J.S. Phillips is the pseudonym of Phillip James Sieb, an Emmy award-winning filmmaker and author based out of Cleveland, Ohio. He is the owner of South of Springfield Productions and co-owner of Flatfish Publishing, using their respective platforms to tell stories of hope, courage, and determination of everyday people. 

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A graduate of Grand Valley State University with a B.A. in Communications and Film, Phillips first gained professional experience in the public media realm, serving as Station Manager for two public access television stations based out of the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Later, he moved to Los Angeles, California and worked for clients such as The Food Network, The History Channel, The Travel Channel, MTV, MSNBC, Oxygen, and others. He met his wife, Katie, and moved to Cleveland, where by 2023 made his return to public television when his documentary The Master Craftsman was picked up and aired by PBS, winning him his first Emmy Award. His followup, Witchy Boots, is slated to air on PBS this winter.

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As an author, Phillips has partnered with his childhood friend of over thirty years, artist Noelle Kaslly, to start an independent, boutique publishing company, Flatfish Publishing. With a mission statement to abstain from the use of artificial intelligence, the pair craft hand-painted, handwritten children's books. Merging Kaslly's beautiful, earthy watercolors with Phillips' elegant rhymes, Flatfish Publishing is commited to fact-based stories told through the lens of adventure and fantasy that focus on our planet's delicate ecosystems and humans' place among them. Their debut book, Whalesong, was released on October 15, 2025.