Moving Parts Arts

What Moving Parts Arts does

Moving Parts Arts is a UK-registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation (charity number 1194137) founded in 2017 and headquartered at the John Marley Centre in Scotswood, West End Newcastle upon Tyne. It operates as the only dedicated puppetry and outdoor arts charity in the North East of England, producing the biennial Newcastle Puppetry Festival (debuted 2017, editions in 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025; 2026 cancelled due to lack of funding), the Moving Parts Puppet Film Fest (expanded to a stand-alone annual film festival from 2026), and Moving Parts Puppet School. The organization runs an extensive portfolio of community projects including Teeny Tiny Toon, Puppet Quest!, City of Kittiwakes, Wor Seahorse Spectacle, Toon Underground, Wind Garden, and A Treasury of Tyneside Tales, engaging 30,000 people in 2024 across festivals, workshops, schools, and care homes.

Its core technology and craft base spans traditional puppetry disciplines (giant puppetry, shadow puppetry, marionettes, Crankie theatre), stop motion animation, and digital content delivery through online series such as Puppet School TV and Meet the Puppeteers Q+A. The organization is structured around a small core team (1-10 staff) supported by freelancers, associate artists, and volunteers, governed by a board of trustees and led by Artistic Director and Co-Founder Kerrin Tatwood.

The revenue model combines institutional grant funding (Arts Council England, National Lottery Community Fund, Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland, Paul Hamlyn Foundation), individual donations processed through Stripe (including a monthly subscription option), festival ticket sales priced at £4-£12, and quote-based puppet hire and bespoke commissions for events UK-wide and internationally. Puppet School courses are provided free of charge. The organization has no guaranteed funding sources and explicitly depends on year-to-year fundraising cycles.

Name

Moving Parts Arts

Legal name

Moving Parts Arts CIO

Website

https://movingpartsarts.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Moving Parts Arts is a Newcastle-based puppetry and outdoor arts charity (CIO, founded 2017) that produces the biennial Newcastle Puppetry Festival, a stand-alone Puppet Film Fest, free Puppet School courses, and community projects reaching 30,000 people annually across the North East of England.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Performing Arts and Puppetry

NAICS

Performing Arts Companies (7111), Other Performing Arts Companies (711190)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Allied To Motion Picture Production (7819)

akta.pro primary industry

Puppetry & Marionette Theatre (MPAGABAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Theatre Services & Design (Scenic/Costume/Props/Stage Management) (MPAGABAO)

Keywords

• Puppetry performances
• Community arts programs
• Puppetry workshops
• Arts festival production
• Creative education

Headquarters

HQ city

Newcastle Upon Tyne

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Funding: Relies on donations (processed through Stripe), grant funding from Arts Council England, National Lottery, Community Foundation, and other charitable trusts. No guaranteed funding sources as a non-for-profit charity.
2. Festival Tickets and Workshops: Ticket sales for festival performances ranging from £4-£12, workshop fees for puppet making sessions with schools, community groups, and care homes
3. Puppets for Events / Commissions: Hire of giant puppets and performance acts for events UK-wide and internationally; bespoke commissions for museums, schools, libraries, and community projects

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Moving Parts Arts is a UK-registered charity that produces and delivers puppetry programming including the biennial Newcastle Puppetry Festival, the annual Moving Parts Puppet Film Fest, the Moving Parts Puppet School, year-round community projects, bespoke puppetry workshops for schools and groups, and a puppet hire service providing giant puppets and performances for events. The charity also operates Scratch Space, a developmental platform for emerging puppeteers, and Puppet School TV, an online tutorial series.

Product overview

Moving Parts Arts is a charitable organization (CIO, charity number 1194137) offering a portfolio of puppetry and arts programs centered around its flagship Newcastle Puppetry Festival. The core offerings include the biennial festival, Moving Parts Puppet Film Fest (expanded to standalone in 2026), and Moving Parts Puppet School. Supporting programs encompass community projects (Teeny Tiny Toon, Puppet Quest!, Tyne Rising, City of Kittiwakes, Wor Seahorse Spectacle, Toon Underground, Wind Garden, A Treasury of Tyneside Tales), puppetry workshops for schools and groups, puppets for events rental, and Scratch Space for emerging artists. The organization operates as a non-profit, delivering free and subsidized arts programming in the North East of England.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Newcastle Puppetry Festival Biennial week-long international puppetry festival featuring theatre performances, workshops, outdoor arts, talks, and professional training for adults, children and families. The flagship project of Moving Parts Arts.
• Moving Parts Puppet Film Fest Annual film festival celebrating puppetry and stop motion animation, featuring feature films, short film competitions, Q&As, talks, and networking events for filmmakers and audiences.
• Moving Parts Puppet School Creative courses for children, teens and adults teaching puppet making skills, performance techniques, and storytelling through accessible and affordable workshops. Free for North East residents.
• Community Projects Year-round participatory community programs engaging residents in puppetry, heritage, and environmental themes, including Teeny Tiny Toon, Puppet Quest!, Tyne Rising, City of Kittiwakes, Wor Seahorse Spectacle, Toon Underground, Wind Garden, and A Treasury of Tyneside Tales.
• Puppetry Workshops Bespoke creative workshops for schools, community groups, care homes, and private groups covering marionettes, shadow puppetry, paper puppets, parade workshops, and performance skills.
• Puppets for Events Rental and performance services providing giant puppets, roaming acts, and installations for events including Starmongers, Delilah the Elephant, Baba Yaga's Birdhouse, Two for Joy, The Last Believer, Wind Garden, and Giant Kittiwake. Available UK-wide and internationally.
• Scratch Space Annual pop-up platform providing puppeteers with space and support to try out new work-in-progress pieces, taking place at Newcastle Puppetry Festival and Beverley Puppet Festival.

