In December 2021, Kat Sunnucks joined Studio Giggle as an account and project manager. However, her role isn’t as straightforward as it seems… Kat is a part-time Studio Giggle employee and part-time Manchester United employee. In June 2020 Studio Giggle won a contract with Manchester United to create their virtual events. So in November 2021 we took our relationship with Manchester United further and went into joint employment to create a hybrid employee who works spends 50% of their time working at Studio Giggle on Manchester United virtual events but from a content and technical perspective, and 50% of the time working for Manchester United on Manchester United Virtual Events but from a logistical point of view.
So we sat down with Kat to find out a little bit more about herself and how she ended up in this role.
Tell us a little bit about yourself
I grew up in London but moved to Bristol when I was 7 but I ended up going back to London for University, but returned to Bristol a couple of years ago!
I think I’m a big people person which helps in a role like this.
I have a lot of experience in the sports and events world. After I finished University, I worked in sports hospitality in a company that created bespoke VIP experiences for people allowing them to attend matches at Twickenham, travel to Monaco for the F1 and experience Cheltenham Races in style. This role taught me a lot about managing people, and the stress (and buzz) of live events, which helped me to deal with the Manchester United events.
My Dad also used to play for Fulham Football Club, so this was the perfect role for me!
What is your background?
When I did my A-levels I studied Drama and Media Studies, this opened my eyes to the world of production, but to begin with, I thought I wanted to be an actor. I then went on to study Media and Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London. I picked Goldsmiths because it is a very creative and art-based university which I liked.
After I graduated I worked as a PA for a celebrity Make Up Artist. That was a real experience! I got the opportunity to encounter a wide range of different elements of production, meet celebrities, liaise with brands, run social media accounts and even try my hand at being a Make Up artist (only once!!).
After a number of years working in different creative, events and sports agencies, I took some time off to do a ski season in Whistler. But tore my calf muscle whilst out there, so when I came back to the UK I was ready to throw myself back into the creative world. So I started at a Vintage Steel Furniture Designer for a couple of years.
What is your role at Giggle?
So my role is unique in that I’m kind of a middle-person twin between Giggle and Manchester United. For the Studio Giggle side of the virtual events, I manage the platform, organise crew, and do all the logistics needed for the event, including booking hotels, monitoring content deliverable lists, filling in risk assessments and curating kit lists.
But for the Manchester United side, my role is the internal Health and safety and RAMS, organising external inductions, liaising with and working with Relationship Managers from Manchester United and their Partner companies, and ensuring that everything comes together before the event.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I love to stay active- I used to play football (which helps with the Manchester United role), but I did my ACL last year and so I’m still recovering. Since then I’ve been doing lots of hiking and cycling.
I also have a passion for interior design! I love the intricate details of interior design, so I combined this passion with my interest in photography and set up an interior design Instagram account called Edje Interiors.
What keeps you creative?
New experiences always help me to feel creative. Recently I went to Condense Reality with the Giggle team and learnt all about volumetric capture and its capabilities. This gave me loads of inspiration for things that we could offer Manchester United to enhance their virtual events- watch this space!!
I also like working with creative and like-minded people, this fuels creativity and is the beauty of working for a creative agency like Studio Giggle- you never set in stone, you can jump around and try anything, and bounce ideas off each other!
I also think my interior design side is a creative outlet for me.
If you would like to know more about any of our team, click here.
