RESUME Name William Klenk Phone +852 93627701 Address G/F, No. 93, Wang Long Village Email liam@sent.com Yung Shue Wan, Lamma Island Hong Kong SUMMARY My experience and projects listed below will show you a work life that has already given me a wealth of professional and life experience. There is a common thread going through all of it. I have always stayed on for a few years and given my chosen profession all my energy and passion. Wherever I was I stayed curious throughout, engaged, passionate, self-motivated, put in a lot of extra work and always learned as much as I could. Time and again my work assignments brought me back to the entertainment industry. I had my first work experience as a theater technician as early as 1995. I have gathered knowledge and experience around the world, organizational, administrative, and management skills. A lot of my work was done in environments that required keeping an open mind and reacting quickly to changes. I am a compassionate person and connect easily with the people around me. I love to work as part of a team. From 2009 until 2013, I worked full time for 'The House of Dancing Water' in Macau, combining the creative process, my love for theater, and my love for water. At the same time I studied at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts to learn even more about the entertainment industry and life backstage. PERSONAL STRENGTHS Very good coordinator, administrator, and facilitator Patient and compassionate coach and teacher Excellent social competence Reliable and thorough Responsible, creative, engaged
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE (please see below for details) Oct 2013 now Aug 2013 Oct 2013 Self-Employed Book Author, in Hong Kong Production Manager at WRG Creative Communication (Asia) Ltd, in Hong Kong 2010 2013 Aquatic Performer Trainer/Diving Technician for Franco Dragone Entertainment Company, 'The House of Dancing Water' in Macau 2009 Mar 2010 Aquatic Performer Trainer for Franco Dragone Entertainment Company, Training and Formation, The House of Dancing Water, in Lint, Belgium 2005 2009 Diving Instructor, Guide, Chamber Operator, Master Instructor and Website Maintenance at Kuredu Prodivers 2000 2005 Visual Aids Specialist/Video-Conference Coordinator/ Multimedia Specialist/IT Training at McKinsey & Company Inc., Switzerland 1997 2000 Full-time employment, Team Coordinator at movie theatres ABC and Metropol, at Kino-Theater Zürich AG 1993 1997 Part-time employment as Usher, Kiosk Salesman and Allrounder, at Kino-Theater Zürich AG 1991 1997 Freelance Photographer in Zurich, Switzerland Mar 1989 Jul 1989 Exhibition Technician and Guide, Phenomena Science Exhibition, Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany PROJECTS (please see below for details) February 2013 Jun 2012 Aug 2012 May 2012 Jan 2011 Dec 2011 Jun 2010 Sept 2010 Oct 2009 Apr 2010 Theater Management Internship at the Banff Centre, Canada Aquatic Performer Trainer at Cast Changeover, Lint, Belgium Assistant Stage Manager, Stage Crew for 5 Senses HNHW Multimedia Show, Amphitheatre, Academy for Performing Arts, Hong Kong Writing of Aquatic Performer Course Training Handbook Aquatic Performer Trainer/Show Diver at Creation of The House of Dancing Water, Macau Aquatic Performer Trainer at Training and Formation for The House of Dancing Water, Lint, Belgium 1996 2000 Stage Crew, Usher, at Summer Festival, Theater Corso, Zurich Summer 1996 Photographer at Hase Hase Rehearsals, Theater Academy, Zurich 1995 2000 Follow-Spot Operator, Cinema Corso, Zurich Feb 1993 Technician at Annual Fashion Ball, Grand Dolder, Zurich
Summer 1992 Photographer at Rehearsals of Knie presents Cirque du Soleil, Zurich EDUCATION 2012 2013 Professional Diploma with Honors. Major in Stage, Production, and Events Management at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts 2011 Management of Spinal Injuries with Hong Kong Lifesaving Society 2009 OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Training) certification 2003 2009 PADI OWD to PADI Master Instructor, Hyperbaric Chamber Operator 2003 2005 University classes: Life in the Oceans - Our Blue Planet, Studying Mammals, Math for Science, Practicing Science, and Certificate of Natural Sciences, at Open University, UK 2000 2001 Evening classes on DTP, Web-Publishing, Multimedia, digital photo-editing with Adobe Photoshop 1999 2000 Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English 1999 2000 Swiss Computer Science Certificate, at HSO Zurich 1999 2000 Business Degree, at HSO Zurich 1998 1999 Evening classes: Internet, Windows 95, Team Management 1992 1997 Photography at Zurich University of the Arts 1992 1993 Movie theatre projectionist, at Procinema Baden 1991 1992 Preparatory year at Zurich University of the Arts, fine arts and photography 1990 1991 10 months in the USA, High School, Tri-Cities WA 1987 1990 College-preparatory commercial High school in Germany 1981 1987 High school in Germany 1977 1981 Elementary school in Germany Languages German Mother tongue English Mother tongue equivalent French Basic knowledge Computer skills Windows and Mac operating systems, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Adobe Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, Lotus Notes, AutoCAD
