As far as hiring artists, we are really looking for the person who has an enormous amount of talent. We don't care if a person has 12 years in the industry or if the just graduated college. We look to see if an artist has a solid foundation (color theory, principles of animation, character proportions, etc.) We aren't looking for overly complex portfolios; we want to see that people understand their own strengths and cater their reel to accentuate their best skills. It is vital that an artist knows how to convey their vision in a fashion that we all understand.