CV

KAY YASUGI
PUPPET DESIGNER, MAKER, PERFORMER & CONSULTANT
FOR THEATRE, FILM & TELEVISION

Sydney, Australia  •  WEB: www.digitalseagull.com  • EMAIL: [email protected]

PROFILE

• Skilled puppeteer and puppet maker with over 15 years experience
• Trained at the London School of Puppetry (UK)
• Highly motivated and reliable
• Able to work in groups or independently 
• Australian citizen based in Sydney

TRAINING AND EDUCATION

Black Light Workshop 
Richard Hart from Dream Puppets – Sutton Forest, NSW, 2018

UNIMA Puppetry Master class
Simon T. Rann, Compagnie Philippe Genty – Mittagong, NSW, 2014
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Puppetry Masterclass for Film and Television
Noel MacNeal, Carriageworks, Sydney, 2014

Training in Czech-Style Marionette Carving (15 day course)
Puppets in Prague School, Prague, Czech Republic 2011
 
Master’s Level Diploma in Professional Puppetry
London School of Puppetry, London, UK 2009

Training in Puppetry for Television (8 week course on making/performing with Muppet-style puppets)
Gary Friedman Productions, Sydney, Australia 2008

Bachelor of Primary Education (1st Class Honours and University Medal)
University of Sydney, Camperdown, Sydney, Australia 2007

EXPERIENCE
2021 Puppet maker and Puppeteer for ABC iview campaign, Sydney, Australia.

2020 Artist for Sydney Opera House Creative Leadership in Learning Program, Sydney, Australia. Working with Campsie Public School over 20 weeks to create a puppetry performance.

2020 Shifting and Stirring online workshop with Sydney Opera House - facilitated 2 hour workshop exploring how Zoom can be used as an artistic platform.

2020 Randwick Puppet Festival, Sydney, Australia. Performed ‘Puppet Pandemonium’ show and ran a puppet workshop. Also assisted the festival as an artistic consultant for the adult cabaret.

​2019 World Premiere of puppet show ‘Haenyeo: Women of the Sea’ at International Figura Offida Festival (FOF) in Offida, Italy. Also ran puppetry workshops for local children affected by the earthquakes in 2016.

2019 Puppet Workshop at Joondalup Festival, Perth, Western Australia. Ran a puppet workshop for children and families as part of the festivities.

2018 Artist in Residency with Manual Cinema, Chicago, USA.
Made shadow puppets, rod puppets and props for the theatre’s new production of ‘Frankenstein’.

2018 Research and Training at University of Washington, Bothell, Seattle, USA.
Researched virtual technology and its application to shadow puppetry as part of a global puppetry project with artists and researchers from USA and Ireland.

2018 Puppetry Assistant for Spare Parts Puppet Theatre/WASO, Perth, Western Australia.
Back stage puppetry assistant for ‘The Carnival of the Animals’, a collaboration with Spare Parts Puppet Theatre and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra at the Perth Concert Hall.

2018 Puppeteer/Volunteer for Joondalup Festival, Perth, Western Australia.
Assisted set up and repairs of giant puppets for the festival’s 20th Anniversary Twilight Lantern Parade. Operated one of the puppets in the final parade.

2017 Puppet Maker for “Pupa” , Limerick, Ireland.
Designed shadow puppets for the theatre show/installation “Pupa” and collaborated with puppeteer, Emma Fisher (Beyond the Bark) to have the designs laser cut and assembled in Ireland.

2017 The Puppetry and Multimedia International Conference, Bratislava, Slovakia
Co-presented with Emma Fisher (Ireland) the paper "Connecting Global Puppeteers Through Technology: a collaboration with puppeteers in Ireland, Australia and the USA through digital fabrication and projection." Presented the talk from Sydney, via web conference call.

2017 The 5th China Quanzhou International Puppet Festival, Fujian, China.
Assisted Dream Puppets (Melbourne) with their black light puppet shows and attended the festival as UNIMA Australia representative.