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE DETAILS Production Manager at WRG Creative Communication (Asia) Ltd Hong Kong (Aug 2013 Oct 2013) WRG is one of the major Events Management companies coming out of the UK. The Hong Kong branch is coordinating and planning multiple exciting events on a daily basis. As Production Manager I was involved in a variety of projects: A giant handbag - the 'Lady Dior As Seen By...' exhibition at Pier 4, planning for Hong Kong's biggest outdoor concert event of the year, the 'Symphony Under the Stars', as well as planning for several smaller corporate events and cocktail parties. I was involved in meetings with clients and suppliers, worked on AutoCAD plans for the coming events, and coordinated work crews on site. I experienced the events production process from beginning to conclusion - from successful pitch to successful realization. Franco Dragone Entertainment Group, Macau Aquatic Performer Trainer/Diving Technician for 'The House of Dancing Water' show (October 2009 June 2013) (See 4 associated projects below) Simplified, being a show diver at our show combines the following skills: Underwater Stage Management, Safety and Life Guard duty, training and coaching of our performers. I was with 'The House of Dancing Water' since before construction of the theater was completed, through Training and Formation, Theatre Construction, Creation, and then almost 3 years of Operation. I trained our performers underwater during the initial 'Training and Formation'. At the end of this phase we moved from our training studio in Belgium to the location of our theater in Macau. On arrival the theater was not yet ready. All crew was involved in construction for a few months. This was followed by 4 intensive months of 'Creation' with Franco Dragone. Since the Opening in September 2010, I dove every show. We perform 2 shows a day. I had an extensive and difficult show diver cue track, involving a huge amount of responsibility for the safety of our performers as well as for the timing of the show. My main responsibility was bringing the performers to their cue positions underwater, as well as catching them coming into the water. I was responsible for the maintenance of our props underwater and the setting of props during the show. I was involved in daily rehearsals, maintenance, organization, and training before the shows. Additionally I was responsible for training our divers for performer handling, as well as training our new performers for their unique underwater theater environment. Over a oneyear period I wrote the training handbook that is now being used for underwater performer training in our theater. For our first cast changeover I was back in the Belgium training studio, to prepare our next generation of performers for the one-of-a-kind underwater environment they will encounter in the show in Macau. Prodivers, Kuredu Island Resort, Maldives Diving Instructor, Guide, Chamber Operator, Master Instructor, and Website Maintenance (2005 2009) Prodivers Kuredu is one of the biggest diving centers in Asia. Working days are long, with many last minute changes. On an island of about 1 square km, team competence has to be very high, because you eat, work, sleep and breathe together every day. A high level of flexibility is needed as well as an ability to keep calm under pressure. Our divers rely on us to keep them save, and many of
them are very inexperienced. I started as a divemaster and snorkel guide for the first six months. After completing my Instructor Development Course (IDC), I changed over to the diving section, teaching a variety of courses and guiding boats. I got my Staff Instructor rating in October 2007, and my Master Instructor rating in January 2009. From 2007 to 2009 I assisted our Course Director in preparing and organizing the Instructor Development Courses (IDCs) plus helped teach, coach and evaluate the IDC candidates during the intensive 2-week instructor courses. Prodivers runs a Hyperbaric Chamber as part of the island clinic. In 2007 I got certified as a Hyperbaric Chamber Operator. I was on 24h call. When we had a patient, we took turns operating the chamber on the outside, or tending to the patient inside the chamber. In addition to my diving activities I took care of updating the Prodivers website. McKinsey & Company Inc., Switzerland Visual Aids Specialist, Videoconference Coordinator, Multimedia Specialist, IT-Training (2000 2005) My