Located in Nashville, Tennessee, with over 30 years of industry experience, Animax is the creative robotic entertainment company that has been supporting the Group’s Intellectual Properties (“IP”) experiences in cities around the world. Animax also serves some of the largest operators in the world in themed entertainment, live attractions and location-based entertainment. As storytelling engineers, Animax brings its expertise and experience to design and build characters and multiple forms of entertainment robotics.
“We are pleased to support the development of the Animax R&D facility in the Jingkai District and we look forward to witnessing the endless possibilities that this venture will bring to Cityneon and to the city of Wuxi,” said Yang Jianping, Secretary of CPC Working Committee and Director of Administrative Committee of Wuxi Jingkai District.
Ron Tan, Executive Chairman & Group CEO of Cityneon said, “We are honored to work with Wuxi Jingkai Government to bring Animax to China. This new facility in China allows Animax to further expand its capabilities to be a world-class animatronics company that specializes in entertainment robotics, and it will also play a pivotal role in Cityneon’s strategic expansion of entertainment experiences globally.”
“Today marks an exciting milestone in the continued growth and development of Animax, with our first step toward a rapid expansion in Asia. The development and construction of the new China facility will be swift, and we look forward to this exciting next step in the globalization of Animax’s markets and capabilities,” said Steve Andersen, P.E., Vice President of Operations of Animax.
With the expansion of the middle-class population, rise in disposable income levels, and strong demands for themed entertainment, China remains one of the fastest-growing attractions market in the world. The available talent in China for the development and advancement of technology to meet the Group’s vision of the future of experience entertainment with state-of-the-art animatronics and entertainment robotics is also a key driver for Animax’s expansion in Asia.
Phase 1 of Animax’s R&D facility development in Wuxi is set to be completed by the end of 2022. Spanning more than 10,000 square meters (nearly 108,000 square feet), this new facility will continue to support the Group in delivering large-scale interactive experiences around the world by producing entertainment robotics and delivering immersive experiences globally.