Manja Tai von Mutzenbecher is the Head of Art Buying in one of the largest creative agencies in Europe, Jung von Matt Hamburg. With 24 subsidiaries in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, as well as China, Poland, Sweden, and the Czech Republic, Jung von Matt has long established itself as a global player.
Together with her team in Hamburg, Manja supervises the continuous development and expansion of the pool of photographers, illustrators and artists, makes appointments with photographers and illustrators, recommends them for campaigns and projects, which she calculates... and successfully sees to the execution of the often extensive productions. Her trained eyes don't miss a thing and see the strengths of a photographer, recognize the signature of an illustrator, and she knows how to present them to the creative department with perfect timing and down to the very last pixel.
We are happy that Manja is supporting us with her Art Buying Team again as jurors at this year's GoSeeAWARDS and that she is coming to UPDATE15 BERLIN with no less than six colleagues from Hamburg and Stuttgart to look at creative portfolios and meet up with agents and producers in person. But before you meet her at UPDATE, we interviewed her for you.
Calculating, organizing shoots, selecting talents, meeting photographers… What do you like most about your job and how did you end up in Art Buying? It's always nice to bring creative personalities together and to see how a creative idea is brought to life. After my graphic design studies, I did an internship in photo editing, then I started as an assistant in art buying at Goldenen Hirschen. And that was now over 12 years ago...
Are you in charge of art buying for all Jung von Matt locations in Germany? And is there an exchange between art buying at the branch offices in Vienna and Zurich? We supervise all JvM agencies with the exception of Berlin, Zurich, and Vienna. We don't have very much to do with Zurich and Vienna at the moment, but we have a lively and exciting exchange with Berlin.
You probably have an incredible pool of photographers and illustrators in your database. How do you manage all the creatives and according to what criteria are they sorted? Depending on the project requirements, we recommend our creatives the most appropriate artists/creative services. The treasure chest we dig into for it is different every time. We get information from various channels every day - and GoSee is also a great help and often a place of inspiration for us.
How many applications do you get in art buying from photographers, and what tips can you give them? We have a meeting, which takes place every day at 11 o'clock. There is no real tip in a classical sense. We take our time and look at the portfolios and then give direct and open feedback; there are no standards.
Your specialty is Art Buying – do you have other talents or hobbies, which you live out? I am a DJ and love vinyl. I used to do it more intensively and frequently before, but I still like to spin very much once in while at special events.
You are in the GoSeeAWARDS jury, which is looking for inspiring submissions in seven categories this year. What inspires you? I am inspired by very different things, for the most part peculiarities which stand out from the crowd. That's the wonderful thing about inspiration, you never know exactly where it will come from all of a sudden. That's why I'm also very excited about the submissions, the finalists, and the winners. Everyone sees the world in a slightly different way, and it's exciting to see what my colleagues like.
And what makes you laugh? Basically, I'd say the spontaneous situations of life… and I can laugh loud about myself sometimes too.
