Award-winning Film Editor Jono Griffith Joins Work Editorial

Work Editorial has signed award-winning editor Jono Griffith – and the editing house has got one of the most fascinating ‘origin stories’ in the industry.

When you ask an editor how they first got into the game - few can floor you with their response like Jono Griffith. 

Affectionately known by many as 'Sir Jono', Griffith's earliest memory of editing was playing with the synchroniser in his father's Soho cutting room. When your father was the British character actor and documentary film maker Kenneth Griffith...and your mother a talented actress and great granddaughter of William Haggar, the pioneering filmmaker attributed with cutting in the first close up, first camera pan and first police chase in 1902 - of course it seems like the right career choice.  

As a youngster, working on one of his father's documentaries about Nehru Gandhi, Griffith watched its editor Reena Mohan bring the film to life on a 16mm Steenbeck in a back shed somewhere in Delhi. He remarks how her shed was a calm and creative oasis - something Griffith still tries to provide to his clients today.

During Griffith's early days in Amsterdam working with Czar Films owner / Director, Rogier van de Ploeg, their iconic Rolo 'Elephant' commercial won the Grand Prix at Cannes. It was here that Griffith also met Matthijs van Heijningen. Now a closely linked partnership, they've been a formidable pairing, raking in awards from the Cannes Grand Prix to a D&AD Yellow Pencil for Editing. Three of The Gunn Report's top twenty most influential commercials are those he has worked on with Matthijs: Canal+ 'Bear' and 'Closet, and Peugeot 'Sculptor'.  

Through his mainly freelance career with stints at Final Cut, Union Editorial and his own edit company Circus, Griffiths has also collaborated both in UK and US with Directors such as Romain Gavras, Joe Kosinski, Chris Cunningham, Peter Thwaites, Traktor, Wayne McClammy, Nick Gordon, James Brown and Ruben Fleischer. High profile campaigns have included Call of Duty, Gatorade, Samsung, Google, Playstation, Carlsberg, Kia, Lexus and Ebay.  

Griffith's broad sphere of influence has not only covered commercials. From a Kessels Kramer documentary "The Other Final" where the two worst performing World Cup teams played each other, to a music feature for Underworld 'Everything Everything' and live visuals for The Chemical Brothers. More long form work has seen collaborations in features and TV series with Matthjis van Heijningen and Universal Pictures, Ben Gregor, Tim Kirkby, Warp Films and Vertigo Films. 

That weighty back catalogue and experience means that Work Editorial’s Jane Dilworth, Partner & Executive Producer, is thrilled to have Jono on board: "Jono is not only an extraordinary talent but a good friend who we have admired for a long time. He instinctively shares our work ethic for collaboration and creative excellence. Without a doubt, he will be a much valued, major force in our line-up,” she said.

For Jono, the distinct personality of Work was something he couldn’t resist: "I guess I am a bit shy of the bigger companies but Work Editorial, although quite large, is clearly different. It holds dear the values of creativity, passion and integrity...and I'm very proud to be part of it.”