main work consisted of producing high-quality PowerPoint presentations for our clients together with my teammates. We worked in small teams of up to 4 people. A well-developed team competence was essential to keep things going and keep up with tight workloads. Our daily workload was fastpaced, with a huge amount of improvisation. Work orders were usually coming in at the very last minute with an ASAP deadline. During my first 2 years of employment I also set up international videoconferences with a professional Sony conference system. From October 2002 to April 2003 I transferred to the Multimedia department and acquired a lot of additional skills about professional Desktop Publishing. I gave 2nd level IT support to MS Word and PowerPoint users. Afterwards I worked mainly as a PowerPoint Specialist, helping out as a Multimedia Specialist whenever needed. Kino-Theater Zürich AG Team Coordinator, Usher, Kiosk Salesman, All-rounder (1993 2000) (See 2 associated projects below) From 1993-1997 I worked part-time as an usher and kiosk salesman while studying at the Zurich University of the Arts. After graduation, in 1997 I asked for full-time employment. The company offered me a promotion to team coordinator at 2 major movie theaters in Zurich Cinema ABC and Metropol. This meant working as part of the team, while quietly overseeing things. I had to be able to quickly fill in for everyone when needed, as usher, cashier, projectionist, kiosk salesman, and even carpenter, etc. if necessary. I planned the daily schedule. Everything moved at a very fast pace. The available staff had to be coordinated so that they were at the right place at the right time. Cinema ABC had 4 screens running all day, with movie start, break, and movie end to attend to. Besides that being a team coordinator entailed working many extra hours for monthly accounting, ordering merchandise, organizing regular maintenance, organizing team meetings, evaluation talks with employees, etc.
If anything went wrong, the negotiations with customers and handling complaints needed to be done by me as well. Kino-Theater AG owned 6 movie theaters in Zurich at the time. I trained a lot of staff for all six theaters, did the monthly accounting for up to four of those theaters, and helped out in all of them when needed for daily business or special events. We offered regular premieres, big red carpet gala premieres, and a theater summer festival. For the theater festival, Cinema Corso, Zurich s oldest movie theater, could be converted into a proper proscenium theater. The summer festival lasted 2-3 months. I was involved in the load-in and load-out as well as daily operations. Freelance Photographer In and around Zurich (1991 1997) (See 2 associated projects below) During my studies at the University of the Arts, I worked as much as possible as a freelance photographer. I did mostly wedding photography, but my long-term project was trying to capture the creative process and unique vibrant atmosphere backstage. I photographed during the rehearsals of several theater, circus, and show productions. Phenomena Science Exhibition Exhibition Technician and Guide, Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany (March 1989 July 1989) The 'Phenomena' was a very unique and popular science exhibition. The exhibition was touring through Europe in a white big top. For 5 months, several hundred thousand visitors came to Bietigheim-Bissingen to be amazed and dazzled by the mysteries of science. My main task was doing tours with visitor groups and school classes. Each tour took 1 1/2 hours in which I explained different science phenomena to people. They had the opportunity to witness experiments or conduct some of them themselves. More dangerous exhibits needed a guide to be there full time to run them and ensure the safety of our visitors. Additionally to giving tours, I helped with basic maintenance. PROJECTS DETAILS Theater Management Internship at the Banff Centre Alberta, Canada (February 2013) A 4-week internship at the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada. Objective of the internship was to get as much insight as possible into theater management. What responsibilities do the different management positions have? How do they need to work together to reach a common goal? How does a non-profit institution like the Banff Centre function? It was an amazing, intense experience. I shadowed a number of people over the month, observed and absorbed as much as possible. I learned from the rich experiences of the Production Manager, Technical Director, Producer, Associate Producer, Fundraiser, Conference Manager, Public Relations Director, and from the Heads of Department. The theater arts, conference, and leadership development teams took me under their wings and shared their work experiences with me. In every respect a month of intense growth.
