Every time an office wall gets knocked down in American Fork, it’s interesting to know why. While many local businesses have decided to hunker down until the recovery solidifies, a few businesses, some in unusual industries, have had the pressing need to expand.

“New sales last year were double that of the year before,” said Lance Boldt, co-founder of American Fork-based AutoNetTV. “We’re on track to more than double last year’s sales numbers.”

The company, founded in 2004, says it is about to open 1,500 square feet of additional office space, complete with a new conference and calling center, the latest sign of business growth in American Fork. Behind the already-established cubicles stands a 3,000 square-foot movie studio with three sets, an anchor desk and cameras that can catch a dozen different angles.

AutoNetTV, which likes to define itself as a content creator, has just finished filming 14 segments in January and will shoot a dozen more in February. But invisible to most visitors are four full-time graphic and motion designers, who are surrounded by more than $50,000 worth of equipment. One of them, Steve Keele, is currently creating a 3-D animated model of a transfer case, the part in a car that receives power from the transmission and sends it to both the front and rear axles.

The small company, located along 500 East, has become the leader in a rare field: creating movie and digital content for the automotive industry, ranging from 3-D animations for educational purposes to product videos and infomercials. As auto maintenance has become an increasingly complex affair, often intertwined with technology difficult for its customers to understand, the 22-employee business has filled a demand that has multi-million dollar corporations calling: NAPA, Midas, Goodyear, Firestone, Valvoline and Chevron. But AutoNetTV also entertains and educates customers while they wait for their services to be completed at small car repair shops.

As Detroit auto makers are preparing to report billions of dollars in profit for 2012, the strong car sales helping the auto industry heal after the recent financial crisis, AutoNetTV says it is “riding the wave.” January is on track to be the company’s best month ever, Mr. Boldt said.

Mr. Boldt, a 52-year-old Alpine resident and a financial adviser by trade, co-founded the company with Sean Whiffen, a 38-year-old California native. Robert Cannon, who became a major investor in 2005, is now its chief executive. The greatest challenge facing them is to acquire a market share large enough to capitalize on its established library of content before others catch up. While technology deepens the complexity of car maintenance, a major reason for the business’s enduring success, it has also lowered the production cost for creating the content that AutoNetTV sells, essentially inviting competition.

“There’s no longer any barrier to entry,” Mr. Boldt finally said. “But we are now able to do what we hoped to do in 2004 because of the cost of technology and the availability of broadband. Our strategy is to build as much content as possible to remain a leader in our business.”

VIRTUAL CAR: AutoNetTV’s Digital Menu Board.

Danny Crivello can be reached at crivello@citizen.af, via text at 801-477-6397 or on Twitter.

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