable and viral to millions more online.
He is currently a Senior Producer of Race and Culture, Newsgathering at ABC News. Previously, he worked in the Los Angeles Bureau covering the western United States for all ABC News platforms. In his 12 years at ABC he has traveled to 42 states and 35 countries. Some of his favorite segments have been Good Morning America’s Survivor Week series, ABC News’ Emmy winning Climate Crisis, Nightline’s look at the busiest fire station in America as they save the lives of the vulnerable homeless population on Skid Row, award winning 20/20 Something’s Coming: West Side Story, What Would You Do? Gay PDA, and the many breaking news specials he's covered in the field. He is honored to have won 6 Emmys (‘Soul of a Nation Miss Lucille’, World News Tonight with David Muir The Climate Crisis’, ‘20/20 Las Vegas: Heartbreak and Heroes’, 'Nightclub Massacre: Terror in Orlando', Outstanding Morning Program - Good Morning America), a Peabody Award (Superstorm Sandy), a Gracie Award (24 Hours: Assault on the Capitol), a GLAAD Award (Life Out Loud w/ LZ Granderson) and was a GLAAD nominee for his work looking back 20 years on the brutal murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard. One of his most creative works he developed and produced was featured on Good Morning America traveling around the world in 7 days to every Disney Theme Park to celebrate Mickey Mouse’s 90th birthday which helped to raise $2 million for ‘Make a Wish Foundation’. In June 2022 he Executive Produced ‘PRIDE | To Be Seen, a Soul of a Nation Presentation, ABC News’ first ever primetime special focusing on LGBTQ+ stories.
He is a self-motivated, enthusiastic hard-hitting journalist; always thinking of new 'out of the box' ways to tell a story. His skills include producing, booking, shooting, editing and holds an FAA license in drone piloting.
Active on social media, Robert never goes a moment without thinking of his next post or how to capture the perfect picture on his phone. But is mostly captivated by social media’s opportunity for storytelling as he often documents his behind the scenes adventures on the road, giving viewers a look into the process of making television.