Quantifiable outcome

• 30,000 people engaged in 2024 through festival, community projects, and puppet school
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Tyneside CinemacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Collaboration partner for Moving Parts Puppet Film Fest, hosting the annual stand-alone film festival featuring feature films, double/triple bills, international short films competition, networking events, Q&As and talks. Tyneside Cinema provides the primary venue for this expanded film festival initiative.
• Northern StagecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Main venue partner for Newcastle Puppetry Festival ticketed indoor performances, including UK premieres. Provides performance space at Barras Bridge venue for festival programming.
• Great North Museum: HancockcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Festival venue partner hosting exhibitions, community events, and Puppetry on the Green initiative. Hosted City of Kittiwakes exhibition and Crankie displays for Treasury of Tyneside Tales project.
• Von Fox PromotionsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Photography and videography partner for festival documentation and promotional materials.
• Life & Limb PuppetscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Partner organization co-founded by William Steele. Co-delivered Puppet School courses and festival programming. William Steele co-founded Moving Parts Arts.
• Seven Stories National Centre for Children's BooksminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Venue partner for festival programming and creative associate for Molly Barrett-Manasseh's prior work.
• Beverley Puppet FestivalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Scratch Space partner hosting annual pop-up platform at Beverley Puppet Festival for puppeteers to try new work. Partnership since 2018.
• Equal ArtsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Partner in Theatre-for-Ones program to upskill facilitators in creating miniature performances for care homes and hospitals.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Tyneside Cinema: Cultural venue in Newcastle hosting the Moving Parts Puppet Film Fest. Comparable as a regional cultural partner with shared community-arts and film festival programming objectives.
• Seven Stories National Centre for Children's Books: National children's literature center and former employer of Moving Parts Arts' Lead Artist. Comparable as a North East cultural organization serving families and young audiences with creative programming.
• Polyphony Arts: Music and arts management organization where Moving Parts Arts Chair Margaret Pinder works. Comparable as a small arts charity in the cultural management space.
• Northern Stage: Newcastle's main producing theatre and primary venue partner for Newcastle Puppetry Festival. Comparable as a regional performing arts organization with overlapping audience and programming interests.

Emerging players

• Royal Central School of Speech and Drama: London drama school with a dedicated puppetry program training the next generation of puppeteers. Comparable as a UK institution supporting professional puppetry talent development that Moving Parts Arts' Scratch Space serves.
• Life & Limb Puppets: Independent puppetry company co-founded by William Steele, co-founder of Moving Parts Arts. Directly comparable as a North East puppetry maker and performer that co-delivers Puppet School courses with Moving Parts Arts.
• PuppetShip CIC: Puppetry social enterprise founded by Moving Parts Arts Secretary Alison McGowan. Comparable as a small puppetry-focused organization combining performance, education, and therapy applications.

Direct peers

• Beverley Puppet Festival: UK-based puppet festival in East Yorkshire that co-hosts Moving Parts Arts' Scratch Space platform. Directly comparable as a regional puppetry festival serving a similar community-arts and emerging-artist development mission.
• Norwich Puppet Theatre: UK regional puppetry theatre offering performances, workshops, and puppet-making courses. Directly comparable as a community-focused puppetry charity combining performance, education, and participatory programming.
• Little Angel Theatre: London's only dedicated puppetry theatre, producing year-round performances, puppet-making courses, and education programs. Comparable as a specialist puppetry organization with strong community and educational programming, though operating a permanent venue rather than a biennial festival.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCFsyvbdZtqzjOUoYkcHQksg
• Facebookfacebook.com/movingpartsarts
• Instagraminstagram.com/movingpartsarts
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/movingpartsarts

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Moving Parts Arts