Cuban-born, Zaldívar lives and works in the United States. Zaldivar completed both his BFA and a Masters of Fine Arts at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where has also taught there as an adjunct faculty. Zaldivar also tenured as full-time faculty at Miami International University's Institute of Art and Design.

Zaldívar started his film career as a sound editor and designer, his work can be heard in Academy Nominated films such as Ang Lee's "Sense and Sensibility;" "On the ropes" and on HBO’s America Undercover, which garnered an Emmy nomination.

Zaldivar's film and video art works have screened at many festivals worldwide and broadcast on PBS, ABC, IFC, Showtime and WE and have received numerous grants and awards. Zaldivar's directing credits include "90 Miles" (PBS), "The Story of the Red Rose" (Showtime), "Palingenesis" and "Soldiers Pay" (IFC), co-directed with David O. Russell and Tricia Regan.

Zaldivar has served as a Juror for several mayor film festivals including the Sundance International Film Festival and is a Sundance Film Institute alumnus. Zaldivar has recently co-founded the Miami Filmmakers Collective with a generous grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Art Challenge grant and a matching grant from the Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs.

In 2017, Zaldivar tenured with the Doc Society team (formerly Britdoc Foundation) (https://britdoc.org/#team) as the Outreach Director for Good Pitch Miami 2017 (https://goodpitch.org/events/gpmia2017)