Have you ever had a really epic idea pop into your head and just thought “Yeah – why not”? That’s exactly what happened to Ryan McDonald, who had a lightbulb moment while on holiday way back in 2017. A mechanic by trade, Ryan realised that there was no one in his neighbourhood making really awesome video content for businesses and thought it was a travesty. With a lifelong passion for video and photography, and with much of his spare time spent creating videos for family and friends, Ryan decided that this could not go on. And so MoMac was born.
The MoMac Journey
The Idea
2017
Ryan – Creative Director / Founder
Riki – Founding Partner
Humble Beginnings
Once Ryan decided to make his idea a reality he needed to find a workspace – and his parent’s living room in Rangiora seemed like the ideal spot. From the comfort of his childhood home, Ryan spent his time diligently and tirelessly producing videos, photos and a few websites for local businesses. With a minimal budget but a whole heap of determination, MoMac grew rapidly, and Ryan went from being a one-man band to a team of three – Ryan, Head of Tech/ Web Tony and video editor Izaac. Eventually, all good things have to come to an end, and in Ryan’s case, Mr and Mrs McDonald wanted their living room back. So, the next challenge was to find a more permanent and suitable MoMac HQ.
2018
Ryan – Creative Director / Founder
Tony – Senior Web Developer
Izaac – Content Creator
Building MoMac HQ
What was needed was a base in the heart of Rangiora’s business hub that had space for the expanding MoMac team. Call it a stroke of good fortune or just good old-fashioned economic sense, but it just so happened that Ryan had a very old and tired house on Blake Street that would be perfect to run MoMac from. Ryan called in the tradies, and the next chapter in MoMac’s evolution began. The transformation and renovation of the new headquarters took three months to complete, and because we’re super into what we do we captured the whole journey by creating a mini Vlog series.
2019
Crafting A Team
Now with more space to play with, the hunt was on to fill MoMac HQ with the best of the best. With an increased demand for our services, we hired web developers Joel and Michael who took our team from three to five. Young, excited and extremely passionate about the creative digital scene, each member of our expanding team had spent many years crafting their skills as hobbies before working at MoMac. Once they joined MoMac they were able to turn their hobbies into a career – which we think is pretty awesome.
2019
Ryan – Creative Director / Founder
Tony – Web Developer
Izaac – Content Creator
Joel – Web Developer
Michael – Senior Web Developer
Rise To The Occasion
By 2020, MoMac was a team of seven and we were killing it. We invested heavily in our staff and internal development, and purchased new equipment including new cameras, drones, computers, and a lot of really cool hardware. With an ever-improving workflow and high-quality output, we continued to meet our client’s needs which strengthened our brand and brought a lot more business our way.
However, the Covid-19 pandemic and the challenges faced by businesses worldwide stopped us in our tracks for a few minutes. It takes a lot to get the MoMac team down, so instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, we saw this as an opportunity to realign and refocus – making us stronger and ready to attack the next challenge once the world started moving again.
As demand for our services increased, we called the tradies in again and did some more renovations – expanding our office footprint to create a dedicated meeting room and a video editing suite for our content team.
2020
Ryan – Creative Director / Founder
Tony – Web Developer
Izaac – Content Creator
Joel – Web Developer
Michael – Senior Web Developer
Kate – Content Creator
Jasmine – Graphic Designer
Making Impact
At MoMac we have several core values (making epic content and delivering on our customer’s goals), but the most important one to us is progression. To us, this means personal progression through developing and evolving skills, progressing and pushing our own skill sets so that our videos, photos and websites are forever evolving and improving.
We believe that our desire to improve, succeed and continuously exceed expectations sets us ahead of the game from our competitors!
We may not be the biggest fish in the pond, and we may not be the fanciest, but we are the best value-based creative agency you will find! We’re big enough to make an impact and cater for larger projects, while still being agile enough to be fluid in our way of thinking and have personal relationships with our clients who are our highest priority. Our clients know when they employ MoMac they are going to get exceptional service, and the best possible outcome for their business.
2021
Ryan – Creative Director / Founder
Tony – Web Developer
Izaac – Content Creator
Michael – Senior Web Developer
Kate – Content Creator
Steph – Senior Graphic Designer
Jasmine – Graphic Designer
Alena – Accounts
Strengthening Our Brand
We are extremely proud of how far MoMac has come – and Ryan’s parents are super happy to have him out of their living room!
2022 was another busy year with the office continuing to expand and catering for more desk space. The tradies also came back and the final expansion of our Rangiora HQ was completed, a move that allows us to add some more talent to our current team. We then held an open night where we invited friends and family into the office for a night of celebrations. During our open night, we also announced the exciting news that Michael Price (Senior Web Developer) had officially come aboard MoMac as a shareholder in the company bringing his talented and ambitious web development approach. This further cementing MoMac as a company that looks forward to the future as being a creative agency that has here to stay and provide exceptional services whilst remaining innovative and at the forefront of creative innovation.
2022
Ryan – Creative Director / Founder
Alena – Accounts
Carl – Senior Client Manager
Michael – Senior Web Developer
Javi – Web Developer
Brad – Senior Designer
Jasmine – Graphic Designer
Oliver – Content Creator
Dhrumil – Content Creator
Broadening Our Reach
2023 was a momentous year for MoMac, marked by significant growth and remarkable achievements. This year saw the addition of key team members: Merrin, Sarah, Jaime, and Sophie. Among our crowning achievements was the completion of the Liam Lawson Rodin FZED Unleashed official documentary. Directed by our founder Ryan, this compelling feature film followed racing sensation Liam Lawson’s quest to set new lap records in the Rodin FZED.
The year also saw us engaging more with local businesses and was highlighted at the Enterprise North Canterbury Networking Function, where we proudly sponsored presenting about valuable marketing insights and the emerging role of AI in marketing. Beyond our professional milestones, our team spirit was bolstered by several memorable gatherings. From a flavourful Indian dinner at Samairaz to a fantastic day at our spring work doo, touring Waipara’s finest wineries and breweries, and culminating with our entire team, including Javi from Auckland. Our festive celebrations continued into the year-end, starting with mini golf at Holey Moley, followed by a culinary and cocktail tour from Kong to Botanic, where the night ended in a celebration that was truly MoMac style.
As we reflect on a transformative year for MoMac, we are filled with anticipation and excitement for what 2024 holds, ready to continue our trajectory of innovation and exceptional creativity in the creative and digital marketing landscape.
2023
Ryan – Creative Director / Founder
Merrin – Operational Manager
Carl – Senior Client Manager
Alena – Accounts
Michael – Senior Web Developer
Sarah – Web Developer
Javi – Web Developer
Brad – Senior Designer
Jasmine – Graphic Designer
Oliver – Content Creator
Dhrumil – Content Creator
Jaime – Digital Marketer
Sophie – Digital Marketer
