Eddie Sotto

Edward Anthony "Eddie" Sotto III (born 1958) is an American experiential designer, mixed-media producer, and conceptualist. In 2002 he was named one of the thousand most creative people in America in the book 1000: Richard Saul Wurman's Who's Really Who by TED founder Richard Saul Wurman. He was formerly the Senior Vice President of Concept Design for Walt Disney Imagineering, and is currently president of the Los Angeles design firm SottoStudios Incorporated.

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

Sotto grew up fascinated by Disneyland and as a teenager built a 1/200 scale model of the park based on plans obtained from WED Enterprises. At 19, he 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. There, he designed the Soapbox Racer attraction and contributed to elements 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 and Six Flags as well as designs for Mattel.

...
Wikipedia