Success Stories
we have been graduating designers since 2006 and in that short time our designers are already making an impact on the industry.
Jessica Sanderson
Jessica is our current featured graduate - click here to read more about working with Taki Rua and the International Arts Festival the year she graduated
Matt Kleinhans
Matt Kleinhans graduated in the first year of designers from Toi Whakaari. Matt is now making a career in the film/television industry in an array of creative areas, with a specialisation in costume aging/finishing.
In 2007, his first professional year, Matt returned to his hometown of Auckland, where he joined the Shortland Street Art Department as a regular contractor. One of his tasks was to draft technical plans of the new sets of the hospital. Matt also worked on the international feature film, 30 Days of Night and locally produced feature, The Strength of Water.
Matt's focus on costume as a career choice The Warrior's Way. he worked under a triple Oscar winner - costume designer James Acheson - as a costume breakdown artist. Following on from this valuable experience, Matt is currently working on the Disney ABC television series Legend of the Seeker shooting in Auckland. The series pilot debuted at number 1 on the Neilson ratings in America.
Matt has continued to involve himself in short films including art direction for the film 1 Plus One by Auckland director Amarbir Singh and Reunion directed by Shortland Street Director of Photography, Malcolm Saunders.
In theatre design, Matt has contributed to the AK07 season of Penumbra and the Sara Strandring comedy Please Don't Feed the Models. In 2008, Matt designed set and costumes for David Mamet's The Woods and Reunion at The Basement in Auckland for director Stuart Devinie. These two short plays were extremely well received, and Reunion was then given a film adaptation. Future plans for Matt are to continue focusing on costume as a finishing artist and to broaden his skills and take his career further afield. Make sure to visit his youtube page, where he directs, designs short films and creates time based artworks.
Daniel Williams
Daniel Williams was nominated for a Chapman Tripp Theatre Award for Best Set Design in his first major theatre project out of Toi Whakaari - Angels in America: Millenium Approaches at Downstage. In his second year as a professional theatre designer he won the award –this time for his set design for The Little Dog Laughed (also at Downstage), and was part of the team that won the Chapman Tripp Theatre Award for Production of the Year – for Mr Marmelade at BATS.
Daniel has been involved in theatre and the arts for many years, during high school he did speech and drama lessons, extra curricular photography and painting tuition, and was awarded as a director and performer in the Sheilah Winn Festival of Shakespeare in Schools. During his time at Toi Whakaari he did set and costume design for Samuel Beckett's EndGame and The Laramie Project, and a piece of technical physical theatre he devised and designed along with fellow students. He also designed Please Don’t Feed the Models at BATS.
In his first year as a professional designer, Daniel managed the performance and design elements of sophisticated Wellington queer club IMERST, before becoming a freelance professional designer - working with Almost a Bird Theatre Collective to design Angels in America at Downstage and A Streetcar Named Desire at Circa 2.
In 2008 Daniel started the year by working as a set crew member for the International Festival of the Arts and designed the set and costumes for the National Taki Rua Tour of Pukunui and his Friend Moata. He painted sets for Capital E and took publicity photos for many theatre co-operatives along with performing as his drag alter-ego Lady Trenyce.
He also took on the role of mentoring up and coming young theatre designers by working as set and costume design mentor for the Young and Hungry Festival of Plays.
Daniel worked with Almost a Bird Theatre Co-operative and designed their productions of Spring Awakening (WPAC), Jeff Koons (BATS) and The Little Dog Laughed (Downstage). His other theatre design work included set and costume design for Mr Marmelade (BATS) and Shining Armour (BATS).
Since November 2008 Daniel has been travelling around the USA and UK. He is currently planning on taking over the West End – so keep your eye out.
Brian King
“This degree has proved to be an excellent platform for launching into a new career in performance design and it has provided inestimable opportunities for ongoing collaboration with other disciplines in the performing arts. It was invaluable in that it gave me a grounding in practical skills and, more significantly, introductions to people in the world of theatre making.”
Brian King left 22 years of medicine as a GP to follow a passion for opera. He completed the Bachelor of Performance Design in 2006. While at Toi Whakaari he designed the set and costumes for Book of Days (Toi Whakaari), The Play about the Baby (Toi Whakaari, The Spot (Toi Whakaari), Top Girls (Wellington Performing Arts Centre), Henry VI (Toi Whakaari), Peer Gynt (Toi Whakaari) and Cosi (Wellington Performing Arts Centre).
He has also worked on the set for the following professional productions Niu Sila (Downstage, AK05 and 2005 national tour), Dissident Voices/Collateral Damage (BATS & Toledo University, USA), Lashings of Whipped Cream (Downstage) and Doubt (Centrepoint). In 2007 he will design the set and costumes for a nationwide tour of Stealing Games (Capital E), act as design assistant for Lucia di Lammermoor (NBR NZ Opera) and design the set for I’m Not Rappaport (Downstage).
For the most recent information about what our graduates are up to check out our Grad News.
