Eddie Sotto

Last updated
Eddie Sotto
Born
Edward Anthony Sotto III

Hollywood, California, U.S.
OccupationExperiential designer
Years active1979–present
OrganizationSottoStudios
Notable work
  • Main Street, U.S.A. (Disneyland Paris)
  • Mission: SPACE (EPCOT)
  • Times Square Studios
Website sottostudios.com

Edward Anthony Sotto III (born 1958) is an American experiential designer, mixed-media producer, and conceptualist. [1]

Contents

Sotto spent 13 years with Walt Disney Imagineering, rising to senior vice president of concept design. He is currently the founder and president of the Los Angeles design firm SottoStudios. [2] Sotto also established the think tank Futureproof Experiences in 2020 to address the challenges posed to the experiential industries by COVID-19. [3]

In 2002, Sotto was named one of the 1,000 most creative people in America in the book 1,000: Richard Saul Wurman's Who's Really Who by TED founder Richard Saul Wurman. [4] In 2018 he addressed the TEDxBermuda event with his presentation "The How of Wow". [5] He was also named one of the Blooloop 50 list of theme park influencers in 2020. [6]

Early life and career

Sotto was born in Hollywood, California in 1958. His aunt, Marilyn Sotto, was a costume illustrator and designer who worked for Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios, and Walt Disney Productions, and his grandfather, Edward Sotto Sr., was a scenic artist at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and a portrait artist.

Sotto grew up fascinated by Disneyland Park and, as a teenager, built a 1/200 scale model of the park based on plans obtained from WED Enterprises (now known as Walt Disney Imagineering). [7] At 21, while working as an appliance salesman at Sears, Sotto acted upon a suggestion to pursue his interests in modelmaking and storyboarding and was hired as an assistant project director at Knott's Berry Farm. [8] At Knott's, he designed Wacky Soap Box Racers, a redesign of the park's Steeplechase-style roller coaster, Motorcycle Chase, and contributed to the design of Camp Snoopy.

In 1983, Sotto became a show designer for Hollywood-based Landmark Entertainment Group. During his tenure, he designed and developed themed attractions for Universal Studios Hollywood, Six Flags, and Mattel. [7]

Walt Disney Imagineering

Sotto's work on the Laboratory of Scientific Wonders for a Six Flags project in Baltimore, Maryland, caught the attention of Tony Baxter, vice president of design at Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI), who hired Sotto as show producer/designer for Main Street, U.S.A. at Disneyland Paris. Sotto's early Disney mentors included veteran Imagineers Herbert Ryman and John Hench. [9]

Sotto spent 13 years with WDI, eventually being named senior vice president of concept design in 1994. He was involved in early development of the Indiana Jones Adventure attraction for Disneyland, and directed the master planning of Tokyo Disneyland for three years. [10] His proposal to include a hotel at the entrance of Disneyland Paris led to the first instance of guest accommodations being incorporated into a Disney Park. [7]

As head of the WDI Concept Development Studio "think tank", Sotto applied principles of Imagineering outside the theme park setting. This culminated in such projects as the "Media as Architecture" facade of ABC's Times Square Studios in New York City and the design of the futuristic Encounter Restaurant in Los Angeles International Airport's Theme Building. [10] Other innovative Concept Development Studio projects included smart wireless toys, augmented reality coasters, online worlds, and resort concepts. [11]

Other WDI projects Sotto worked on included the Mission: SPACE attraction at EPCOT and the $90 million Pooh's Hunny Hunt ride at Tokyo Disneyland. [10]

After Disney

Sotto left Disney in 1999 to become executive vice president of creative affairs for the Digital Entertainment Network. Established to create "original youth culture programming and e-commerce opportunities . . . for Generation Y consumers," [12] DEN clients included Ford, [13] Dell, Blockbuster, and Pepsi.

In 2000, Sotto became chief creative officer of Progress City. Seeking to explore the convergence of the Internet, architecture, and wireless devices, Progress City was founded to develop leading edge technology solutions for clients such as BBDO, Kodak, [14] Motorola, Dentsu, San Diego Padres, NASA, and The Walt Disney Company. [10]

SottoStudios Inc.

