Megan Griffiths (born April 22, 1975) is an American film and television director who resides in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, and is a board member of

Northwest Film Forum The Northwest Film Forum (NWFF) is an nonprofit independent art house cinema and film-focused organization in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. that hosts screenings, multiple film festivals, film workshops, and public events. History In la ...

Early life and education

Megan Griffiths was born in Ohio, lived in

Moscow, Idaho Moscow ( ) is a city and the county seat of Latah County, Idaho. Located in the North Central Idaho, North Central region of the state along the border with Washington (state), Washington, it had a population of 25,435 at the 2020 United States ...

in her teens, attended Moscow High School, and was an undergraduate at the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

where she earned a B.A. in visual communications in 1997. She received an MFA in Film Production from

Ohio University Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...

School of Film in 2000.

Career

Film

Griffiths wrote and directed her first feature film, ''First Aid For Choking'', which was released in 2003."‘Lucky Them’ brings director Megan Griffiths’ career into focus"
Seattle Times, November 3, 2013 Griffiths subsequently worked as a producer and first assistant director on features in and around Seattle including ''

Zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

'', ''

The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle ''The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle'' is a 2009 American dark comedy written and directed by David Russo (filmmaker), David Russo. It stars Marshall Allman as Dory, an unusually religious young man who, after losing his job as an IT manage ...

'', '' The Catechism Cataclysm'', and '' Your Sister's Sister''. Her second feature '' The Off Hours'' world premiered at the 2011

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

and went on to receive a nomination at the 2011

Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards, originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards, and later as the Film Independent Spirit Awards, are awards presented annually in Santa Monica, California, to independent filmmakers. Founded in ...

for Ben Kasulke's cinematography. Griffiths released '' Eden'' in 2012. The film starred

Jamie Chung Jamie Jilynn Chung (born April 10, 1983) is an American actress and former reality television personality. She began her career in 2004 as a cast member on the MTV reality series '' The Real World: San Diego'' and subsequently through her appea ...

Matt O'Leary Matthew Joseph O'Leary (born July 6, 1987) is an American actor. He made his debut in the made-for-television Disney Channel Original film '' Mom's Got a Date with a Vampire'' (2000), and would go on to star in the thriller ''Domestic Disturbanc ...

and

Beau Bridges Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III (born December 9, 1941) is an American actor. He is a three-time Emmy Award, Emmy, two-time Golden Globe Award, Golden Globe and one-time Grammy Award winner, as well as a two-time Screen Actors Guild Award nomine ...

, and it told a story about a human trafficking survivor. 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." The following year she released a comedy titled '' Lucky Them''. The film, shot in Seattle, starred

Toni Collette Toni Collette (born Collett; 1 November 1972) is an Australian actress, singer, and songwriter. Known for her work in television, blockbusters and independent films, her accolades include a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award, wit ...

, along with

Thomas Haden Church Thomas Haden Church (born Thomas Richard McMillen; June 17, 1960) is an American actor. After starring in the 1990s sitcom '' Wings'' and playing the lead for two seasons in ''Ned & Stacey'' (1995–1997)'','' Church became known for his film work ...

Oliver Platt Oliver Platt (born January 12, 1960) is an American actor known for his work on stage and screen. He has been nominated for five Primetime Emmys, a Golden Globe Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and one Tony Award. Following his acting deb ...

, and a cameo by

Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Johnny Depp, multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for ...

. It premiered in the Special Presentation section at the

2013 Toronto International Film Festival The 38th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 5 and 15, 2013. ''The Fifth Estate (film), The Fifth Estate'' was selected as the opening film and ''Life of Crime (film), Life o ...

. Griffiths wrote and directed '' The Night Stalker'', in which

Lou Diamond Phillips Louis Diamond Phillips (né Upchurch; born February 17, 1962) is an American actor, director, and writer. His breakthrough came when he starred as Ritchie Valens in the biographical drama film '' La Bamba'' (1987). For his performance as Angel ...

played American serial killer

Richard Ramirez Ricardo Leyva Muñoz Ramirez (; February 29, 1960 – June 7, 2013), better known as Richard Ramirez, was an American serial killer and sex offender whose killing spree occurred in Greater Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area in the ...

