Living la Vita Mak at Windmill Lane

Since the 1980’s Windmill Lane has been happily married to the commercial industry. 45 years on from its foundation and with the advertising industry pulling the curtains on 2022 – Ireland’s longest established post production studio opens a window of opportunity by further bolstering their commercials team for 2023.

This marks an exciting time for Windmill Lane and securing the signature of Vita Mak –  a talent that has boasted work, not only in Ireland, but across the Atlantic in New York – sets the business up for success. Having worked at Studio 6, Havas NYC, Huskies & Droga5 – Vita has worked with major accounts including; White Claw, Adidas and Denny.

Let’s Meet Vita

As recently reported on AdWorld (read here) – almost nine out of 10 agency bosses state that their agency will do as well, if not better, in 2023. Windmill Lane feels no different and now adds an exciting talent to their commercial roster which already includes; Donal O’Keeffe, Manus Goan, Sarah Gillick and Jessica Felton. Needless to say this bodes very well for the New Year. 

Jason Gaffney sat down with Windmill Lane’s newest addition and discuss her commercial experience, past projects and ambition going forward.

Travel & Career

After welcoming Vita to the business I am keen to understand how she started off in Ad World. “I actually studied Marketing in college and when I finished my degree I interned in Event Production for Red Bull and then landed myself into an advertising agency in Dublin called In the Company of Huskies where I started out as an Account Executive” says Vita.

In 2021 – the advertising and public relations industry in the United States reached an aggregated revenue of roughly 154 billion US dollars (statista.com). It must have been a big step, plus a major learning curve, to land yourself in the states – especially within the advertising industry I ask. Vita states “Moving to New York was so exciting! It was a big move, not only understanding a new market but also switching up my role from Account Management to Production. This is where I started my Post-Production journey in Studio 6, Havas NY. The US market is definitely a lot larger and naturally has bigger budgets.”

Preparing for 2023

With 2023 set to provide yet another challenging year for commercial production in Ireland – I ask Vita whether she has noticed any emerging trends (across Ireland and the US) in client briefs and expectations. She observes “I’ve noticed a more transparent workflow between the client and the creative/production depts. The process has become a lot more collaborative and streamlined in areas.”

With the dawn of a new year and the ambition that has been laid out by Windmill Lanes leadership (read more here) it sounds to me like Vita will need to enjoy her spare time to ensure a work-life balance is maintained. How does she typically do this, I ask. “I am a walk-a-holic, love to get all my steps in. I’ve picked up piano again during lockdown and it’s become a relaxing hobby of mine that I can totally switch off from when playing. I’m big into my Pilates classes and generally just love to go out and try out new bars and restaurants.”

New job, new challenge, new year and new bars. Roll on 2023.