Bossing It: Andrew Seaton and Matt Samperi on Building a Company As Mates Since Birth
Andrew Seaton and Matt Samperi are lifelong friends and the co-founders of Mint, a Sydney-based production company. Since 2008, the full-service production company has collaborated with agencies like M&C Saatchi, DDB, BMF, Havas/Host, Leo Burnett, The Monkeys, and Emotive.
Since then, Mint has crafted projects that range from large-scale commercial campaigns to intimate brand films.
In addition to being co-founders of the business, Andrew is an award winning director on Mint’s roster, whilst Matt is an acclaimed cinematographer.
LBB> What was your first experience of leadership?
Andrew> In high school I started filmmaking and found I needed to lead a team as a director. I needed to be able to guide people and bring them together towards a common goal.
Matt> I was a late bloomer when it came to leadership. My first real leadership experiences came about through leading crew and staff at Mint, and through leading teams at my church. When I realised how far behind the eight ball I was, I went on to study it as part of a masters degree.
LBB> How did you figure out what kind of leader you wanted to be – or what kind of leader you didn’t want to be?
Andrew> I knew that I didn’t want to be a heavy handed or aggressive leader. From all leaders I've ever worked with (other directors, producers, coaches) a softer, more empathetic touch I have always found to be a better approach and this is what I strive towards.
Matt> Very similarly to Andrew, from my experience I felt that the best leaders always demonstrated kindness and empathy. They were emotionally intelligent and more invested in the people they led than in themselves. Of course, I then went on to find that I was naturally not like this at all! So I have since worked hard to keep learning how to lead in the tensions of strength and humility, decisiveness and kindness, vision and selflessness.
LBB> What experience or moment gave you your biggest lesson in leadership?
Matt> I had grown up with the internal mantra of always waiting to be asked, and that I was not competent or qualified to step up to lead. But the more experiences I had working in teams, especially during my twenties, I realised that wherever there’s a need for strong leadership, it all starts with regular people putting their hands up and saying yes. I suppose my 'aha' moment dawned on me over time - that I didn’t have to have it all together and figured out in order to step up and lead.
LBB> When it comes to 'leadership' as a skill, how much do you think is a natural part of personality, how much can be taught and learned?
Andrew> I do feel that a lot of leadership is personality driven. Some people inherently have leadership qualities as part of who they are. That being said, I do think that a big part of leadership is communication and I believe a lot of communication skills can be taught or learned.
LBB> What are the aspects of leadership that you find most personally challenging? And how do you work through them?
Andrew> One aspect of leadership that I know I find challenging is separating myself from the work. I think it is something that I have worked on a lot in the past few years. I used to think that any piece of feedback or criticism was levelled directly at me personally, and have learnt to put ego aside and see it all as constructive.
Matt> The aspect of leadership I probably find most personally challenging is communication. My personality is pretty easy-going and laid back, I don’t like to be loud or outspoken, and I am definitely terrified of confrontation (I know what you’re thinking - who would ever follow this guy!). The way I’ve dealt with and continue to deal with this challenge is to intentionally upskill myself and be conscious to challenge my natural inclinations.
At the end of the day, I love the people I work with and we’re all trying to get to the same end goal - so it doesn’t help anyone if I hold back due to fear or insecurity.
LBB> Have you ever felt like you've failed whilst in charge? How did you address the issue and what did you learn from it?
Matt> I feel like I regularly fail whilst in charge - and personally I think for all leaders it’s not a matter of if, but when. Everyone makes mistakes and drops the ball at times, and we’d be fooling ourselves as leaders to think we are above that reality.
For me, speaking honestly, at times I find myself underprepared, not communicating well enough, not casting the vision clearly, and focusing on myself more than my team. I address these and any other failures by constant self reflection with the goal of continuous improvement, by surrounding myself with great people who keep me accountable, and by always acting quickly to acknowledge my mistakes and shortcomings, especially when it has impacted my team directly.
LBB> In terms of leadership and openness, what’s your approach there? Do you think it’s important to be as transparent as possible in the service of being authentic? Or is there a value in being careful and considered?
Matt> Balance is key. You want to be transparent to foster trust and a healthy working environment, and you want to be authentic and display integrity so that people always know that they’re dealing with the real you.
There do come times when speaking out with full transparency and openness can be damaging for any number of reasons - perhaps it would breach someone else’s trust, perhaps someone isn’t ready to hear it, perhaps it’s simply not your place to say it. I think this is all part of learning the leadership skill of communication - knowing what to say and when to say it.
LBB> As you developed your leadership skills did you have a mentor, if so who were/are they and what have you learned?
Matt> My mentors are outside of the industry - a combination of church leaders and other business leaders. What they have taught me is vast and hard to put into words, but speaking in broad strokes I think I’ve learnt a tonne of hard and soft leadership skills, I’ve had immeasurable input into specific situations and challenges I’ve faced along the way, and through it all they’ve helped me to refine my character to be the best leader I can be.
LBB> As a leader, what are some of the ways in which you’ve prioritised diversity and inclusion within your workforce?
Andrew> We are champions for diversity and inclusion. During the casting process, we push hard to ensure that we are being inclusive and representing all Australians in our advertising. We also keep this front of mind whilst hiring heads of departments for our shoots. Having a wider diversity we feel leads to better work.
Matt> As a DOP, I’m very conscious to always try and hire diverse camera crew. I think the Australian Cinematographers Society’s campaign #whoisinyourcrew has been really helpful, as well as their report in 2022 which revealed the systemic inequality and discrimination that camera professionals faced in the Australian film and TV industry.
In light of that, I always try to speak against and hire against stereotypes and prejudices which enable such inequality to go on.
LBB> How important is your company culture to the success of your business? And how have you managed to keep it alive with increases in remote and hybrid working patterns?
Matt> Our business is built upon Andrew and myself, two mates who’ve been friends since birth, which is 35 years and counting! I think this reflects perhaps the most noticeable aspect of our company culture.
As mentioned earlier, one of our core values is relationships - and I think this is really evident to both our clients and our contractors. We simply love doing good work with really good people, and having a great time doing it.
For Andrew and I, we both see the value and importance in the people we get to work with - we know that we’re only as good as the people we’re surrounded by. So we always strive to put people first, and I think that over 16 years that has resulted in incredibly creative and collaborative work, which only gets better.
