Motion Sickness began in a poorly insulated student flat in Dunedin, back in 2013. The days were cold and the nights were hard to remember, but along the way something good happened. Now 5 years later the team has grown from just three hungry lads to a full agency of ambitious creatives. The current studio is on Cross Street, in Central Auckland. The building is insulated, and there’s even a heat pump.
It's about doing what makes sense. We look at problems, and find interesting solutions. We like putting on our clients shoes, and using our creativity and experience to figure out which steps to take next. Whether campaign or content production, we never work on autopilot.
Us and Zuckerberg go way back. We've been running social media campaigns for years now. We're start-to-finish, from campaign conceptualisation to media buying and community management. Social media is always changing, and we outrun the big boys.
Videography, photography, and everything in between. Our production team are passionate folk, who love nothing better than capturing moments that bring the authentic to the fore. We won't make your wedding video, but we'll nail your next commercial.
The head honcho of the pack, Sam honed his leadership skills as a motivational speaker and recreational hypnotist in Liverpool during the mid 1980's. Suffering from a very rare disorder, Sam is one of the few cases of 'Benjamin Button Syndrome' documented in the real world. He is 104 years old. Hobbies include Creative, Content Marketing, and 19th Century Russian cinema.
The head of the Social Media Department, this selfie king loves getting 'likes'. He has a newsfeed tattooed on his back. Macca once dreamed of being a lawyer, but gave that up when he realised that 'Law & Order SVU' isn't based on a true story. Also passionate about analytics and statistics, Macca presents an annual seminar entitled ‘Microsoft Excel & The Modern Man; I’ll Spread Your Sheet’.
Hilary’s career in Social Media began when she uploaded a video to YouTube of her tabby cat attempting to use a straw to drink his milk. The video went viral, turning Hilary and Mr. Fluffles into overnight stars. Hilary has now turned her attention to the other side of social media, claiming it is ‘more sustainable’. Mr Fluffles is still chasing stardom, but has never been able to achieve the same notoriety that the straw once brought him.
Specializing in portraiture, Jordan began his photography career as the local photographer for the Takapuna Mall Santa display. Unfortunately, this only provided a couple of months of work per year, so while passionate about the gig, he eventually had to leave the elf costume behind, and diversify. Jordan has since become a valued creative at Motion Sickness, focusing more on Social Media & content, and less on trying to capture Santa’s good side.
Before the days of Motion Sickness, Joseph “I’ve got a guy for that” McAlpine cut his teeth on the ‘off off Broadway’ scene in New York City NYC. Initially cast as ‘Rum Tum Tugger’, he departed the set of Cats after their first matinee performance, with a formal statement released simply stating “allergies”. Now Producer at Motion Sickness, Joseph is the human equivalent of Google Sheets. No matter the obscure request, he’ll always respond the same; “Give me 3 hours.”
Anna “Paint on my MacBook keys” Maxwell is equal parts artist, creative and social media strategist. In a recent unpublished interview with Brush Stroke Weekly magazine, she explained “sometimes, the timeline is my canvas [sic]“. She went on to describe her social media work as “textural expressionism, with a peppering of surreality”. In digital marketing circles, Anna is known as the ‘Salvador Dali of Sponsored Posts’.
For the past 65 years, Senior Creative Strategist Lucy has maintained a brutal morning routine. Each day she squat jumps from Auckland’s North Shore to the Bombays, heelys to the Viaduct, races the 7.45am ferry back to Devonport, before paddleboarding her way up to Milford, and cycling back in to work. However weekends feature no training, instead you’re likely to find her on the back 9 at Waitemata Golf Club, maintaining a steady pace of one tumeric-shot-per-hole.
A student of the great Swami Sivananda, Rocky is an empowered marketer by-day, and an enlightened guru by-night. His presence is always felt around the office, with co-workers explaining “I dunno, he just kinda glows”. Rocky leads daily yoga sessions in the boardroom at lunch time. His favourite pose is downward dog.
Senior Editor at Motion Sickness, Jolin’s spare time is spent building her profile as Auckland’s leading (only) breeder of Long-tailed Chinchillas. Jolin ‘keeper of data’ Lee is now an integral member of the content and video department, crafting complex visual narratives, while simultaneously penning her second self-published novel “My Chinchillas & Me”. Her first novel, ‘I’m in love with my Chinchilla ’, sold a total of 7 copies, and is still available on Amazon as an e-book to this day.
At age 5, Emma made her way from Santa Barbara to Dunedin as a stowaway on a cargo ship, nestled in between crates of twix and tamari almonds. Upon arrival in New Zealand, she was graciously taken in by the Shadbolt family, and honed her creative skills by working across a multitude of Mayoral campaigns in the Invercargill constituency. When Motion Sickness asked for a reference, Tim merely chuckled, and whispered “good on ya mate”.
More of an enigma than social media specialist. If you want to chat social strategy with Harry he only talks in acronyms - CPC, CPM, TOFU, BOFU, POOPOO. Harry’s last known address is ‘South of the Bombays’. In charge of the Pokeno Chapter of the Flat Earth Society, Harry has his hands full. Meeting every Tuesday evening at the local RSA, he fires up an OHP (that’s ‘overhead projector’ - loves an acronym) and rattles through one of his many worldy theories in front of the assembled group.
