My puppetry career began when I was five years old, and my father took me and my sister to a traditional Czech arts and crafts shop. There, I discovered a whole new world: marionettes. I immediately gravitated towards a witch puppet, while my sister chose a skeleton.

Many years later, when I was around 18, I had the opportunity to work at the Jiří Trnka animation department of Barrandov Studios in Prague. Barrandov Studios, founded in 1931, is the largest film studio in the country and one of the largest in Europe. It has been the production site for several major Hollywood films, including Mission Impossible, The Bourne Identity, and many others.

One day, my influential colleague and friend, Karolína, suggested, “Let’s try making our own marionette.” This moment changed my destiny, and my life was forever transformed. Initially, I started by crafting puppets from clay, creating one-of-a-kind originals. Later, I began making original puppets and casting multiple copies in plaster. In the next stage of my journey, I learned the art of carving puppets from wood, becoming a skilled carver. However, another challenge awaited me: mastering marionette engineering, a somewhat mysterious field. I had to understand the puppet’s anatomy, consider the proportions and weights of all its components, and choose the optimal joint technology to maintain the marionette’s perfect balance. A professional marionette naturally maintains its default balance, allowing the puppeteer to control it with minimal effort and without struggling, which is a unique feature that most marionettes on the market lack.