2017 Puppet Maker for Schools Spectacular, Sydney.
Designed/constructed dragon puppets for the large-scale arena spectacular showcasing over 5000 students from public schools in NSW.

2015 Shadow Puppetry Summer School Tutor at London School of Puppetry, UK
Ran a one-week course for teachers on the Art of Shadow Puppetry in Education and Therapy.

2014-2015 Creative Development for CDP’s “The 26-Storey Treehouse” and “The 52 Storey Treehouse”, Sydney

2014 Puppeteer/Workshop Facilitator for Maldon Puppet Carnival, Maldon, Victoria
Ran an adult workshop on making cane/bamboo puppets. Also performed in Family Cabaret.

2014 Puppeteer for ABC4Kids “Play School” television program
Featured in the “Through the Windows” segment for their ‘Making Puppets’ episodes.

2014 Puppeteer/Workshop Facilitator for Les Festivale de la Marionnettes, Estampes, France

2013 Workshop Facilitator for “War Horse Australia” Arts Learning Programme, NSW/QLD. Ran workshops on ‘Creating Puppets for Plays” at the Lyric Theatre in Sydney, the Australian Theatre for Young People in Sydney, and Griffith University in Brisbane.

2013 Puppeteer/Puppet Maker for Children's Theatre Show "The 13-Storey Treehouse", Sydney
Custom-made a variety of puppets including foam, latex, rod and shadow puppets and performed in the show at the Sydney Opera House, Seymour Centre and Chatswood Concourse.

2013 Puppeteer for "What I Leave Behind", Melbourne
Co-devised an experimental puppetry piece with AboutFace Productions and performed at La Mama Theatre as part of the "Explorations: Into the Black Hole" season (produced by Black Hole Theatre Inc).

2013 Puppeteer/Choreographer for Music Video "The Mark of Hearts", Sydney
Choreographed and performed various puppetry/movement sequences for 'Ginger and the Ghost's new music video. Directed by Cris Balmaceda Errazuriz and Ginger.

2013 Puppeteer for Short Film "Everything Starts Somewhere", Sydney
Operated a marionette puppet for the film directed by Roman Mongin.

2013 Puppeteer for Short Film "The Eight Inch Pinch", Sydney
Operated and rigged a ferret puppet for the film produced by Lotus Films. Directed by Scott Walker.

2013 Puppeteer/Puppet Maker for Tourism Australia's "Best Jobs in the World" campaign, Sydney
Designed and constructed 'Sam the Koala' puppet and operated it for the commercial campaign. 

2012 Puppeteer/Puppet Maker for ABC2 TV Documentary “Dating the H-Bomb”, Sydney
Custom-made 3 lip sync rod puppets and operated them using green screen technology. Produced by LaLa Pictures, directed by Jay Court.

2012 Puppeteer/Volunteer Stage Manager at Tarrengower Puppet Festival, Maldon Victoria                                             
Performed a glove puppet solo show at the Family Cabaret. Volunteered in stage managing, liasing with other artists and volunteers. 

2011- 2012 Puppeteer/Production Assistant for Children’s TV Show ‘The Amazing House’, Sydney
Operated a lip sync rod puppet character called “Benji” on the show.

2011 Puppeteer/Puppet Maker for “Street Stories” at the Prague Quadrennial, Czech Republic 
Performed with a hand-carved Czech style marionette as part of the Quadrennial’s “Scenofest” programme.

2011 Giant Puppet Project, Siem Reap, Cambodia 
Volunteered as a puppet maker and operator for this local children’s community arts project. Worked with several children from various schools and non-government organisations to make giant parade puppets.

2011 Marionette Summer School Tutor at London School of Puppetry, UK                                                                    
Ran marionette operating workshops for children and adults, while also receiving advanced training in the classical marionette.

2011 Spirit of the Marsh Music/Arts Festival, UK                                                                                                                     
Collaborated with Poppenkast (Derbyshire, UK) to run puppet playtime and marionette making workshops.