. The film co-starred

Bellamy Young Bellamy Young (born Amy Maria Young; February 19, 1970) is an American actress, producer and singer best known as Melody "Mellie" Grant on'' Scandal'' (2012–18), for which she won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress ...

and was acquired by

Lifetime Television Lifetime is an American basic cable channel that is part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, a subsidiary of A&E Networks, which is jointly owned by Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company. It features programming that is geared toward ...

. It aired on June 12, 2016. Her sixth feature '' Sadie'' starred Sophia Mitri Schoss,

Melanie Lynskey Melanie Jayne Lynskey ( ; born 16 May 1977) is a New Zealand actress. Known for her portrayals of complex women and her command of American accents, she works predominantly in independent films and television. She is the recipient of numerous ...

, John Gallagher, Jr.,

Tony Hale Anthony Russell Hale (born September 30, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He is most known for his comedic leading roles in the Fox series '' Arrested Development'' as Buster Bluth, and as Gary Walsh on the HBO series '' Veep''. For the ...

, Danielle Brooks, Tee Dennard, and Keith L. Williams. It premiered at the 2018

SXSW Film Festival South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has continued growing in both s ...

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

said, "writer-director Megan Griffiths’ quietly absorbing and methodically disquieting drama is a genuine rarity." ''I'll Show You Mine'' directed by Griffiths and starring

Poorna Jagannathan Poorna Jagannathan ( ; born December 22, 1972) is an American producer and actress. She is known for her portrayal of Safar Khan in the HBO drama miniseries '' The Night Of'', as well as for her role as Nalini Vishwakumar in the Netflix teen come ...

and Casey Thomas Brown had its debut at

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is a film festival held annually in Seattle, Washington, United States, since 1976. It usually takes place in late May and/or early June. It is one of the largest festivals in the world, and feature ...

on April 16, 2022. ''I'll Show You Mine'' was acquired by

Gravitas Ventures Gravitas Ventures is an American film distribution company owned by Shout! Studios. The company was founded by Nolan Gallagher in Los Angeles in 2006, and moved its headquarters from Los Angeles to Cleveland in 2019. It focuses on the distribu ...

and released in theaters and on demand on June 23, 2023. Her eighth film, ''Year Of The Fox'', written by Eliza Flug, also premiered at

on May 13, 2023. The cast includes

Sarah Jeffery Sarah Marie Jeffery (born April 3, 1996) is a Canadian actress and singer. She may be best known for portraying Maggie Vera, one of the lead characters on The CW's reboot series ''Charmed'' (2018-2022), or her previous work as a child actress po ...

, Jane Adams, Lexi Simonsen, Jake Weber, and

Balthazar Getty Paul Balthazar Getty (; born January 22, 1975) is an American actor and musician, and a member of the Getty family. His acting debut was in ''Lord of the Flies'' (1990) as Ralph. He went on to appear in '' Lost Highway'' (1997) and had a recurrin ...

. ''Year Of The Fox'' won Best Directing and Best Feature at the 2023 Catalina Film Festival. It was acquired by

Electric Entertainment Electric Entertainment, Inc. is an American independent television and media production company, established in 2001 by veteran writer/producer Dean Devlin and led by Devlin along with partners Marc Roskin and Rachel Olschan. History Electri ...

in February, 2024. The short film ''View From The Floor'', directed by Griffiths and Mindie Lind and animated by Joe Garber, premiered at the 2025

in the Documentary Shorts Program on January 25th, 2025.

Television

In 2017, Griffiths directed two episodes of ''

Room 104 ''Room 104'' is an American anthology television series created by Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass, first broadcast on HBO between 2017 and 2020. Premise Set in a single room of an American roadside motel, each episode explores different character ...

