Jacky Winter NYC

What was your plan for graduating and what actually happened?

I had no plan. I honestly had no idea what I wanted to do after graduating.
I studied Multimedia Design at Swinburne and although there was something that compelled me to pursue a design degree, after three years of study, a few freelance gigs, a fun internship under my belt and a job offer as a junior designer at a post-production house, the thought of actually becoming a designer didn’t feel right at all. Instead, I went with my gut, took some time off, said yes to the first position in retail I could find and started performing in musicals (yes, musicals) which was something I’d always had an itch to try.
Six months in, I realised working in retail wasn’t for me and applied for an office job as an administrative assistant. I reached out to the director of XYZ Studios who I’d interned with as a designer while at Uni to ask if he’d be my reference and when he realised I wasn’t looking to pursue a career as a creative, he offered to hire me as a junior producer and studio manager. For a role I had no idea even existed, it was the perfect fit.

I stayed at XYZ for almost five years running the studio, learning under an excellent EP and mentor, Hamish Macdonald, and working alongside a talented team of directors, art directors, animators, illustrators, 3D specialists, editors and colourists to produce animated TV commercials for brands like Honda, McDonalds, Telstra and Birdseye in both Australia and beyond. I found so much reward in facilitating creative projects and especially somewhere as hands on as XYZ where there was a real emphasis on craft. Having the opportunity to work within a studio environment and face-to-face with such a diverse range of clients, creatives and personalities in the fast-paced throws of the advertising industry gave me a unique insight into how to get the best out of people which has been vital to my work now where collaboration mostly happens remotely.

Give us the elevator pitch on what you do.

Fast forward almost 10 years, I’m now a senior agent and producer at The Jacky Winter Group and head up our North American office in NYC. In a nutshell, The Jacky Winter Group is a creative representation and production agency. The agency was founded in Melbourne in 2007 by one of the most interesting and productive individuals I’ve ever worked with, Jeremy Wortsman. I know this is supposed to be an elevator pitch and I’m starting to ramble, but seriously, I’ve never met anyone with the ability to come up with a great idea and execute it as quickly as Jeremy can. Inspiring stuff.

As agents, we nurture the careers of the 100+ artists on our books and help them earn a commercial livelihood by introducing them to the best brands around and for our clients, we work alongside them to realise their vision and make the process seem like the easiest thing in the world. Full disclosure, I lifted this description almost verbatim from our website but I reckon it sums us up pretty well. Producing commercial commissions from brief to completion for the advertising, design, publishing and editorial industries is our lifeblood but we’re really just into making all kinds of good things happen.

I’ve been with Jacky Winter since 2012 and from our animation production company, Flutter and specialised GIF agency, Gif Horse, to our luxury guesthouse, Jacky Winter Gardens, and bricks-and-mortar gallery, Lamington Drive, run by the delightful Shena Jamieson, it’s pretty motivating to come to work each day and play a part in fostering a healthy industry for commercial artists and to help make the world a better looking place for everyone.

What does a typical working day include for you right now?

I moved to New York from my hometown of Melbourne a few months ago so I’m still getting used to the routine of a new city and working across two very opposite time zones so that our clients in the US don’t have to. I work from the studio of Point Five Design on East 25th in Manhattan who are my adopted work family away from home (miss you, #teamjackywinter!). Most days I’ll get to my desk around 10am and begin to negotiate the delicate balance of dealing with the reactive nature of my role as a producer managing any new briefs or enquiries that come in, and the proactive side of finding opportunities for our artists and refining our production processes so that we can do it all as efficiently as possible. Our agency philosophy is backed by a relentless pursuit to help make producing creative work easy so we’re constantly talking to our artists and clients about how we can better service them and then building the tools to make this happen.

My working day skips back and forth between new business development, artist management and production. Time spent at my desk is filled with some combination of talking, briefing, negotiating, quoting, emailing, cheerleading, translating, strategising, scheduling, match-making, guiding, filing, pseudo-art directing, editing, curating, chasing, documenting, problem solving, brainstorming, and riding a constant wave of adrenaline. I try and get out of the office as often as I can to meet with clients to take a brief in person or to introduce them to the ridiculously talented artists on our roster (who also happen to be some of the most wonderful people I have the pleasure of knowing).

No two days are the same and being so hands on in our role as creative producers has opened us up to working across a diverse range of briefs and industries. I might start the day getting some quick turnaround editorial spots or static advertising commissions started but by the afternoon and the time Australia and New Zealand come online, we’ll probably have touched on a brief to direct an animated TVC campaign or some shorter form content for social media, booking an artist as talent or to live illustrate an event, negotiating a brand collaboration, an enquiry to produce a custom typeface, our own self-initiated product, or some kind of large-scale environmental commission or installation.

Working for an Australian company and representing mostly Australian-based image makers here in the US, my day creeps into the evening with emails, conference calls and Google Hangouts with our artists, animation team or the office back home. I’m kinda obsessed with what I do and find it difficult to switch off so any night I’m not at an exhibition or event or catching up with Jacky Winter HQ in Melbourne, I’ll make an effort do something that takes me away from a screen.

Living in New York offers so much unbelievable access to art, music, theatre and travel so I try and make the most of that where I can. Last week our artist Matty Huynh took me along to an intimate performance by Martha Wainwright at The Standard. You don't get those kind of opportunities as often in Melbourne so I feel guilty when I don't jump on them. Getting out during the week also helps get over the guilt of jumping on Slack or responding to a few emails again when I get home.

What do you look for in a great portfolio?

Consistency is important, and it helps to show depth in the types of things you illustrate. Above all else though, work on developing your own voice. I love, love, love seeing personal projects. They’re also the projects that can open up interesting commercial opportunities.

Some of my all-time favourite self-initiated projects from within the Jacky Winter fold include James Gulliver Hancock’s All The Buildings in New York which lead to a successful publishing deal with Rizolli, Eirian Chapman’s Teeth & Hair which got our attention here at Jacky Winter back in 2011, and Craig Redman’s Darcel Disappoints which has lead to some incredible collaborations over the years with brands like Mira Mikati, Kate Spade and Coca Cola. Personal projects really do pay off!