2015 & 2016...
THE start... of ummmmmm. Something(?)
Formed in late 2015, Sushi Grade Media originated as a "Bar tabs and Vacation, LLC." The team? Well, 'twas a team of one. Founder Ryan Griffiths got approved for a credit card with a $5,000 limit, applied for an LLC on LegalZoom, bought a computer and a used Canon 7D and boom, Sushi Grade Media was born.
Initially, the goal was simple: Earn just enough money away from the corporate producer gig at NBC and Golf Channel to take a few extra weekends away and maybe take care of an extra night out or two a month. Nothing more, nothing less. A bar tabs and vacation LLC.
After all, his day job was keeping him plenty busy. Griffiths led production teams as Senior Producer on many of the network's flagship originals like Feherty and The Big Break in addition to serving as a producer/director/editor on Golf Films' slate of award winning documentaries.
However, on the Sushi Grade side the plate was a little less full to start:
2020 - and Beyond...
TWENTY SEVENTEEN saw a little more growth, as did '18 and '19 respectively. Then 2020 hits, the world shuts down and Griffiths' corporate gig turns out to be not such a long term plan (See: COVID inspired lay offs). So with his time in the corporate world expiring in late 2020, and just enough on the plate at Sushi to justify a living, he made the call to make the side thing the main thing.
In late 2022, Griffiths and long time friend / super editor-post guy Max Miller hatched a plan that would add a whole new dimension to the operation. Miller's outfit - MLM Productions - would be folded under the Sushi Grade banner. The addition of Miller, his back of house misfits and their post production know-how, firmed up an already strong rotation and morphed Sushi Grade into the full service shop it is today.
All of that in house, plus a worldwide network of hundreds of freelancers a text or email away, allow us to scale up or down at a moment's notice to meet the needs of any project, anywhere, any time.
Together, these teams have led the charge on projects alongside the likes of Tiger Woods, Dwayne Johnson, Peyton Manning, Jennifer Lopez, Macklemore, Ludacris, Will.I.am, Jon Rahm, Darius Rucker, Rory McIlroy, CeeDee Lamb, Novak Djokavic and many more in addition to powerhouse brands like The NFL, Adobe, EA, AON, Augusta National Golf Club, ESPN, NFL Network, NBC, Pebble Beach, AT&T, High Noon, Wagoneer, RBC, Rolex, BMW, the PGA of America, the USGA, The Olympics, Pepsi, Coach, WWE, Warner Bros., WM, Nike and NBC.
LEADERSHIP TEAM
ryan griffiths
FOUNDER
Ryan is an award winning, Emmy recognized media creator, executive producer and showrunner. Experienced in all aspects of high end, multi-platform media production from long form documentary films to reality series to :30 spots and everything in between.
Griffiths cut his teeth producing, writing and editing and while he still loves diving into a script or setting the perfect shot, his days now are primarily filled with the business side of things. Still, his creative influence steers many of the projects that come through the door.
When he's not behind a camera or monitor, in a pitch meeting, staring at timeline in an edit bay or scouring an invoice or budget, he stays busy being a father to the three best kids in the world and husband to a wife who puts up with his wild schedule.
When he's not chasing those four around, he loves an early tee time or a run at sunset.
max miller
PARTNER/HEAD OF POST
Who is Max? Pretty simple. A dude who does video awesome and then goes home and takes care of a bunch of kids with his partner in crime, Tasha. Max has been in the Advertisement & TV world since 2006, cutting his teeth at the Armed Forces Network before coming to Central Florida for college. He has been working non-stop since.
His blue chip talent is in editing, VFX and inspiring his team of creatives, but at his core Miller is simply obsessed with great storytelling. Whether he's producing and directing top athletes and actors or sitting in front of a computer screen making the footage come to life, his impact and creative touch can be seen on everything Sushi Grade does.
As important as his creative influence, Miller also played a key role in designing Sushi Grade's state of the art edit system. Spanning 13 bays and in house networked storage capacity of nearly 400 TB (and growing), our system is equipped to not only host our in-house creatives, but able to add producers and editors into the fold from all over the globe at the click of a button to work directly with media with little to no latency.
CARRIE GRIFFITHS
CO-FOUNDER/CFO
The brains of the operation and Ryan's better half, Carrie makes sure the lights stay on so that when the crew has a light bulb above the head idea, the power is on to see where it gets written down.
Prior to transitioning to her role at Sushi Grade in 2021 handling all things finance/HR, Carrie was an all-star Executive in the fin tech world managing multi-million dollar accounts and helping businesses thrive by designing tailor made working capital programs to meet their needs.
When she's not pouring through Paychex or making sure payroll is taken care of each pay period, Carrie is mom to Willa (3), Keegan (11) and McKenna (16), and is heavily involved in the Winter Park Parent Teacher Association and their fundraising and donor efforts.
AARON BEARDEN
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/VP OF OPS
"AB" brings over fifteen years of live TV and sports production experience at the highest level to Sushi Grade Media.
Before leading the charge at Golf Channel's Morning Drive as Coordinating Producer from 2013-2020, Aaron spent 6 years at ESPN honing his craft. He cut his teeth in roles across all shows before earning producing credits on flagship programs like SportsCenter and Baseball Tonight.
The World Series, The Open Championship, The Masters, U.S. Open, the Super Bowl - AB has covered and produced content for them all. We're happy to have him aboard to help make our client's content as marquee as the events Aaron built his career covering.
Away from the job, Aaron is a proud dad to his son Keene and daughter Ellie and doting husband to his wife, Emily. He has also played Augusta National Golf Club with legendary coach Lou Holtz once and will gladly tell you about it (spoiler alert he birdied the first).
FRANK BORDEN
SENIOR CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Our bi-lingual, producer, editor, shooter, graphics savant - Frank brings a dynamic skill set to our team.
As an editor and visual storyteller, Borden is as strong as anyone in the business and knows the Adobe Suite and the AVID systems top to bottom.
In the field, Frank has grown into a trusted and go-to Director of Photography to go along with his craftiness as an FAA 107 licensed drone pilot.
A key skill that doesn't exactly show up in a resume, however, is Borden's experience solving video and audio issues, skills he gained early in his career as one of Golf Channel's lead ingest technicians, that makes him an invaluable piece to our puzzle. When things pop up - and they will - Frank's calm and cool approach as a troubleshooter gives us a one of a kind asset that many production teams would kill for.
When he's not in the field or an edit bay, you can find Frank tearing up the hills of Clermont, FL, by foot or bike or avoiding gators swimming in Lake Minneola. An accomplished, sponsored triathlete, Borden is routinely among the top finishers in races throughout the United States. You can find his wife Sophia and son SySy (12) somewhere near the finish line waiting for Dad.
Borden also played Division I basketball at American University in a former life. They almost earned Cinderella status with a near upset of Villanova in the '09 NCAA Tournament.