John Godfrey
Movie Poster Designer & Visual Artist
John Godfrey is an award-winning Canadian movie poster designer, visual artist, and creative director based in Hamilton, Ontario (#hamont). He has created over 200 official movie posters for film studios, distributors, and independent filmmakers, with clients including SundanceNow, Entertainment One, and the National Film Board of Canada. His film advertising work has been recognized internationally, including the jury award for movie poster design at the 2024 SXSW Film & TV Festival, two Entertainment Clio Awards, five Graphis Awards, and a Golden Trailer Award.
His clients also span recording artists and cultural figures like A-Trak, Mike Garson, Tom Green, and Tyson Beckford, along with music labels and brands including Sony Music, Warner Music Group, Adobe, and The Los Angeles Times.
His design work is informed by a career spanning many corners of the entertainment industry - from VFX Producer and Title Designer to First Assistant Art Director and Executive Producer - giving him an end-to-end understanding of how films are made. He is also a voting member of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.
Approach
Alongside his movie poster work, John maintains a multidisciplinary art practice that draws on references from pop culture, advertising, and entertainment to playfully subvert, question, and repurpose the conflicting messages these present-day icons disseminate across generations. His work resides at the intersection of digital art, motion, illustration, and object-based pieces, imbued with irony and a wry sense of humour.
He has created over three dozen screening posters for Toronto’s legendary Revue Cinema, and his limited-edition print releases include work with Hero Complex Gallery, Layered Butter, and Bottleneck Gallery, where both of his releases sold out in minutes. Godfrey’s artwork has been licensed for limited-edition Collective Arts cans distributed to dozens of countries worldwide, and two of his large-scale digitally-printed murals have been displayed at Jackson Square and the Hamilton Farmers Market in Hamilton, Ontario.
Speaking & Consultation
John speaks and lectures on movie poster design and film marketing for festivals, film schools, and industry events. He also takes on consulting engagements - brought in by agencies and studios to help guide creative direction for entertainment and brand campaigns. Get in touch.
Awards
- SXSW Jury Award
- Entertainment Clio Award x2
- Graphis Award x5
- Golden Trailer Award
- RGD Social Good Award x2
Publications
- AOL Daily Finance
- Adobe Blog
- Digital Arts
- Film Independent
- Film Music Daily
- Inc Magazine
- LogoLounge 10
- LogoLounge 11
- Photoshop User Magazine
- ScreenAnarchy
- The Film Stage
- The Hamilton Spectator
- Web Design Index 6
- Web Design Index 8
Clients
- 1091 Pictures
- 20th Digital
- 300 Entertainment
- A-Trak
- AFI Conservatory
- Adobe
- Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
- Canadian Film Centre
- Entertainment One
- Focus Features
- Level Film
- Los Angeles Times
- Mike Garson
- Ministry Of Sound
- Monstercat
- Moving Picture Institute
- Myriad Pictures
- National Film Board of Canada
- New Metric Media
- Ontario Science Centre
- Revue Cinema
- Shaftesbury Films
- Sinking Ship Entertainment
- Sony Music
- SundanceNow
- Tom Green
- Tyson Beckford
- Warner Music Group
- Wattpad
