Professional Puppeteer Helena Smee
Helena Smee - CV Resume Website and Showreel at helenasmee.com
Contact helena.smee@btinternet.com

Helena Smee is a British Puppeteer, Puppet Maker and Writer.
Her work has been seen on screens for over 30 years, from 'Dappledown Farm', presented by pre-school legend Brian Cant, to her current iconic puppet character, ‘Milkshake Monkey' (Bafta nominated) for Channel 5's Milkshake!
During that time, Helena has designed and built over 80 puppets that have featured in more than 50 kids TV series, and has performed at least 30 of the characters herself (puppet and voice). She has exceptional experience filming puppets on location, outside in the ‘real World’.

In 2017, Helena was cast as a principal puppeteer to play lead characters, 'Mira', 'Seladon' and 'The Collector/SkekLach', in The Jim Henson Company/Netflix original TV series, 'The Dark Crystal; Age of Resistance'. The series won an EMMY for 'Outstanding Children's Program' in the 2020 awards.
Helena has been hired to puppeteer on feature films including, ‘Muppets Treasure Island’, ‘Muppets Most Wanted’ & ‘Solo; a Star Wars Story’.
She was cast by the Sesame Workshop to play lead character ‘Chelli’ in both UK series of ‘Big Bag’.
Helena has also worked on various puppet-led advertising campaigns including ‘Freeview Aliens’, ‘3 Mobile’, ‘Dolmio’, ‘Travelodge’, ‘O2’, ‘McDonalds’, ‘Hewlett Packard’, ‘D-Con’ and ‘Doordash’.

Over the last 15 years, Helena has also been commissioned to write scripts for Children's Animation series, including ‘123 Number Squad’, 'Winnie & Wilbur', 'Daisy & Ollie', 'School of Roars', ‘Wissper’, ‘Wanda and the Alien’, ‘Pip Ahoy’, ‘Toby’s Travelling Circus', 'Castle Farm', 'The Beeps' and ‘Bottle Top Bill’.
To date, she has written over 1,000 minutes of broadcasted original animation.

Helena is married to fellow puppeteer and artist Marcus Clarke. They live happily in Nottingham, UK with their 2 sons and very scruffy dog.

Professional Memberships: British Actors Equity,
Writers Guild of Great Britain, PRS, ALCS, Screen Actors Guild USA.

Awards:

Milkshake Monkey - 2014 BAFTA Nominated - Short Form

Milkshake Show 2008
BAFTA Nominated - Pre-School Live Action

Milkshake Summer 2006  -
BAFTA Nominated - Pre-School Live Action

The Christmas Milkshake Show 2009 -
BAFTA Nominated - Pre-School Live Action


Puppeteer credits include:

TV
* Milkshake Monkey’s Top Nana’s Rhymes – C5 2023
* Justin’s House –
Alien Visitors - Series 6 – CBeebies 2023 Microsoft Word - Helena Smee – puppeteer cv2021.
* Meaban & Moo – Series 1 & 2 – BBC Alba 2023
* Milkshake Monkey Continuity Links Milkshake! Channel 5 2023
* Meaban &Moo Series 1 and 2 Ceebeebies/Alba
* Milkshake Monkey's Amazing Adventures - (2 Series)
* Dark Crystal; Age of Resistance - Principal Puppeteer - Core Group - Jim Henson Company and Netflix. Winner of 2019/20 Primetime Emmy Award for 'Outstanding Children's Program'.
*  Milkshake Monkey (4 Series) - BAFTA Nominated - Iconic puppet character presenter for Milkshake! Channel 5.
*  Hacker Time    CBBC (series 4 & 5) - BAFTA Nominated - CBBC
*  The Milkshake Show                     BAFTA Nominated  - Milkshake/Channel 5
*  Smarteenies                                  Cbeebies
Dappledown Farm                         C5 & TVAM
*  Punctuation Pals                           BBC Learning
*  Playbox                                         Ragdoll for CITV
*  Dotty and Buzz                              C4 education
*  A House That's Just Like Yours   
Milkshake/Channel 5
*  The Softies                                   
Milkshake/Channel 5
*  Big Bag (Chelli)                             Sesame Production CITV
*  Tickle, Patch & Friends                
Milkshake/Channel 5 (11 series)
*  Top Banana                                  TVAM
*  The Great Bong                            CITV
*  Sandy and Mr Flapper                 
Milkshake/Channel 5
*  The Slow Norris (original cast)      CITV
*  Havakazoo                                   
Milkshake/Channel 5
*  The Children's Channel & TCC - all on-air presentation from 1993-1995
    Including: Ike & Webber, Ratkan Zoo, Ratkan Live, Droibee Time.