Sotto founded SottoStudios, an experiential design firm, in 2004. According to Sotto, his mandate for the business was "seeing the impossible as a beautiful puzzle, and then bringing in the right combination of people to crack the code." [2] The studio specializes in highly themed or exotic design projects, including select private residences, and uses the tools of theme park design to help develop products, brands and businesses. Clients have included Aston-Martin, Ferrari, Porsche, Embraer, Disney, Knott’s, Blue Origin, Paramount Pictures, NBC/Universal, Irvine Co., Kerzner, and Wynn Resorts. [15]

Through his company, Sotto has developed television series for VH1 networks, ABC, Showtime and CNN, and created a news format utilizing the Google search engine for Current TV. [2] He continues to provide creative consulting and design development services to Walt Disney Imagineering.

SottoStudios has applied the theory of "experiential design" to the Las Vegas Penske-Wynn Ferrari-Maserati dealership, and a James Bond-inspired Aston Martin showroom for Los Angeles' Galpin Aston Martin dealership. [1] Sotto also developed a unique showroom and museum gallery for Galpin Porsche in Santa Clarita, California. [16] The studio also developed designs for a McLaren showroom. One of Sotto's collaborations with Embraer, the SkyRanch One, was named Best Private Jet Concept at the 2017 Yacht and Aviation Awards. [17] Other Sotto-Embraer partnerships include the Skyacht One and Manhattan Airship. [18] SottoStudios is also a consultant for Virgin Galactic. [19]

Other projects have included building a film history-themed pop-up store for Turner Classic Movies [20] and partnering with chef John Sedlar to create Los Angeles' Rivera Restaurant. [21] For Rivera, Sotto named and created the restaurant's identity, along with architectural and thematic design elements. He was also a general partner in the restaurant. SottoStudios was also involved in assisting scientist Danny Hillis in the design of his 10,000-year clock for the Long Now Foundation. [22]

Futureproof Experiences

In 2020, Sotto created the think tank Futureproof Experiences in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on the themed entertainment industry. The group seeks to incorporate talents from the creative, business, and health care industries to create frictionless and compelling entertainment experiences which combine security and pandemic precautions. [23]

Partial list of Walt Disney Imagineering projects

Projects in Sotto’s portfolio of design responsibility included: [24]

Disneyland Resort

Walt Disney World Resort

Tokyo Disneyland

Disneyland Paris

Concept Development Studio

Voiceover work

Acting

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Hench</span>

John Hench was an American artist, designer and director at The Walt Disney Company. For 65 years, he helped design and develop various Disney attractions and theme parks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disneyland Park (Paris)</span> Theme park within Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Park, originally Euro Disneyland Park, is a theme park found at Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, France. The park opened on 12 April 1992 as the first of the two parks built at the resort. Designed and built by Walt Disney Imagineering, its layout is similar to Disneyland Park in California and Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World in Florida. Spanning 56.656 ha —the second largest Disney park based on the original, after Shanghai Disneyland—it is dedicated to fairy tales and Disney characters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walt Disney Studios Park</span> Theme park at Disneyland Paris

Walt Disney Studios Park is the second of two theme parks built at Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, France. The park opened on 16 March 2002, and it is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Experiences division. Upon opening, it was dedicated to show business, movie themes, production, and behind-the-scenes, but in the 2010s, in a similar manner to Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in Florida, it began to distance itself from the original studio backlot theming and entered a new direction of attraction development inspired by iconic Disney stories. The park is represented by the Earffel Tower, a water tower with Mickey Mouse ears similar to the one formerly located at Disney's Hollywood Studios, which in turn was inspired by the water tower at the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walt Disney Imagineering</span> Research and development unit of The Walt Disney Company

Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, Inc., commonly referred to as Imagineering, is the research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation, design, and construction of Disney theme parks and attractions worldwide. The company also operates Disney Live Entertainment and The Muppets Studio and manages Disney's properties, from Walt Disney Studios in Burbank to New Amsterdam Theatre and Times Square Studios Ltd. in New York City. Founded by Walt Disney to oversee the production of Disneyland, it was originally known as Walt Disney, Inc., then WED Enterprises, from the initials meaning "Walter Elias Disney", the company co-founder's full name. Headquartered in Glendale, California, Imagineering is composed of "Imagineers", who are illustrators, architects, engineers, lighting designers, show writers and graphic designers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disney Experiences</span> Theme park and travel division of The Walt Disney Company

