Interview by Alexandre Orlowski

MASSIMILIANO DI BATTISTA [M+A]

PHOTO: SEBASTIAN KIM

Massimiliano Di Battista (Mao) is the CEO of M+A Group, the company he co-founded with his brother Michelangelo Di Battista in 1999.
Originally started as a company dedicated to developing the careers of up-and-coming photographers, Management+Artists has greatly expanded both in scope and geography, extending its representation to a multitude of artists, directors, hair and makeup artists, stylists and designers and broadening its reach across the globe with offices in Paris, New York, Milan and London.

 

GREGORY HARRIS X VOGUE ITALIA

 

SCOTT TRINDLE X BRITISH VOGUE

 

Massimiliano, what first led you to establish M+A almost
20 years ago?

Twenty years... it seems so long ago and yet it feels like yesterday. When we started Management Artists in 1999, we were in a completely different era. Both Michelangelo, my brother and co-founder of the agency, and I come from an artistic family, with our mother being a painter and father an architect. We grew up in their circle of friends, who were other artists. So from the very beginning, we knew what it meant to be an artist and the complexities of linking creatives with the market. I went on to study business and specifically economics, focusing on the economics and management of art museums.

 

BENJAMIN LENNOX X 10MEN

 

When it came to real work, I knew that I wanted to work in a field that would be the connector between art/creativity and business. We started the agency because we wanted to apply our vision to agenting with an approach that established short, middle and long-term career strategy and vision for each individual talent rather than following pre-defined career development models. 

 

ROBI RODRIGUEZ X NOON

 

SHARNA OSBORNE X SYSTEM

 

Young talent is formative talent. For those without accomplished portfolios, what do you see in their images that gives you confidence in their eventual success?

 We live and work in a high-speed and competitive field. Digital platforms and social media have allowed many artists to explore non-traditional forms of creativity and new ways of communication. Emerging photographers' no longer depend on editorial commissioning; instead, they can explore their creativity in a raw personal way.  Artists today need to have the right mix of talent, ambition, vision, personality, taste level, digital skills, and creative curiosity. We need to feel that all these elements are aligned in the right way.

 

CAMILLA AKRANS X MARGOT ROBBIE for HARPER'S BAZAAR

 

How has the work of a creative representation agency changed from the previous generation?

Nowadays, successful agencies need to have a strong management set-up, smooth operations, a strong vision and particularly a mixed team of agents who will collaborate and share information. Once you have this foundation then comes the one on one strategy customization for each talent: who are they, what defines them in the competitive field, how do you distinguish them and make them earn a stronger voice and space in the market, what are the right collaborations, what is the message they should be giving through their work. Once this is identified and shared with the artist, then comes the execution and application in the different markets and different clients.

 

ANNEMARIEKE VAN DRIMMELEN X WSJ

 

JOHNNY DUFORT X SYSTEM

 

Has social media made photographers more competitive with one another?

Social media has drastically changed the world of fashion photography and transformed it from elitist to democratic, from mysterious to open and transparent. If social media is used only to showcase an artist's published commercial work, then it becomes like a digital portfolio. The reality is that Instagram gives every creative talent the opportunity to have their 'own magazine' or their 'own door to their studio and life. Those creatives who do not embrace social media will lose in the competitive field.

 

MAXIME POIBLANC X BOTTEGA VENETA

 

MARIUS W HANSEN X W

 

M+A Group now comprises several divisions and provides many varied services. Would you delineate the structure of the company for our readers?

We recently went through a re-branding of our company, from Management Artists to M+A Group. We have been working on this for over a year, and it grew out of our goal to develop new areas of representation and non-traditional services. We formed the new brands MA+Creative and Art+Yard. MA+Creative has been developed to support brands needs in communicating at an omnichannel level.  It acts both as a classic representation model to the singular talent and as a creative consultant. 
The Art+Yard brand belongs purely to representation and is dedicated to millennial and Gen Z emerging talents.
These brands, now sit alongside Management+Artists under the umbrella organization, M+A Group.

 

THOMAS LOHR X 032c

 

Innovation is a core value of M+A. What forward-thinking solutions have most impressed you?

Innovation has always been the core of our vision and approach. My motto as an entrepreneur and that of my team is: embrace and be excited about change.  We should all be extremely excited by the times in which we are living: we are witnessing a new industrial revolution, one driven by technology and artificial intelligence. Embracing innovation is what makes our job exciting every day.

 

DANIEL SANNWALD X NUMERO

 

What do you most dislike?

Entitlement, arrogance, individuals who think they always know best.  No one knows best: always question yourself.
The best answers come through sharing, communicating, re-thinking, opening your mind, being challenged.

  

SEAN THOMAS X BRITISH VOGUE

 

What can’t you live without?

Human relationships: ultimately this is what we are in this world for, to build and enjoy human relationships, particularly the very special beings that we love and who love us. On the other hand, I can't live without having time for myself, making a beautiful, inspiring trip, reading about news and politics (my other passion for my next life), sometimes just watching tv and zoning out

 

SEAN & SENG X DAZED

 

In closing, how would you define the Agent’s Club in three words?

The Agent's Club is a brilliant, fascinating quick, informative overview of the best in the market. It offers a beautiful, high taste aggregate of fashion photography. An excellent idea.

     

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