Animax Designs, a specialist in the creation of animatronics and interactive characters, has announced the appointment of Jay Rottinghaus as VP, Strategy & Business Development.
Jay Rottinghaus has been tasked with leading Animax’s strategic initiatives across the entire firm, ensuring that client objectives are met with creative and operational solutions and that innovation drives future growth.
He brings over 20 years of brand activation, business development, strategic planning, and experiential design experience to the company.
“I believe in the power of story, and I love connecting people to stories in emotional ways within physical environments,” says Rottinghaus. “At Animax, we’re lifting intellectual properties off the two-dimensional page or screen to create vibrant, sophisticated physical characters.”
Previous roles include a seven-year tenure as Director of Sales and Marketing for BHDP Architecture before he moved on to a design firm specialising in location-based brand activations. It was this connection with the themed entertainment world that led him to Animax.
‘We are on the cusp of being best in the world’
This new appointment is a response to rapid expansion at the Nashville-based firm. Growing from 35 employees to 130 in just three years, Animax Designs now operates from an 80,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility.
“Jay provides an injection of fresh perspectives into the business, and he has the marketing, branding, and finance experience that we need, particularly now that we are on this accelerated growth path,” states Animax CEO, Chuck Fawcett.
New initiatives at Animax include the introduction of its Innovation Lab, with the aim of leverage existing technologies and launching new ideas to transform the animatronics industry.
“We are on the cusp of being best in the world, from our artistic representation of the IPs to the level of detail and sophistication in our highly-engineered animatronics,” adds Rottinghaus.
“And with the talent, tools, and techniques that we are bringing to the industry, we are only getting better. People are calling our new facility a game-changer, and changing the game of how physical characters are developed is exactly what we’re doing.”
Jay Rottinghaus will be at the Euro Attractions Show (EAS), 25-27 September 2018, RAI Amsterdam. Arrange a meeting, here.