Disney Experiences, commonly known as Disney Parks, is one of the three major divisions of The Walt Disney Company. It was founded on April 1, 1971, exactly six months before the opening of Walt Disney World Resort.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marty Sklar</span> American businessman

Martin A. "Marty" Sklar was a scriptwriter and construction developer. He was The Walt Disney Company's international ambassador for Walt Disney Imagineering, the subsidiary of the company which designs and constructs Disney theme parks and resorts across the world. He was formerly vice president of Concepts and Planning for the company, before being promoted to president, then vice chairman and principal creative executive before his final role. Disney honored him with a Disneyland window dedication ceremony on his date of retirement, July 17, 2009.

Retlaw Enterprises, originally Walt Disney Miniature Railroad, then Walt Disney, Inc. (WDI), and then WED Enterprises (WED), was a privately held company owned by the heirs of entertainment mogul Walt Disney. Disney formed the company to control the rights to his name and to manage two Disneyland attractions that he personally owned. The name, Retlaw, is Walter spelled backwards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Themed Entertainment Association</span> Theme park industry association

The Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) is an international non-profit association that represents creators, developers, designers and producers of themed entertainment. It is also noted for its THEA Awards, which were founded in 1995 and are distributed annually in a range of themed entertainment categories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Rohde</span> Experience architect at Virgin Galactic

Joseph Rohde is an American themed entertainment designer and artist, serving as the Experience Architect for Virgin Galactic. Rohde was previously a veteran executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, the division of The Walt Disney Company that designs and builds Disney's theme parks and resort hotels. Rohde's formal title was Executive Designer and Vice President, Creative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Baxter</span> American amusement ride designer

Tony Wayne Baxter is the former senior vice president of creative development in Walt Disney Imagineering and was responsible for creating designs and carrying out the construction of attractions all over the world. He announced his departure from his full-time position to become a part-time adviser on February 1, 2013. During his 47-year tenure with the company, he oversaw the construction of multiple contemporary Disney theme park attractions, including Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Star Tours, Splash Mountain, The Indiana Jones Adventure, and Journey Into Imagination, and served as the executive producer of Disneyland Paris.

Theming is the use of an overarching theme to create a holistic and integrated spatial organization of a consumer venue. A theme is a unifying or dominant idea or motif on which any new construction idea, new style generation, any product is designed. It is the process of designing and constructing an object or space so that the particular subject or idea on which the style of something is based is made clear through the “synthesis of recognizable symbols with spatial forms.”

Hollywood Boulevard is a studio lot at Walt Disney Studios Park in Disneyland Resort Paris. Designed by Walt Disney Imagineering, the project falls under their "placemaking" banner of park improvements and expansions, adding theme and time zones to existing park areas. Hollywood Boulevard uses land formerly classified as part of Production Courtyard for a new development of "street sets", an outdoor food court and a major new attraction. The project was formally announced to the press on 1 April 2007, including the preview of one piece of "concept art", for an initial, unused vision of the Boulevard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toon Studio</span> Themed land at Walt Disney Studios Park

Toon Studio is a land at Walt Disney Studios Park in Disneyland Paris, France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crush's Coaster</span> Amusement ride

Crush's Coaster is a spinning roller coaster at Walt Disney Studios Park in Disneyland Paris. The attraction officially opened on June 9, 2007 as part of an expansion project in Toon Studio, an area within Walt Disney Studios Park formerly known as Animation Courtyard. The ride is themed to Disney-Pixar's Finding Nemo film, and named after Crush, a green sea turtle voiced by Andrew Stanton from the movie. Most of the roller coaster is enclosed and features dark ride special effects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harriet Burns</span> American artist and designer

Harriet Burns was an American artist and designer. Burns was the first woman hired in the Walt Disney Imagineering department within the Walt Disney Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thierry Coup</span> French creative director

Thierry Jean-Andre Coup is the Chief Experiential Futurist at JOCOUP Creative. Coup began his career working in the film industry, performing set design and visual effects. He moved into theme park design in the early 1990s when Walt Disney Parks and Resorts offered him a position with Walt Disney Imagineering. In 1995, he transferred over to Universal Creative and led projects such as The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Transformers: The Ride, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley and Super Nintendo World.

