Merman has signed director James Griffiths for U.K. representation spanning commercials and branded content. He had been repped in the U.K. by Moxie Pictures, which continues to handle him in the U.S. ad market.
Griffiths is a seasoned storyteller whose work encompasses commercial and long-form filmmaking. In the commercialmaking space, Griffiths has directed campaigns for brands including Adidas, Warburtons, Barclays, Strongbow and Virgin Media, earning recognition for his distinctive comedic voice and emotionally resonant storytelling.
Griffiths has also built an impressive body of work in television as a writer, director and showrunner. His credits include directing multiple episodes of the critically acclaimed series Episodes, starring Matt LeBlanc, Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig, as well as helming pilots and key episodes of hit shows including black-ish, Wrecked and Cooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving Life.
Most recently, Griffiths served as a lead director on the second season of the BAFTA-winning series Bad Sisters (produced by Merman). His latest feature film, The Ballad of Wallis Island–a critically acclaimed and deeply affecting work starring Tim Key, Tom Basden and Carey Mulligan–received high praise from British screenwriter, producer and director Richard Curtis, who called it “one of the greatest British films of all time.” The Ballad of Wallis Island was earlier this year nominated for three BAFTA Film Awards–Outstanding British Film of the Year, Best Adapted Screenplay (Basden and Key) and Best Supporting Actress (Mulligan). It was originally developed as a short proof-of-concept before being expanded into a feature last year.
Sharon Horgan, Merman co-founder, said, “I’ve been working with Griff on and off for years in the U.S. and U.K. and it’s always been such a creative, fun and productive experience. I’m so excited to have him join the Merman Branded family. Looking forward to dreaming up new projects and working together a lot more in the future.”
Griffiths said, “I’ve had the joy of working with Sharon and Merman in long form for many years and it has always been such a creatively fulfilling and rewarding experience. I’m very excited about the opportunity to work with her incredibly dynamic commercial team run by Siobhan [Murphy, partner/EP] and Spencer [Dodd, managing partner].”