FILM
*  Solo: A Star Wars Story - Lucas Films
*  Muppets Most Wanted - Disney
*  Muppets Treasure Island - Jim Henson Company
*  10th Kingdom - Carnival Films

ADS - COMMERCIALS

Hunky-Dory (US) 2019 D-CON - 'Mice Party'
*  Freeview Aliens (TV commercial) Blinkink - 2021 ‘Crack open the good biscuits’

*  3 Mobile (TV commercial) Bacon Prods & Arch Model Studios - 2022 ‘Karaoke’
*  Agile Films (Hans Christian Anderson Museum) 2020 Promotional Film 'Mermaids'
*  York Productions (US) 2020 Door Dash - 'Talking Kitchen'.
*  Hewlett Packard
2017 Xmas Campaign "Create wonder in your World".
*  McDonalds
2016 Christmas 'The Doll'.
*  O2
2016 "Gift Box".
*  Travelodge 
2016 'That's Travelogical'.
*  Dolmio Pasta Sauce
'The Meeting' & 'Stay for Dinner'.
*  Beagle Insurance 
Blink Productions
*  Hyundai
(Web  Commercial) Viral Factory

Script-writing credits include:

ANIMATION

* 123 NUMBER SQUAD               Omens Studios
*  Princess Doremi                        FZ Entertainment China
*  School of Roars                         Monster Paw Productions
*  Winnie and Wilbur                     Wundana Enterprises
*  Daisy & Ollie                              HOOPLA
*  Wissper                                     Absolutely Cookoo
*  Pip Ahoy                                    CHF
*  Wanda and the Alien                 Komixx 
*  Toby's Travelling Circus             Komixx
*  Bottle Top Bill                             Southern Star
*  The Beeps                                 Impossible TV
*  Angels of Jarm                          Impossible TV
*  The Milky and Shake Show       Kerrupt TV
*  Castle Farm                               Impossible TV
 
TV

* Tickle, Patch & Friends               C5
* Sandy and Mr Flapper               
C5
* The Softies                                
C5            
* Milkshake Monkey                     
C5 

THEATRE PLAY
* Dreaming with Roo - Funded by ACE & REEP

TV Series Created and Co-created:
* The Softies                                     80 x 5 min eps        Created for C5      
* Beachcomber Bay                         90 x 24 min eps       Co-created for C5          
* Sandy and Mr. Flapper                  26 x 5 min eps         Co-created for C5          
* Tickle, Patch and Friends              11  Series                Co-created for C5


  

Real Time Animation:
I spent 8 months in Los Angeles writing scripts for Medialab and Canal+ CG RTA presentations, as well as Performing RTA CG Characters for many Hollywood Studio presentations and working on the resulting productions for NBC and Fox Studios Beverly Hills.
I have written, presented and performed similar presentations in Osaka, Amsterdam, New Orleans, Orlando and Hamburg.


TV Puppet Maker:
I am one half of 'Hands up Puppets'. www.handsuppuppets.com.
Formed in 1989 with my partner, Marcus Clarke, we have designed and created over 70 Puppets, appearing in as many Children's TV Series over 28 years including Milkshake Monkey.




Teaching Experience:
Teaching EEC Euro funded ‘lesser language initiative’.
I helped to devise a course and teach T.V Puppetry to a mixed age group of Gaelic speakers over a 16 week period. This resulted in the students successfully performing in an award-winning Gaelic TV series that aired on Eire and British Gaelic TV Services.

Teaching Real-Time Animation in the USA and Japan:
I taught a mixed age group of primarily ‘Muppet’ Puppeteers to perform the Medialab France computer animation system in Los Angeles over a 16 week period. Also, a shorter course in Tokyo,
Japan.