JOJX Brings Creative Soul and Support to Production

For Jackson Morton and Joe Care, advertising wasn’t just familiar, it was personal.

Now founding partners and EPs at JOJX, the pair met in high school. Both growing up with director parents, the rhythms of the industry already felt like a second language upon entering it themselves – Jackson as a creative and Joe as a producer.

Having always heard their parents vent about production companies’ lack of support and creativity, they quickly noticed the same frustrations were still prevalent, motivating them to try to ‘reshape the world of production’ with their own production company, launched in 2020.

“Too often, creativity takes a back seat to the bottom line,” says Jackson. “We wanted to change that. So we built JOJX, pairing my agency background with Joe’s production know-how, to create a space that protects ideas, uplifts directors, and puts creativity first.

“We’ve always been instinctively protective – almost maternal – when it comes to supporting our filmmakers,” he adds. “Because at the end of the day, this industry needs creative soul over number crunchers.”

^{Above: Lexus - 'The Art of Anticipation' (prod. JOJX)}

While climbing the ranks in production, Joe had a front-row seat to the challenges directors face, emboldening them to build JOJX in a different, empathetic way. “We’ve created a company that’s deeply collaborative, creatively protective and director-first,” he says. “We’ve also built an in-house treatments and sales team from the start, because empowering directors from pitch to post is essential.”

EP and sales partner, Sevasti Buford also noticed that directors often feel “like siloed islands”, expected to create a genius vision with every project, regardless of their resources. For her, JOJX’s commitment to “endless creative support” is an “absolutely brilliant” solution, and one that brought her to the company last year.

“By fostering a more collaborative approach between directors, EPs, and writers, they’ve almost created an agency model, but tailored to directors,” she says. “One that focuses on putting the creative first.

“The mission has always been about finding talent with something meaningful to say and rooted in culture,” she adds. “We look for storytellers who aren’t just executors; all our new signings –Madeline [Clayton], Scott [Perry] and Jabu [Nadia Newman] – are ideas people who bring unique perspectives. For us, it’s about building a balanced roster where each director can work in their own lane – whether that’s documentary storytelling, visual comedy, technical work, or emotional narratives. This variety keeps the roster dynamic and future-proofs us.”

Jackson explains that the team is attracted to diversity, a philosophy that extends from the talent they hire to the types of projects and clients they take on. “We want directors who can work across genres, skill sets, and mediums. That’s why we also like working with clients who allow room for experimentation and trust us. We’re proud that 30% of our current roster identifies as diverse, which speaks to our commitment to represent more diverse talent and support emerging voices.”

“For us, it’s about telling stories with authenticity and depth, and that can only happen when we truly invest in talent that brings something different to the table,” says Sevasti. “Our mission is to elevate work that goes beyond clichés, is rooted in craft and provides a fresh perspective culturally, rather than just box-ticking.”

^{Above: Pure Leaf work directed by Paul Butterworth and produced by JOJX}

​Since joining JOJX in July 2024 after seven years at Stink Films, Sevasti has helped JOJX further this vision for the industry, getting the team involved with leading organisations like the AICP committee and the Young Director Award (YDA), which JOJX sponsored and was on the jury for this year. “Under her leadership, our directors feel empowered to thrive and explore unique career opportunities, while also producing impactful work for agencies and clients,” says Jackson.

While JOJX initially made its name producing D2C work and experimental automotive commercials for the likes of Lexus, Jackson says their interest today lies in creatively executing “visually stunning or technically challenging” ideas that they’ve conceived.

“It’s about backing directors who are looking to push boundaries and supporting them every step of the way,” he says, praising recent addition, Cannes-nominated director Madeline Clayton as an example. “With projects like Madeline’s ‘She Said So’, a short for Sean Baker’s Neon competition, we’re seeing the kind of non-traditional creatively-led work we want to champion.”

Building a roster that reflects this goal – one of creative ambition and high craft – has been Sevasti’s main focus since arriving last year. And this means offering hands-on support to directors at all stages of their careers, from emerging talent to established names.

To generate this trust and momentum, the JOJX team has been sourcing significant project opportunities and encouraging its directors to think beyond the commercial brief, she explains, “to explore new formats, long-form storytelling, and personal passion projects that can elevate their voice and profile.”

“We want to take creative risks,” adds Jackson, highlighting the importance of investing in ‘meaningful and expertly crafted’ storytelling. “We’re putting this at the forefront of our company strategy and it’s starting to pay off,” he says. “It’s always a pleasure to be recognised for our work. Oliver Würffell’s Anzen Health campaign was a special one for us and a great creative example. It’s a beautifully executed campaign with a human story at its core.” The film won five Cannes Lions in 2024.

Looking ahead to the rest of 2025 and beyond, Jackson shares that JOJX has just finished on several direct-to-brand projects with California Naturals, Amazon and Kraft, describing this method as a “really collaborative” process.

^{Above: Madeline Clayton's 'Anyone Can Be Super' for Amazon}

“Working directly with the client gives us a real opportunity to stretch our creative muscles and be more involved throughout,” he says. “We’ve actively embraced the process and been developing various client partnerships for all-in-one solutions. We develop ideas directly with brands and work with them so that they feel comfortable with us and understand what’s possible within the scope of production.”

So, Jackson and Joe’s dream of a production company that puts the creative soul first continues. And with Sevasti on board, JOJX’s dynamic, diverse roster is getting the support that directors have evidently been reaching out for, long before the high school friends founded the company, or even perhaps before their parents stood behind the camera too.