Director Sam Jones, whose diverse credits span breakthrough commercials, music clips, episodic TV and documentary filmmaking, has joined harvest for representation across multiple platforms, including spots, branded content and videos.
In the ad arena, Jones has helmed national commercials for Skype, Sonos, Canon, Target and Dove. His Foo Fighters’ “Walk” won MTV’s music video of the year and he has directed clips for performers including Mumford and Sons, Tom Petty, John Meyer and Cold War Kids. For the latter, Jones directed the “I’ve Seen Enough” music video which infused live action with interactive technology, winning assorted honors including an 2010 AICP Show Next Award.
As for longer form fare, Jone’s first feature-length documentary, I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, chronicled indie rock band Wilco as it made its lauded fourth album, “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.” Rolling Stone named I Am Trying To Break Your Heart the fifth best rock film of all time. More recently, Jones directed the feature-length Showtime documentary Lost Songs: The Basement Tapes Continued, a film that re-examines Bob Dylan’s “Basement Tapes” and documents new recordings of lost Dylan lyrics by artists including Elvis Costello, Marcus Mumford and others in the historic Capitol Records Studios. Dylan himself narrated the documentary.
On the TV front, Jones directed the ABC series Cougar Town and is now slated to helm episodes of Cameron Crowe’s upcoming Showtime series Roadies.
In 2013, Jones launched Off Camera With Sam Jones on DirecTV’s Audience Network. The weekly hour-long show, now entering its third season, features Jones’ conversational interviews with artists, actors and musicians who fascinate and inspire him. Among those appearing on the series have been Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Aubrey Plaza, Dave Grohl, Jessica Chastain, Judd Apatow, Aimee Mann, Laura Dern, Jeff Bridges, Will Farrell, Matt Damon and Don Cheadle.
Jones made his first industry mark as a still photographer. Over the years his photographs have graced the covers of such publications as Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Esquire, GQ, Time and Entertainment Weekly. His work for these magazines have included seminal portraits of President Obama, George Clooney, Bob Dylan, Robert Downey Jr., Amy Adams, Kristin Stewart, and Jack Nicholson. Jones’ photos have earned awards from American Photography, Communication Arts and Life magazine’s Eisie award. Jones’ image for the cover of Wilco’s aforementioned “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” was published in “The Greatest Album Covers of All Time.” His collection of candid celeb portraiture, "The Here and Now: The Photographs of Sam Jones," was published by Harper Collins. Other published works include "Non-Fiction," a collection of cinematic portraiture, and "Some Where Else," a photographic book and musical collaboration with musician Blake Mills.
Prior to joining harvest, Jones had been handled for commercials and videos, respectively, by RSA and its sister shop Blackdog Films since 2011. Prior to that he was repped by Tool of North America, which produced the Cold War Kids’ “I’ve Seen Enough” interactive music video.
Signing Jones marks a new chapter for harvest which is reinvigorating its brand by reconstructing a roster that’s anchored by director Baker Smith. Executive producer Bonnie Goldfarb and Smith founded harvest in the spring of 2001. Goldfarb first met Jones at harvest’s inception and while they never formally collaborated until now, the two formed a mutual respect and admiration which led to their coming together at this key juncture. Already Jones has wrapped a project for San Francisco agency Heat, his first job at harvest.