'' broadcast on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

. "Missionaries" premiered September 8, 2017, and "The Fight" premiered on October 6, 2017. Both episodes were written by

Mark Duplass Mark David Duplass (born December 7, 1976) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and musician. With his brother Jay Duplass, he started the film production company Duplass Brothers Productions in 1996, for which they wrote and directed ''The ...

. "Missionaries" was nominated for a 2018

GLAAD Media Award The GLAAD Media Award is a US accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding portrayals of LGBTQ people and the issues that affect their lives. In addition to film and television, the Awards ...

in the "Outstanding Individual Episode" category for its portrayal of two Latter Day Saints companions who begin to question their stereotypes on sexuality. Later that year, Griffiths directed one episode of

Epix MGM+ (formerly known as Epix; pronounced ''epics'' and stylized as eᴘix), is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by the MGMPlus Entertainment subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), which is itself a subsidiary ...

series '' Graves'' starring

Nick Nolte Nicholas King Nolte (; born February 8, 1941) is an American actor. Known for his leading man roles in both dramas and romances, he has received a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for three Academy Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award. Nol ...

and

Sela Ward Sela Ann Ward (born July 11, 1956) is an American actress. Her breakthrough TV role was as Teddy Reed in the NBC drama series ''Sisters'' (1991–96), for which she received her first Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama ...

titled "They Die Happier" which premiered on December 3, 2017. Griffiths directed one episode of

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

series '' Animal Kingdom'' titled "Prey" and starring

Ellen Barkin Ellen Rona Barkin (born April 16, 1954) is an American actress. Her breakthrough role was in the 1982 film ''Diner'', and in the following years, she had starring roles in films such as '' Tender Mercies'' (1983), '' Eddie and the Cruisers'' (1 ...

. "Prey" premiered on June 26, 2018. Four shows directed by Griffiths aired in 2019. First was "Like A F-ing God Or Something", Episode 6 of '' The Society'' on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

. It premiered on May 10, 2019. Her second television job that year was a return to '' Animal Kingdom''. Griffiths directed "Tank" which aired on June 18, 2019. Her third show that year was Episode 6 of

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

's ''

Looking For Alaska ''Looking for Alaska'' is a 2005 Young adult literature, young adult novel by American author John Green. Based on his time at the private Indian Springs School, Green wrote the novel in order to create meaningful young adult fiction. While he d ...

'', "We Are All Going", which aired on October 18, 2019, and starred Kristine Froseth. Finally she directed one episode of the

Fox Broadcasting Company Fox Broadcasting Company, LLC (commonly known as Fox; stylized in all caps) is an Television in the United States, American commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast television broadcaster, television network serving as the flagship proper ...

series ''

Prodigal Son The Parable of the Prodigal Son (also known as the parable of the Two Brothers, Lost Son, Loving Father, or of the Forgiving Father; ) is one of the parables of Jesus in the Bible, appearing in Luke 15:11–32. In Luke 15, Jesus tells this stor ...

'' titled "All Souls And Sadists" and broadcast on October 28, 2019. Griffiths directed one episode of

USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...

series ''Dare Me'' starring Herizen Guardiola and

Willa Fitzgerald Willa Fitzgerald (born January 17, 1991) is an American actress. She is known for her starring role as Emma Duval in MTV's '' Scream''. She has played cheer coach Colette French in the USA Network's television drama series '' Dare Me'' and offi ...

titled "Fog Of War" which aired on March 1, 2020. She also directed two episodes of the

series ''Trinkets'' starring

Brianna Hildebrand Brianna Hildebrand (born ) is an American actress. She is best known for appearing as Negasonic Teenage Warhead in the films '' Deadpool'' (2016), ''Deadpool 2'' (2018), and '' Deadpool & Wolverine'' (2024). She is also known for appearing in t ...

titled "Same Time Last Year" and "Black Friday" which both aired on Aug 25, 2020. She directed two episodes of

Amazon Studios Amazon MGM Studios is an American film and television production and distribution company owned by Amazon, and headquartered at the Culver Studios complex in Culver City, California. Launched on November 16, 2010, it took its current name on O ...

