About Michael Cotten
Michael Cotten’s expertise in production design, theatrical staging, animation, electronic music, and graphic arts has garnered him a clientele that includes many of the world’s top performers, retailers, brands and corporations.
From the Super Bowl to the Olympics, Cotten’s visual magic has excited audiences around the world. His list of corporate clients reads like a “Who’s Who” of the Fortune 500: Disney, Sony, Porsche, Mitsubishi, McDonalds, Mazda, and Intel, to name a few.Cotten has created shows for Bette Midler; Michael Jackson; Miley Cyrus; Britney Spears; Robert Plant; Luis Miguel; The Beach Boys; Bonnie Raitt; N Sync; Blondie; Gloria Estefan; Run DMC; Phil Collins; Carrie Underwood; and Katy Perry.
His architectural, mural and visual arts designs have electrified the interiors and exteriors of international department store establishments including I Magnin; Macy’s Herald Square; The Limited; Federated Stores; and others in Madrid, London, Milan, and Munich.
Beginning his career in the mid 1970′s as a member of the seminal San Francisco based theatrical rock group, The Tubes, he teamed up with a young choreographer and director named Kenny Ortega. They created shows and videos that were way ahead of their time and developed a creative partnership has continued to this day.
Cotten and fellow Tubes member Prairie Prince were known for designing stunning, gigantic, airbrushed murals that are some of the world’s largest, including: the “Flying Records” on the A&M Records building in Hollywood; the “Crashing Waves” mural on San Francisco’s Cliff House; and the interior of the Rockefeller Center, Chase Bank in New York City.
Working with long time collaborator Kenny Ortega, Cotten was the production designer for Disney’s “High School Musical” live shows, He served as a Creative Director for the Emmy Award winning Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 1996 Olympic Games and the Super Bowl XXX “Half-Time Show,” starring Diana Ross.
Cotten designed the ‘History’ tour for Michael Jackson in 1997 and several international charity events soon after. When Jackson began planning his “This Is It” return to the stage for London’s O2 Dome in 2009, he once again enlisted the talents of Cotten to design the extravaganza. After Jackson’s tragic death, Cotten subsequently became production designer for the “This Is It” documentary film.
Cotten has lent his production and architectural talents to the city of Las Vegas with the Treasure Island Hotel show, “Sirens of TI,” and Gloria Estefan’s ‘Live and Unwrapped’ at Caesar’s Palace. Cotten is currently developing a new super show experience at the Tropicana Hotel Resort, and recently completed a robotic water ballet, “The Orbs,” for the legendary hotelier Steve Wynn.
He has also contributed his production design vision to major charity events, including: The International Red Cross; the Nelson Mandela Children’s Foundation; Bette Midler’s Central Park Conservancy; and AMFAR. Michael Cotten lives in New York City