 He began his career in 1981 at Cannon Hill Park's puppet theatre in Birmingham.Austen joined the Jim Henson Creature Shop in 1986 for the movie "Labyrinth".He was a puppeteer for other blockbuster movies including "" (1985), "The Little Shop of Horrors" (1986), "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" (1988), "The Bear" ("L'ours") (1988), "The Witches" (1990), and "" (1999).