Jonathan Phillip Campbell (1875–1942) was an early pioneer in the motion picture industry. He was born to Harry Edgar Campbell, Jr. and Susan Heller Campbell in State College, Pennsylvania on March 30 1875.  Shortly after his birth, his family moved to Oakton, Virginia where his father worked as an architect.  

Campbell lived in Oakton until his late teens, when he moved to New Jersey to avoid being prosecuted for petty theft. His original intent was to find work in New York city. But, upon arriving in New Jersey, he became an employee of Thomas Edison, where he worked on many projects. After only a few months, Campbell established himself technically and worked extensively on the fine-tuning of Edison's motion picture camera with W.K. Dickson. Over the next several years, Campbell worked in Edison's Black Maria studio to advance the techology of the new motion picture medium. While there, Campbell's interest shifted from the technology of film to the creative uses of the technology.

Campbell's largest contribution to the medium was an artistic one dubbed cine-mosaic by French film theorists (years later); the technique of shooting and editing images that represent different meaning given the context in which they are placed. His most common and innovative use of this technique was in his ground breaking short film, The Big White Wall in 1902. Campbell went on to contribute to the art and technology of film for the rest of his life. He was shot to death in a Hollywood hotel room on August 6 1942 by Vivian Carlisle , an aspiring young actress he had refused to give a part to. Campbell had four children from his first marriage to Virginia Myers: Jonathan Jr., Mary, Joseph, and Marcus. He had several children from his two subsequent marriages and three children from his forth marriage to Julia Rebecca Zinck : Antonia, Orion, and Luray.