Kate
Halpin

about the speaker

Kate mastered the art of colour palettes and landing a quick gag with inattentive audiences way back in 2002, when she got her first job as a kid’s party clown. She spent the Summer being heckled by sugar-crazed seven year olds, and painting everything from tigers to ninja turtles on chocolate crackle-crusted faces from a palette of precisely 6 colours – and she’s never looked back.

With a comedic eye that’s as sharp as her visual flair, Kate’s background as a production designer, actor (and clown) shines through every frame of her work. From deadpan dialogue to stylised worlds with distinctive colour palettes, her work proves that comedy doesn’t have to be dramas ‘ugly cousin’. While she has recently become the go-to director for llamas, felines and animatronic apes, her reputation for crafting noteworthy balloon animals has been well-established for years.

Kate works globally as a commercial director and has directed campaigns for Toyota, Bumble, ESPN, Uber Eats, Starbucks, Nestle, Nintendo, Westfield and TK Maxx to name a few. Her films have screened at over 35 festivals worldwide, picking up ‘Best Director’ and ‘Best Film’ nods in their travels. She has won a Cannes Lion, a Clio and an Australian Directors Guild Award for ‘Best Director’. She is currently in development on a drama narrative project set in rural Australia and a dark comedy series.