Jason Fitzgerald

Jason Fitzgerald is an Puppet Fabricator, armature designer and Art Worker from the Pacific Northwest.

Currently: Living and creating in Los Angeles, California and Portland, Oregon. Mainly Through Bent Image Labs.

Recent Clients

NETFLIX, Stoopid Buddy, Bent Image Labs, BixPix, Starburns Industries, Henry Selick and Cinderbiter Studios, Tippet Studios. Vans, IFC's Portlandia, Bob's Discount Furniture.

Jason "Fitz" Fitzgerald

415-509-4891
www.jjfitz.com
fortressoakland@gmail.com

Experience:
(Note: Some of my more current projects include productions that may have not wrapped or have not been cleared for publishing.)

Fabricator, Puppet Designer, Co-lead puppet Dept. February-August 2018
Wendell and Wild - Netflix Animated Feature
Director - Henry Selick

Fabrication Coordinator for Bob's Discount Furniture. (Formerly Reckless Abandon Studios)
October 2016 – Ongoing

Complete character redesign of branded (2 foot tall) "Spokes-puppet" for expanding national marketing spots.
Managed a team of sculptors and fabricators in efforts to create a new look for a beloved and recognized character.
Led and managed review meetings, notes efforts and guided sculptors and fabricators in making the needed incremental changes to the character.
Design and implementation of replacement features for complete phoneme and squash/stretch library.
Redesign of internal armature systems to match and handle the demands of animators and a 2 foot tall stop motion puppet.

Fabrication Coordinator for Bent Image Labs. April 2016 - May 2017.

Coordinating production efforts and fabrication goals with producers/directors.
Design of armature systems, multi-part molds, painting systems and material selections.
Curation and cultivation of multi-disciplinary teams to achieve fabrication goals quickly and effectively for short term commercial/pilot productions.
Effective management of fabrication pipeline.

Lead Armature designer and Puppet fabricator for Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer 4D for SimEx Iwerks and Bent Image Labs. Oct 2015-April 2016

Design, machining, brazing, tuning and assembly of puppet armature systems.
Meticulous on-model recreations of puppet assets to match the entire character cast from the original Rudolph puppets from the 1964 classic.
Felting, sewing and fur transfers.
Molding, Casting, finishing and painting of character heads.
Puppet doctor repairs and last-looks duties on set during shooting.

Puppet Fab Supervisor for Shadow Machine's "Happy Honda Days" Campaign. Sept-Oct 2015

Curated, supervised and guided a team of fabricators to create new puppet assets and refurbishing/retrofitting of older existing puppets.
reated and maintained an effective department budget keeping well within estimated material and labor expenditures.
Design of puppet armature systems and expression kits.
Puppet doctor repairs and last-looks duties on set during shooting.

Lead Puppet designer and fabricator for Vice Magazine's "Party Legends" produced by Starburns Industries. July-Aug 2015

Created a unique and budget minded 2D "paper doll" puppet system with a magnetic registration/hinge system for a cast of 15 unique characters.
Interfaced with photoshop artists to guide implementation of their character designs and environment artwork into the 2D puppet system.
Management of budget and material assets.

Puppet Fabricator and "soft-prop" designer for BixPix Studios's season 2 of "Tumbleleaf". March-July 2015

Contracted to expedite varied character fabrication needs as the Tumbleleaf season 2 production unfolded.

Machining, brazing, tuning and assembly of puppet armature systems.
Design and creation of special animatable "soft-props" such as: capes, tails, towels, plants and scarves.
The construction of consistent hairpieces across 15 stage ready main character "Fig" puppets.
Seaming and repair of cast silicone puppet parts.
Repaired and repainted several puppet parts and assets for return to set.

Puppet Department Head for Starburns Industries' project for Disney XD's Station ID. February 2015

Created original character concept designs.
Fabrication of 20+ puppet characters based on approved designs.
Lead a small team of fabricators to complete the project under budget and within the 2 week schedule limit.

Lead Puppet Fabricator for Charlie Kaufman's "Anomalisa" at Starburns Industries. August 2013 - December 2014

Contracted to create a budget minded solution to a growing production and it's specialized puppet needs.
Designed and implemented a new hybrid puppet armature system of composite wire "Body Blocks" and replaceable "ball and socket" parts.
Created a realistic and seamless silicone puppet body for a nude puppet sex scene.
Designed armature systems for photo-realistic human stop-motion puppets and animals. Designed and implemented a new budget minded hybrid puppet armature system of composite wire and ball and socket parts. Creation of custom armature systems to accommodate large and heavy puppets.
Applied wide knowledge of materials to achieve the best looking results and best performance possible.

General Fabricator for Henry Selick's Cinderbiter Studios. February 2012 – August 2012

Worked with concept designers and animators to create stage ready puppets. Strategized materials and construction methods that could achieve the look and functionality of both groups.

Responsible for puppet creation from supplied art concepts and R&D to stage ready puppet assets.
Creation of working armature prototypes for the numerous puppet needs.
Interfacing with 3-D designers to communicate evolving functionality to perfect our rapid prototyping process for needed puppet features such as replacement faces and other body elements.
Knowledge of a wide base of materials and products for use in puppet creation and dressing.
Creation of specialty prototype parts for use in puppet builds.
Consulting with animators and directors to discuss needs and solutions for optimal puppet performance.

Paint Technician for Cinderbiter Studios. July 2011

Researched and developed painting techniques for the fabrication and production of stop motion puppets that focused on durably, cure times, and ease of use.

Design and development of new methods for applying a variety of paint and finish details to the thousands of required facial replacement assets.
Research into automotive paints and finishes, development of color formulas and application techniques for use on puppet facial assets.
Design of a variety of painting jigs and stencil masks using rapid prototyping.
Teaching of the standardized sanding, painting and finishing techniques to the paint department.

General Fabricator for Phil Tippett's animation project MAD GOD. 2012 – current

Retrofit of old armatures to fit newly created puppets and assets.
Designing and brazing of new armature pieces to include in new or modified armatures.
oordinating with team animators to produce needed range of movement using toys and models built with hidden custom armatures.

Project Manager, Lead Fabricator. LEDARTIST's "GonKirin" project. 2010-continuing.

Task management for fabrication crew.
esign and layout of needed structures and effects.
On-site assembly and fabrication.

Large Scale “Public Art” Fabricator for Marta Thoma. (2010- continuing)

Lead Metal Fabricator.
Design consultation.
Heavy equipment operator.
Machining.
On-site Installation.

Art & Set Piece Installation for Robert Wilson and Theun Mosk's “Walking”.

Oerol Festival (Theater festival in Holland) July 2008.

Heavy equipment operation.
On-site, outdoor construction of two-story set pieces.
Sculpted local soil and concrete to create outdoor set pieces among the local flora and fauna.

Prop builder for numerous machine art and performance projects featured at the Robodock Festival in Amsterdam, NL. 2007 – current.

Foam cutting.
Welding
Painting
Mold Making and Casting

Areas of expertise:

Fabrication, Machining, Sculpture, Painting, Illustration, Project Management, Photography, Lighting, Industrial Design, Model building, Color matching, Mold Making and Casting, Silicone seaming and repair, Rubber & Resins, Rubber Painting.
Other skills include Graphic Design and Animation, ZBrush, 3D rapid prototyping and finishing, Airbrush skills, Dragon Frame Animation software, Adobe Creative suite.

References gladly given upon request.