2011 Ripon Yarns Storytelling Festival of the Dales, UK                                                                          
Performed puppet show “Enchanted” in collaboration with Wax Baby Productions and Puppetuity.

2011 Shopfront Contemporary Arts & Performance, Sydney                                                                                                         
Acted as Puppetry Director for the Junior Ensemble performance, which also involved creating a large-scale rod puppet for multiple operators.

2011 Puppet Maker for “Coram Boy” at Saint Ignatius’ College Riverview, Sydney                                                                    
Created custom-made puppets for the college’s high school theatre production. Also ran some puppet-operating sessions for the cast.

2010 Puppeteer for Mission Australia’s “HUSH for Homelessness” TV Commercial, Sydney                                                                   
Performed with hand puppet “Rupert” for TV Commercial and Viral (online advert) to promote the charity’s campaign to raise money for homeless Australians.

2010 Puppeteer/Puppet Maker for Jeans for Genes Charity Events, Sydney                                                                    
Created and performed with “Billy Jean” marionette/rod puppet for the Jeans for Genes Denim Charity Dinner and Art Exhibition Launch to support the Children’s Medical Research Institute.

2009 Puppeteer interviewing cast of Avenue Q, Theatre Royal, Sydney                                                         
Assistant puppeteer working with Gary Friedman (Corporate Creatures). Interviewed actor/puppeteers Luke Joslin and Mitchell Butel with their puppets (Nicky and Rod) to promote the musical.

2009 Puppeteer for Corporate Creatures at the Australian Business Events Expo, Sydney
Worked with Director Gary Friedman performing with lip sync puppets and filming puppet interviews to promote the Expo and Corporate Creatures (awarded the ABEE “Best New Product of the Year 2009”).

2009 Puppeteer for “Dark Island” Animation Film Project, London UK
Directed by Jöns Mellgren at the Royal College of Art, London.

2009 Television Interview for “Brunch” (Danish TV2/Lorry)
Appeared on Danish TV show with “Yorick” puppet to promote Copenhagen Puppet Festival

2008-2009 Season Puppeteer/Puppet Maker for “Memento Mori” (Glove/Body Puppetry)
Venues including Copenhagen Puppet Festival, Rosemary Branch Theatre (London)

2009 Season Puppeteer/Puppet Maker for “Nautical but Nice” (Lip sync/Rod Puppetry)
Venues including Copenhagen Puppet Festival, Bradford Playhouse (UK)

2009 Season Puppeteer/Puppet Maker for “Scooter Grandpa” (Marionette Theatre)
Venues including Bradford Playhouse (UK)

2009 Puppeteer/Puppet Maker for “Wooltzing Matilda” (Glove Puppetry)

2008 Puppeteer for “Looking for a Monster” Documentary Film,Sydney
Produced by Gary Friedman and directed by Rod Freedman. Screened at the Jewish Holocaust Centre, Melbourne in conjunction with the Jewish Museum of Australia.

2005 Season Puppeteer/Deviser/Maker for “The Thing Under the Bed”, Sydney
Wrote and directed show for university day care centres. Funded by Sydney University Verge Arts Festival.

AWARDS

2008               Outstanding Graduate Award (Australian College of Educators NSW)

2008               Primary Pre-Service Teacher Award Scheme for Maths & Science (Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations)

2007               Handspan Visual Theatre International Study and Travel Grant (Awarded through UNIMA Australia)

2007               Thomas T Roberts Education Fellowship (University of Sydney)

2007               G.S. Caird Bachelor of Education Year 3 Award (University of Sydney)

2006               Tertiary Student Judge for National Excellence in Teaching Awards (NEiTA)

2005               Sydney University Cash4Art Grant

SKILLS

Puppet design, making and performance; Carving, Polyfoam puppet construction, Puppetry consultancy, Painting, Illustration, Digital photography, Needle Felting, Computer Graphics, Wiki (set-up and administration), DVD production, Basic Film and Sound Editing. Conversationally fluent in Japanese.

REFERENCES

Available upon request.