Megan Griffiths

Griffiths was born in Ohio, lived in Moscow, Idaho in her teens, attended Moscow High School, and was an undergraduate at the University of Idaho where she earned a B.A. in visual communications in 1997.[1][2][4]

Griffiths received an MFA in Film Production from Ohio University School of Film in 2000.[1][3][5]

She wrote and directed her first feature film, First Aid For Choking, in 2003.[6] Griffiths subsequently worked as a producer and first assistant director on features in and around Seattle including Zoo, The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle, The Catechism Cataclysm, and Your Sister's Sister.[6] Her second feature The Off Hours world premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival[7] and went on to receive a nomination at the 2011 Independent Spirit Awards for Ben Kasulke's cinematography.[8]

Griffiths made Eden in 2012. The film starred Jamie Chung, Matt O'Leary and Beau Bridges, and it told a story about a human trafficking survivor.[9] The Stranger newspaper wrote, "Griffiths navigates the horrifying facts of her film with great respect," and her direction was described as "a veritable master class in how to make humane art out of inhumanity."[10]

The following year (2013) she directed a comedy titled Lucky Them. The film, shot in Seattle, starred Toni Collette, along with Thomas Haden Church, Oliver Platt, and a cameo by Johnny Depp.[11] It premiered in the Special Presentation section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.[12]

In 2016, Griffiths wrote and directed The Night Stalker, in which Lou Diamond Phillips played American serial killer Richard Ramirez.[13] The film co-starred Bellamy Young and was acquired by Lifetime Television.[14] It aired on June 12, 2016.[15]

Her sixth feature Sadie starred Sophia Mitri Schoss, Melanie Lynskey, John Gallagher, Jr., Tony Hale, Danielle Brooks, Tee Dennard, and Keith L. Williams. It premiered at the 2018 SXSW Film Festival. Variety said, "writer-director Megan Griffiths’ quietly absorbing and methodically disquieting drama is a genuine rarity."[16]

• 2011 Emergent Narrative Female Director audience award, South by Southwest[17]
• 2012 The Stranger Genius Award for Film[18]
• 2013 City Arts magazine Co-Artist of the year.[19]
• 2015 Seattle Mayor's Award for Outstanding Achievement in Film[20]
• 2018 Gryphon Award, Giffoni Film Festival[21]

• $5 Cover: Seattle (2010) — First Assistant Director
• Room 104 (2017) — Director, Season 1, Episode 7: "Missionaries"
• Room 104 (2017) — Director, Season 1, Episode 11: "The Fight"
• Graves (2017) — Director, Season 2, Episode 8: "They Die Happier"
• Animal Kingdom (2018) — Director, Season 3, Episode 5: "Prey"
• The Society (2019) — Director, Season 1, Episode 6: "Like a F-ing God or Something"
• Animal Kingdom (2019) — Director, Season 4, Episode 4: "Tank"
• Looking For Alaska (2019) — Director, Episode 6: "We Are All Going"
• Prodigal Son (2019) — Director, Season 1, Episode 6: "The Surgeon"
• Dare Me (2020) - Director, Season 1, Episode 9: "Fog of War"
• Trinkets (2020) - Director, Season 2, Episode 7: "Same Time Last Year"
• Trinkets (2020) - Director, Season 2, Episode 8: "Black Friday"

• Shag Carpet Sunset (2002) — Director of Photography[1]
• First Aid for Choking (2003) — Writer/Director/Producer
• Urban Scarecrow (2006) — Cinematographer
• We Go Way Back (2006) — First Assistant Director
• The Guatemalan Handshake (2006) — Producer/First Assistant Director
• June and July (2006) — First Assistant Director
• Zoo (2007) — Assistant Director[22]
• Cthulu (2007) — First Assistant Director
• Butterfly Dreaming (2008) — First Assistant Director
• Moving (short) (2008) — Writer/Director
• The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle (2009) — First Assistant Director
• The Day My Parents Became Cool (short) (2009) — First Assistant Director
• The Whole Truth (2009) — First Assistant Director
• Crimes of the Past (2009) — First Assistant Director
• Wrong Turn at Tahoe (2009) — First Assistant Director
• Eros (short) (2009) — Writer/Director
• Late Autumn (2010) — First Assistant Director
• The Catechism Cataclysm (2011) — Producer/Assistant Director/Casting Director
• The Off Hours (2011) — Writer/Director/Editor/Casting
• Eden (2013) — Writer/Director
• Lucky Them (2014) — Director[1]
• Rat Pack Rat (2014) — Producer
• The Night Stalker (2016) — Director
• Sadie (2018) — Writer/Director

• Megan Griffiths at IMDb