From Punchy YouTube Cuts to Glamour and Fashion: How Other NYC’s Griffin Rapp Brings Creativity to Life

For many parents, seeing their kid slumped on a couch whilst trash TV washes over them is not an indication of time well-spent. For Griffin Rapp, however, it was the start of an education.

It doesn’t take long talking to Other NYC’s assistant editor to figure out that he takes all aspects of the creative world seriously. Whilst you’re now likely to find him putting together a beautiful and head-turning piece of work starring the likes of Gigi Hadid, those childhood years spent in front of the TV gave him an appreciation for what happens when that quality and careful craftsmanship isn’t present. 

To find out what makes Griffin tick, LBB sat down with the assistant editor. Here, he reflects on the importance of encountering the industry early in life, why YouTube is such a great training ground for young editors, and how he discovered the secret to making creative work that’s always greater than the sum of its parts…. 

LBB> Griffin, let’s start at the beginning. What kind of a kid were you growing up, and at what point did you realise that a career in this industry was going to be right for you? 

Griffin> As a kid, I was very much a couch potato. If I were being generous, I’d say I was absorbing creative work - and not always the best creative work. We didn’t have cable, which meant I was raised on a strict diet of public TV. At the same time, however, my Dad worked at an ad agency. He had a lot of pride in his work and liked to put framed examples of it up on his office walls, which I’d visit a lot. That probably instilled a reverence or appreciation for what we do as an art form - I saw advertising as just as (if not more) worthy than what I was watching on TV, for example. 

And then there were all these interesting and great people that my Dad would work with. I felt like this was my tribe, you know. 

LBB> And have you got any of your own stuff up on your walls now? 

Griffin> Haha - I’d like to think my best work is very much still to come, so let’s say I’m currently building up to that. 

LBB> Was there a specific piece of work from that time which made you think ‘I want to make something like that’? 

Griffin> It was more of a snowball effect where I was able to see first-hand how much fun it can be, and how rewarding it was, to work in the creative world. Having said that, something which absolutely did make an impact on me was Saturday Night Live. 

What I really connected with about that show was that it felt like a group of crazy talented and creative people coming together and bouncing off each other to create something that was unpredictable but often greater than the sum of its parts. That’s still a dynamic I love about working in this industry - and it’s awesome that I’m now in New York, where obviously that show still gets made. 

LBB> Although you’re still early in your career, you’ve already built up a lot of experience in editing for YouTube. Do you think there’s such a thing as a ‘YouTube editing style’, and to what extent has an understanding of that style been helpful to you in your commercial work? 

Griffin> Yeah - it’s way less buttoned up. Being successful on YouTube is impossible without an understanding of branding. From your thumbnail images to your watermarks and making sure you’re using the same font at all times, being a successful Youtuber is all about being a great brand manager. 

Another useful thing that YouTube has taught me, and I guess this is a slightly unfortunate lesson, is that your favourite content isn’t always going to be your most popular. Sometimes, you need to sacrifice some of your own taste in order to account for what’s going to help make a specific project more successful. 

However, there’s just so much more technicality and quality control in the world of commercials. And that’s a good thing. But the biggest thing that I miss from YouTube culture is the immediacy of it. You’d work really hard on something for a few weeks, release it, and then you’re getting feedback and reactions from the community within seconds. Whereas with advertising, we can be working on something for months and that feedback loop doesn’t really exist. So they are different worlds, for sure. 

LBB> So do you think YouTube is a good place for people to learn their editing craft? 

Griffin> Oh, definitely. I would recommend that any editor uses it as a means of getting work out there and seen. Find out what people respond to. And the simple act of playing around with footage that isn’t yours is how you build up those muscles and get used to the decision-making process that editors go through every day. 

LBB> Since you joined up with Other NYC last year, have there been any projects which stand out in your memory as especially significant or memorable? If so, why? 

Griffin> Yeah, there are two which especially stand out. The first is the Break Free campaign which was very memorable firstly because it featured two major Maybelline talents in Gigi Hadid & Storm. But on top of that it was set in SOHO [an area of New York not far from Other NYC’s office], and was shot by Jasper Soloff.

Jasper is a director who’s around my age and had some very cool effects work. The best part about working with Other is we handle pretty much everything in house with a crazily good VFX team. 

And the second which comes to mind is a fashion shoot we did, followed by a quick turn-around edit, for MONSE back during fashion week. That was an interesting changeup from what we usually do. It was pretty funny to see a post-production team out on a shoot, and excited about everything new there. 

LBB> We’re currently living through a time where content is everywhere, and it feels as though the demand for more is not slowing down. Amidst such a saturated climate, where do you find your inspiration?

Griffin> It is kind of essential to keep up with current shows and movies. For me, the best place to start looking right now is HBO because it releases on a weekly basis, and in doing so is keeping the community aspect of TV alive. 

Also, I’ll admit I am beholden to the ratings online either Rotten Tomatoes or IMDB as filtration devices. Don’t waste your life on anything rated 5/10! 

Additionally, Instagram is a great hub for creatives and to get a sense for an agency. Editors post a lot of their work there and any other projects they may be working on. Also, as wrong as it can sometimes feel, AI is getting much better at suggesting different and new people you may never have seen. 

LBB> Finally, imagine you had the power to travel back in time and give one piece of advice to your younger self. What would it be, and why?

Griffin> This one is simple - I’d encourage myself, or any young person in the arts, to make more. Don’t wait. Just join a group or a club and make sure you’re engaging with other artists who push you to be better.