Whirligig Team | Whirligig

Programmer 92%
Playwright 36%
Knee Bouncer 100%

Tim Thomas

Senior Programmer

Tim Thomas is a senior developer with Unity Technologies, makers of the Unity game engine. Tim is also a playwright and theater producer. He has been a programmer and a member of Austin-based theater company Loaded Gun Theory for over 18 years. Recently, the rest of his company let him start merging technology and performance – introducing a drone-with-a-live-camer-feed as a character in the play “Metal Queen: Kneel Before Her Dark Majesty”. The work on “Metal Queen…” led to developing much of the technology for Whirligig‘s production of “Deus Ex Machina” and he is looking forward to continued merging of live performance, choice, and augmented reality.

Tim also has a small boutique theater ticketing company – BuyPlayTix, where he experiments with new ways to sell boring old tickets. Because you can’t do enough in a day.

Playwriting 75%
Directing 90%
Bad Ass 100%

Liz Fisher

Co-Artistic Director

Liz Fisher is an interdisciplinary director, writer, actor, and producer based in Austin. Her directing work centers on new plays and exciting reimaginings of classic texts. She has workshopped new scripts for the ISA (International Screenwriters’ Association) at the Austin Film Festival and directed at the American Shakespeare Center’s Blackfriars Playhouse. She is a recipient of the Princess Grace Award in Theatre, the Stage Directors and Choreographers National Directing Award [Kennedy Center], and a fellowship to the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. She is an award winning actress, starring in films that have premiered at the Venice Film Festival and SXSW. As an award winning playwright, she has been invited to residencies across the country to develop new plays that focus on transmedia storytelling. Liz has presented at SXSW Interactive and academic conferences on her work in blending technology and theater. She has been a visiting guest artist for the University of Arkansas, the University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Theatre and Dance, St. Edward’s University, Southwestern University’s Sarofim School of Fine Arts, and the Mary McDermott Visiting Artist at Mary Baldwin University. In addition to her artistic accomplishments, Liz is also a successful producer and arts manager who has run arts incubators, produced five play cycles, and managed interdisciplinary, new work festivals. Currently, she is the Program Coordinator for Shakespeare at Winedale. SDC Associate Member. MFA: Texas State University.

Technology Design 85%
Producing Stuffs 35%
Messy Hair 100%

Robert Matney

Co-Artistic Director

Robert Matney is a Managing Director for New Knowledge. He has defined, developed, and supported emerging technologies since 2000, and has founded several technology and arts companies. Robert studied philosophy and literature at The University of Texas at Austin, and is an expert on topics at the intersection of the Internet, culture, communications, and art, including regular appearances at SXSW Interactive and the Blackfriars Conferences. He is an author of the 2018 Senate Intelligence Committee Disinformation Report on Russian interference in the 2016 election, and has provided featured content and keynotes on the topic of disinformation and brand integrity for an array of conferences, summits and events.

Robert is also the Technology Director for Hidden Room Theatre and a Board Trustee for Austin Shakespeare, and an award-winning stage/voice actor and director with various companies.