Editor Jono Griffith has returned to bicoastal Union, and will be available to take on new projects as of July 1. His notable work includes Canal+’s “The Bear” (director: Matthijs van Heijningen, agency: BETC Euro RSCG) and Rolo’s “Elephant” (director: Rogier van der Ploeg), both of which won the Grand Prix at Cannes, as well as Super Bowl Ad Meter winners “100 Year Game” for the NFL (director: Peter Berg, agency: 72andSunny) and “Hero’s ‘Journey” for Kia starring Melissa McCarthy (director: van Heijningen, agency: David&Goliath). Griffith’s frequent collaborations with van Heijningen have also yielded the director’s Cannes Lion, One Show, Clio and LIA winner, “The Ostrich” (Leo Burnett/Chicago), for Samsung.
Other recent work for Griffith includes Diablo IV’s “Saviours Wanted” (directors: Chloé Zhao/Kiku Ohe, agency: 72andSunny), Nike’s “Qiang Diao” (director: Finn Keenan, agency: Wieden + Kennedy), and Audi’s “Escape” (director: van Heijningen, agency: BBH). Griffith was at Work Editorial before rejoining Union. Other prior affiliations include Final Cut and his own company, Circus.
Michael Raimondi, Union partner/managing director, said, “Jono is a unique talent who effortlessly crafts stories that bridge the gap between comedy and drama. They are bold and always ring true.”
Griffith said, “My family business is films and stories–and I love it. Union is as dedicated to these passions as I am. Being part of this family and sharing these passions as an editor, and as a mentor, really is as good as it gets. I can’t wait to show the world what we can do.”
Griffith’s work is as likely to make you cry as laugh, sometimes within the same spot. The aforementioned Samsung spot elicits smiles as an ostrich inadvertently dons a pair of AR goggles and sweetly takes flight, winning the admiration of his fellow landlocked birds. “Music Academy,” for Principal Financial Group (director: Michael Spiccia, agency: TBWA\Chiat\Day LA), is moving and grounded in a mom’s love for her daughter. Going broad, “Cool Ranch” for Doritos (director: Lance Acord, agency: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners) features a dance duel between Sam Elliott and Lil Nas X, including the only time Elliott’s iconic mustache has done “The Wave.”
Griffith has filmmaking in his blood. “My dad was the British character actor and documentary filmmaker Kenneth Griffith, and my mother was a talented actress,” he said. “She was also the great granddaughter of pioneer filmmaker, William Haggar,” whose various credits include cutting in the first close up, the first camera pan, the first police chase, and more. “So the family started in film editing in 1902,” he added.
Griffith studied photography but most of his teens were spent living the lifestyle of a wannabe anarchist, when he met his wife Julie–“a punky nurse who lived in Hackney,” he said, adding that “we quickly married and soon had twin baby girls.” He started his career working on one of his father’s documentaries (prior to her assassination, Indira Gandhi had asked him to make a film about her father Nehru); Jono was supposed to do the still photography, but ended up doing and learning so much more, observing the editor Reena Mohan (“her shed was a calm and creative oasis…something I still try to provide,” he said). As a runner at VTR, he became further enamored of movie magic (as he put it, “rushes went in there dead and living films came out”). Next was his tenure at commercial editorial company DGW, where he rose to editor under the tutelage of Kevin Whelan, who had opened DGW Amsterdam (c.1994), with Wieden+Kennedy as a client; Griffith and his family relocated so he could take on work, including many collaborations with Czar Films owner/director van de Ploeg (including Rolo’s “Elephant”) and his burgeoning relationship with van Heijningen. Griffith also began working with Tomato in London, including cutting the feature length Underground concert film of Everything Everything. He cut Destiny’s “Become Legend” (director: Joseph Kosinski, agency: 72andSunny), and worked with The Chemical Brothers, and continues the relationship, having recently edited “Don’t Think,” chronicling their live performance at Fuji Rock.
During a one-year stint at Final Cut, Griffith worked with Chris Cunningham and Traktor, Romain Gavras (notably cutting Adidas “All In” via Sid Lee), before starting his own company, Circus. Joining Union Editorial opened the door to the U.S., and Griffith’s work on The Thing, a feature film for Universal directed by van Heijningen, led to more longform assignments spanning documentaries, feature films and TV shows, the most recent being Brassic 4, which won Best Comedy Drama at the Royal Television Society Awards. He cut the feature doc, The Other Final, which took home the Banff Mountain Fest Best Documentary Grand Prize and Cannes Film Festival Special Mention Documentary Prize.
Griffith has also worked with filmmakers James Mangold, Peter Thwaites, Wayne McClammy, Ruben Fleischer, Madonna, Hamish Rothwell, Albert Kodagolian, and many more. Additional awards and honors include Eurobeat Grand Prix, EPICA Epica d’Or, numerous Cannes Lions Gold, ADC Gold, ANDY Gold, Addy Gold, Clio Editing Gold, D&AD Yellow Pencil, and Int’l ANDY Gold Editing.
Griffith moved to L.A. earlier this year.