The Skills Collider Team
"If it's not on film it didn't happen"
Shane Williams
Skills Collider Origin Story
Skills Collider began with a simple conversation — and a big discovery.
​
In 2010, videographer Shane Williams met pastry chef Dean Gibson while creating video resources for schools. Dean casually mentioned he was about to represent Australia at the prestigious Pastry World Cup alongside fellow chef Adriano Zumbo. Shane was stunned — not just by Dean’s achievement, but by the fact that hardly anyone knew such a competition existed.
Dean explained that the lack of support or recognition for Australian pastry teams made it even more difficult to qualify, let alone reach the podium. While the team didn’t place that year, the experience only made Dean more determined to return stronger. Shane, inspired by Dean’s passion and talent, offered to help by documenting the incredible level of skill behind chocolate showpieces and helping bring visibility to the world of competitive pastry.
​
By 2012, Shane and graphic designer Vanessa Anton — the creative duo behind Fivespice Creative — officially joined forces with Dean to tell the stories behind Australia’s pastry elite. Together, they began capturing and sharing the journey of teams competing on the world stage.
​
In 2015, that journey evolved. Dean wanted to push the boundaries of chocolate artistry and explore new possibilities in sculptural design. He enrolled in a 3D modelling course led by industrial designer Jon Pryer, hoping to learn CAD. But after realising the years it would take to master, and seeing Dean’s extraordinary edible creations, Jon suggested a collaboration instead.
​
Jon, also an automata artist, shared Dean’s vision of movement in chocolate sculpture. Alongside Shane, the trio formed a creative team and built the world’s first fully mechanical chocolate sculpture, Boneshaker, for Callebaut Australia at Sydney’s Smooth Chocolate Festival. With Vanessa adding a more fun and engaging touch through her movie-style designs, each project took on a unique visual identity that elevated the entire experience.
​
The success of Boneshaker led to even more ambitious projects like Raven’s Voyage and The Iron Shark. But as the team grew, so did the interest from others — students, tradespeople, and artists began asking how they could get involved.
That’s when they realised this was bigger than chocolate.
​​
The Skills Traders
Skills Collider was founded as a platform to bring people together across trades, disciplines, and generations — to collaborate on innovative projects, pass on skills, and inspire Australia’s next generation of makers and competitors.
With backing from industry partners, Skills Collider continues to push boundaries, share knowledge, and help Australia regain its position on the international pastry stage. Below are some of our collaborators that we call the skills traders.
The Skills for Trades team would like to thank our major sponsors for there support for the Chocol'art exhibition and the launch of the Skills Collider
Sponsors