Claude Coats was an American artist, background artist, animator and set designer, known for his work with the Walt Disney Animation Studios and Walt Disney Imagineering. His pioneering work with the company helped define the character of animated films, and later, immersive installations with his designs for Disneyland. Coats, known as "The Gentle Giant" was inducted a Disney Legend in 1991.

<i>Star Wars</i>: Galaxys Edge Themed area at Disney parks

Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge is a themed area inspired by the Star Wars franchise in Disneyland at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, and Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. It encompasses 14 acres (5.7 ha) at each park, and is set in the village of Black Spire Outpost, on the remote frontier planet of Batuu, featuring attractions, shops, restaurants and entertainment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahmad Jafari</span>

Ahmad Jafari is an architect based in USA whose career began in the 1960s. He was with Disney Imagineering as an Architect and Art Director from 1966 to 2004 and has worked alongside Walt Disney and many Disney Legends. In 2006, he received the NFFC Disney Legend awards.

References

  1. 1 2 Patton, Phil, "Rethinking Auto Showrooms: Shark Tanks, Anyone?", The New York Times, October 25, 2006
  2. 1 2 3 Interview, "Exclusive Interview with Eddie Sotto, Part One: Social Entertainment Aspirational Design" Archived 2011-12-10 at the Wayback Machine , ThemedDesign.com, 2009
  3. ↑ "Rushing for a solution: the COVID-19 medicine show", Blooloop. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  4. ↑ Wurman, R.S. (2002). 1000: Richard Saul Wurman's Who's Really Who. Newport, RI: AAA.
  5. ↑ "Ex-Disney Imagineer Eddie Sotto on the How of WOW", Blooloop. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Blooloop 50 - Theme Park Influencer List 2020", Blooloop. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  7. 1 2 3 Interview, "Imagineer Eddie Sotto talks about theme park ride design" Archived 2012-01-17 at the Wayback Machine , ThemedDesign.com, 2000
  8. ↑ Crawford, Michael (host); Crawford, Jeff (host). "Town Hall: Eddie Sotto—Part I." The Progress City Radio Hour. Episode 20. March 23, 2021.
  9. ↑ Interview, "Exclusive Interview with Eddie Sotto, Part Two: Experiential Design & Learning from the Legends" Archived 2011-12-10 at the Wayback Machine , ThemedDesign.com, 2009
  10. 1 2 3 4 Interview, "Land of the Rising Mickey", LaughingPlace.com, 2001
  11. ↑ "Eddie Sotto on the joy of creating authentic immersive experiences", Blooloop, Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Walt Disney Imagineering Senior VP Eddie Sotto, Joins Internet Media Start Up Digital Entertainment Network", Business Wire, August 24, 1999
  13. ↑ "Digital Entertainment Network, Inc. (DEN) and Ford Motor Company Join Forces To Promote a Safe and Sober Holiday Season", PR Newswire, December 22, 1999
  14. ↑ "New Oscar Digs Get Interactive With Edwards", Hollywood Reporter, July 2, 2001
  15. ↑ "SottoStudios/LA", Blooloop. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  16. ↑ "SottoStudios/LA celebrates Galpin’s “Porsche under Glass”", Blooloop. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  17. ↑ "SkyRanch One", SkyachtOne. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  18. ↑ "Embraer Partners with Designer for $80 Million Aircraft Interior", Robb Report. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  19. ↑ Sotto, Eddie [@boss_angeles] (February 23, 2021). "SottoStudios is also working with VG and having a friend like Joe in the mix is a truly inspired choice, looking forward and congrats to Mike Colglazer!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  20. ↑ "In the Picture - An Exhibition at The Grove, Los Angeles", TCM. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
  21. ↑ Interview, "Exclusive Interview with Eddie Sotto, Part Three: Sotto Studios' Latest Project: Rivera" Archived 2011-12-10 at the Wayback Machine , ThemedDesign.com, 2009
  22. ↑ "The 10,000 Year Clock - Other Ideas", Long Now Foundation. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
  23. ↑ "What We Do" [ permanent dead link ], Futureproof Experiences. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  24. ↑ "Eddie Sotto's take on the current state of the parks", WDWMagic.com. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.