Cast Changeover, Lint, Belgium Aquatic Performer Trainer, Franco Dragone Entertainment Group (Jun 2012 Aug 2012) Spending 3 intensive months at our training facility in Lint, Belgium to coach 18 new performers. We did basic scuba diving training with each of them, followed by 8 weeks of specific underwater training for our theater. This includes all techniques used for traveling underwater to their cue positions, safety, troubleshooting, and teamwork with scuba divers during the show. Assistant Stage Manager, Stage Crew for 5 Senses HNHW Multimedia Show Amphitheatre, Academy for Performing Arts, Hong Kong (May 2012) Multimedia Production by Xavier Yu. I was there from load-in to load-out, helping out as Assistant Stage Manager and Stage Crew. We performed 2 times in the Amphitheater at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. A big theater with 600 seats. The show being made as 'Art for All', ambitiously trying to engage anyone from young to old, as well as blind and deaf people. Lots of special effects to stimulate all 5 senses, translation for deaf people and audio commentary for blind people, rock concert set-up as well as Kung Fu and dance performances. Writing of Aquatic Performer Course Training Handbook Aquatic Performer Trainer, Franco Dragone Entertainment Group (Jan 2011 Dec 2011) Over a 1-year period I wrote the underwater training handbook that is now in use at 'The House of Dancing Water'. While writing the handbook for our theater I could draw on years of extensive coaching and training experience in the theater underwater environment as well as my ocean training experiences before that. The handbook is a 40-page step-by-step guideline on how to teach the diverse diving techniques being used especially for the 'House of Dancing Water Theater' in Macau, China. It is an easy to read guidebook with illustrations that will give any trainer or performer a good first impression on all the relevant training details. Creation of The House of Dancing Water, Macau Aquatic Performer Trainer/Show Diver, Franco Dragone Entertainment Group (Jun 2010 Sept 2010) During creation, I watched the show come together step by step - from a work perspective, being a show diver on call underwater, as well as using every free moment to watch the creation process on stage. It was a hard 4 months but nevertheless an amazing work and life experience. Our theater and pool both were a new frontier for most of us. As much as creating the show, it was also a coming to terms with the complexity and technological challenges of our show. With a team of almost 300 cast and crew from 30 different countries, we managed to overcome all obstacles and together created an amazing spectacle on stage. Training and Formation for The House of Dancing Water, Lint, Belgium Aquatic Performer Trainer, Franco Dragone Entertainment Group (Oct 2009 Apr 2010) During the initial training of performers for the new show 'The House of Dancing Water' in Macau, I helped train our performers for all underwater activities. Initial Scuba training was then built on with challenging, theater-specific underwater training. In our team we took turns in designing creative training sessions to prepare performers for any underwater emergencies they might face in the future. In addition we were responsible for providing safety in and around the pool at all times.
Stage Crew, Usher, at Summer Festival, Theater Corso Allrounder, Kino-Theater Zurich AG, Zurich (1996 2000) Cinema Corso transformed into the 'Corso Theater'. The screen could be removed, revealing a beautiful big stage in a classy theater of 800 seats. The annual Summer Festival was held from June-August. It featured concerts as well as modern dance and ballet. For example Andreas Vollenweider, Vera Kaa, Stomp, Trinity Irish Dance Company, Momix and many others performed in our venue. This is where I had my first theater work experiences. Helping mostly during load-in, as an usher, and as stage crew. Photographer at Hase Hase Rehearsals, Zurich Theater Academy Freelance Photographer, Zurich (Summer 1996) 'Hase Hase' by Coline Serreau was one of several diploma productions I photographed for the Zurich Theater Academy. I followed cast and crew for three months, from start of rehearsals to opening night. One of the highlights of my life was when I was invited to bow to standing ovations with the whole cast and crew on stage at opening night, and even received my own opening night rose. Follow-Spot Operator, Cinema Corso Allrounder, Kino-Theater Zurich AG, Zurich (1995 2000) For the Gala Premieres at Kino-Theater Zurich AG I helped getting the theater ready for the event, anything from setting up the lights to laying the red carpet. Usually I was the Follow- Spot Operator for the speech of whatever big celebrity we had in-house that evening. E.g., during those years I remember doing the Follow-Spot for Kathryn Bigelow, Oliver Stone, Harrison Ford, Harald Schmidt, Luc Besson, Phil Collins, and many others. Technician at Annual Fashion Ball, Grand Dolder Zurich (Feb 1993) Intensive 3-day project for the annual Fashion Ball at the Grand Dolder Hotel in Zurich. I helped with load-in and load-out of all sound and lighting related equipment, as well as assisting in installation and trouble shooting throughout the event. Photographer at Rehearsals of Knie presents Cirque du Soleil Freelance Photographer, Zurich (Summer 1992) I photographed during the rehearsals for the performances of Swiss National Circus 'Knie' in Zurich in 1992. I was mesmerized by a strange theatrical element brought in by an unknown foreign circus group and did not know that I witnessed the expansion of Cirque du Soleil into the European market. My love affair with Cirque du Soleil started on the first day of experiencing their rehearsals through the viewfinder of my camera under the 'Knie' big top.