After graduating from School of Visual Arts in New York City, Griles began his professional career in 1965 in advertising at Doyle, Dane, Bernbach Advertising as an Art Director. In 1972 he became creative director for the National Hockey League and served as editor and creative director of Goal Magazine and Executive Producer of NHL Films. In 1975 he created People and Properties, a sports and entertainment marketing company and in 2002 he founded Timing Is Everything Productions, a multi-media creative marketing company. In 1979 he began directing music videos for musical groups such as Deep Purple and Rainbow. He also directed videos for a group called Blue Angel, which included band member Cyndi Lauper. In 1983, Griles directed Lauper's first video release as a solo artist; "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". In 1984 he was nominated as director of the year at the MTV VMA's for his video for "Time After Time". Also in 1984, he was awarded the title, director of the year, at the Billboard Awards for the video "Girls Just Want to Have Fun".
Television producer
Griles produced the first ESPY Awards in 1993 and the first and second MTV Video Music Awards. Griles was also the producer for the TV show Welcome Home America featuring Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra and Arnold Schwarzenegger performing in front of Presidents George H. W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford and a contingent of 4500 returning troops from the 1991 Gulf War. American Heroes - A Sunday evening anthology series centered on sports topics and personalities. In 1996 Griles began a 3-year stint as producer of Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA. At that time the show was owned by Madison Square Garden, a division of Paramount. To help boost ratings, Griles hired Marla Maples Trump as the host of the shows. Griles was instrumental in the sale of Miss Universe to Donald Trump and worked for him in 1998. In 1998 Griles co-executive produced the 26th Anniversary of Catch a Rising Star. In 2004 he created and produced AutoRox, the first Automotive Awards show ever televised. In 2004 he also created and produced the Ultimate Chop, the Biker Build-Off Awards. He produced 30 Seconds Over Washington for HBO an interstitial series starring Bill Maher and Dennis Miller. He served as co-executive producer with Rick Newman on Comedy Central's "USO Comedy Tour". This series appeared in 1991 and 2002. Directed an episode of Shelley Duvall's Tall Tales & Legends. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow starring Ed Begley, Jr., Charles Durning and Beverly D'Angelo. Co-Executive Producer of the animated feature "Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw". Associate Producer of Herman Wouk's The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial directed by Robert Altman. In 2008, Griles produced an illumination for the Grand Opening of Atlantis, The Palm and the Palm Islands in Dubai.
