Summer Griffiths, an Emmy-nominated executive producer who has spent the last decade developing and producing television series, documentaries, podcasts, and branded partnerships for the likes of Snapchat, Google, L’Oréal, and Comcast, has joined Spark & Riot as EP. Reporting to Spark & Riot founder Ana de Diego, Griffiths will lead the commercial side of the female-powered content production and management studio.
As Spark & Riot continues to expand into film and television, the time was right to hire a leader to help steer its commercial division. “Summer’s production background and ‘can-do’ attitude make her the perfect fit for us,” said de Diego. “We’re still a startup in many ways so I need partners who are willing and able to get their hands dirty and help out wherever they’re needed. That’s Summer.”
Prior to Spark & Riot, Griffiths rose through the ranks at established entertainment companies including Bunim Murray Productions, Propagate Content, and The Content Group (now Asylum Entertainment Group). Most recently, she served as VP at Scale Productions, where she helped brands make their mark through strategic use of influencers and premium narrative storytelling. Fruits of her labor there included the Children’s & Family Emmy-nominated YouTube Kids’ series Tab Time, starring Tabitha Brown, as well as The Black Beauty Effect for Xfinity, a three-part docuseries capturing the current evolution, revolution, and disruption taking place within the beauty industry.
“Ana is doing something novel with Spark & Riot. She pours time and dedication into quality talent, holds nothing short of premium standards at every stage of the process, and prioritizes impact initiatives,” said Griffiths. “She’s built a company that I not only admire but aspire to take to new heights by expanding our network and reaching into untapped markets in need of premium storytelling with a white-glove experience.”
Relative to her new career chapter at Spark & Riot, Griffiths shared, “While there’s a lot of crossover from my experience in TV development and production, I’m excited to dive into the rapid waters of advertising on a global scale,” said Griffiths. “Spark & Riot grants access to cross continental collaboration, lending ample opportunity to garner and harness talent that we don’t tap into enough in the U.S. I’m enthusiastic to package premium storytelling, whether it’s in 30 seconds on the commercial side or 30 minutes within Spark & Riot’s blooming TV and film division.”
Spark & Riot manages a roster of 15 directors mostly based in Europe, who bring their soup-to-nuts creative mindset to the U.S. market. With every client and bid it procures, Spark & Riot carves out a portion of its team’s time and budget to shoot content for nonprofit organizations that have included Ukraine Express, Inside Out Writers (LA), Fundación Origen (Mexico), and Single Step (Bulgaria).
