In the late 1980s, Gräfin Rothkirch – then still working under her maiden name Maya Kringel – began to write, produce and direct animated TV series and feature films. Her TV work includes the internationally successful series "Lisa und Paul" (1992/1993), which she wrote and also directed, the series "Lauras Stern" (1999/2000) – for which she again performed producing and directing duties –, and the series "Der kleine Eisbär", which she produced in its both runs 1991-1994 and 2001-2002.

From the early 1990s on, Maya Gräfin Rothkirch and Thilo Graf Rothkirch have established international collaborations with their company Rothkirch Cartoon-Film. For their award-winning feature film "Tobias Totz und sein Löwe" ("Tobias Totz and His Lion", 1999), the Rothkirchs teamed up with the German branch of Warner Bros. Their other box office hits include "Der kleine Eisbär" ("The Little Polar Bear"), "Kleiner Dodo" and "Lauras Stern" ("Laura's Star"), which won the German Film Award for Best Children's Feature Film and the First Award for Best Animation Film for Children at the 2005 CICFF.

In 2007, their production company received the Pulcinella Award and was named "Studio of the Year". In 2009 and 2011, the sequels "Lauras Stern und der geheimnisvolle Drache Nian" and "Lauras Stern und die Traummonster" were released, the latter in 3-D.

"Keinohrhase and Zweiohrküken", a co-production of Rothkirch Cartoon-Film, Warner Bros. and Barefoot Films, premiered in the autumn of 2013. The 3-D animated children's feature film is based on the stuffed animals which were first featured in Til Schweiger's live-action romantic comedies  "KeinOhrHasen" (2007) and Zweiohrküken" (2009).