show ''Panic''. Episode 7 titled "Trust" and episode 8 titled "Returns" both premiered on May 28, 2021. Griffiths next directed episode eight in season one of

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

series '' Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin''. The episode, written by Michael Grassi & Stasia Demick, was titled "Chapter Eight: Bad Blood" and it aired August 18, 2022. In 2023, Griffiths served as the producing director of

Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

series ''The Summer I Turned Pretty'' (TV series), season 2, starring

Lola Tung Lola Tung (born October 28, 2002) is an American actress, singer and model. She is known for her performance as Isabel "Belly" Conklin in the Amazon Prime Video series '' The Summer I Turned Pretty'', based on the novel of the same name by Jenny ...

, Christopher Briney, and Gavin Casalegno. She directed episode 7: "Love Affair" aired Aug 11, 2023, and episode 8: "Love Triangle" aired Aug 18, 2023.

Awards

*2011 Emergent Narrative Female Director audience award,

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

*2012 '' The Stranger''

Genius Award The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and ...

for Film *2013 ''City Arts'' magazine Film Artist of the year. *2015 Seattle Mayor's Award for Outstanding Achievement in Film *2018 Gryphon Award,

Giffoni Film Festival The Giffoni International Film Festival is an Italian children's film festival which takes place annually in Giffoni Valle Piana, Campania. It began in 1971. The Giffoni International Film Festival typically has around 100,000 guests and has ...

Filmography

Television

*''$5 Cover: Seattle'' (2010) – First Assistant Director *''

'' (2017) – Director, Season 1, Episode 7: "Missionaries" *''

'' (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" *''

'' (2019) – Director, Episode 6: "We Are All Going" *''

'' (2019) – Director, Season 1, Episode 6: "All Souls And Sadists" *'' 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" *''

Panic Panic is a sudden sensation of fear, which is so strong as to dominate or prevent reason and logical thinking, replacing it with overwhelming feelings of anxiety, uncertainty and frantic agitation consistent with a fight-or-flight reaction. ...

'' (2021) – Director, Season 1, Episode 7: "Trust" *''

'' (2021) – Director, Season 1, Episode 8: "Returns" *'' Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin'' (2022) – Director, Season 1, Chapter 8: "Bad Blood" * ''The Summer I Turned Pretty'' (TV series) (2023) – Director, Season 2, Episode 7: "Love Affair" * ''The Summer I Turned Pretty'' (TV series) (2023) – Director, Season 2, Episode 8: "Love Triangle"

Films

*''Shag Carpet Sunset'' (2002) – Director of Photography *''First Aid for Choking'' (2003) – Writer/Director/Producer *''Urban Scarecrow'' (2006) – Cinematographer *'' We Go Way Back'' (2006) – First Assistant Director *''

The Guatemalan Handshake ''The Guatemalan Handshake'' is a 2006 comedy-drama film, written and directed by Todd Rohal. It is Rohal's feature film debut. The film premiered at the 2006 Slamdance Film Festival and won the Special Jury Prize. Story In the confusion follo ...

'' (2006) – Producer/First Assistant Director *''June and July'' (2006) – First Assistant Director *''

'' (2007) – Assistant Director *''

Cthulhu Cthulhu is a fictional cosmic entity created by writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was introduced in his short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published by the American pulp magazine ''Weird Tales'' in 1928. Considered a Great Old One within the pantheon ...

'' (2007) – First Assistant Director *''Butterfly Dreaming'' (2008) – First Assistant Director *''Moving'' (short) (2008) – Writer/Director *''

'' (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 *'' Rat Pack Rat'' (2014) – Producer *'' The Night Stalker'' (2016) – Director *'' Sadie'' (2018) – Writer/Director *''I'll Show You Mine'' (2022) – Director *''Year Of The Fox'' (2023) – Director *''View From The Floor'' (short) (2025) – Director

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffiths, Megan Ohio University alumni University of Idaho alumni Living people People from Moscow, Idaho Filmmakers from Seattle Film directors from Idaho American women film directors American women cinematographers American cinematographers 1975 births