As a kid, Stuart Simms was wild about comic books. An avid reader and illustrator, he would create elaborately drawn scenes that told an entire story in one frame. Fast-forward a couple of decades and the 38-year-old's role as CG supervisor at EyeballNYC sounds strikingly apt.

As the head of CG in the 15-person shop, Simms ensures that all elements fit in the frame and complement the final product. He's responsible for finding appropriate talent, ensuring they stay on course and, when the need arises, he jumps in to get his hands dirty. "I deal with the overall picture and make sure it stays true to the designer's vision," says Simms.

Drawing heavily on his illustrative background, Simms imparts a stylistic two-dimensional quality to Eyeball's work. "There have been a lot of flat graphics going around," he says. "We like the look but do a lot of character animation with our spots. [In recent work] we've designed and animated characters without motion capture, which gives it a life-like look but still has a great graphic quality." This style is evident in work for Comedy Central's Comic Remix and for MTV Hits.

Simms comes from an artistic background. His mother was a musician and his grand-mother a painter, so he says that from the time he was six, he knew a creative future was inevitable. "I feel fortunate that I never encountered that feeling of not knowing what I wanted to do. For me, it was about how to get there."

He began his career as a traditional illustrator and graduated from the Pratt Institute, NY, in 1992. He landed at Eyeball in 1995, though he lacked experience. Eyeball was looking for people with diverse artistic backgrounds and gave Simms the opportunity to learn on the job.

Simms says his career developed in step with the animation/design/live-action/post/music house - then only three years old. By 2001 he had worked his way up to animation supervisor.

Outside of work, Simms says he's interested in film because of the challenges it poses, and is always searching for new creative inspiration. "I fill my life with art, because I never feel like I know enough."

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