Hello! I’m Simone, I’m 27 and I’m from Italy. My journey into this industry didn’t start in the usual way. At the beginning, I actually wanted to become a videogame programmer. I’ve always loved games, movies, animation… basically anything that mixes storytelling and visuals.
But while studying programming, I realised something important: what I really enjoyed wasn’t the code, but the worlds behind it — the environments, characters, cinematics. So I changed direction completely and enrolled at Rainbow Academy, where I studied as a 3D Generalist.
Right after that, I started working in the industry: first for two years as a 3D modeler, moving between animation and set dressing. Then life brought me abroad — I moved to Canada and spent two years at MPC Montréal, working in the Layout department for VFX films.
That experience changed everything for me.
Layout taught me how the artistic and technical sides connect, but most importantly, I discovered that I was genuinely fascinated by the production side: budgeting, scheduling, coordination, understanding how big teams actually bring a project from idea to final picture.
While working abroad, I kept studying on the side — online courses, manuals, talks — anything that could help me understand how productions are managed. Eventually I moved back to Italy, and there I tried applying what I’d learned in a different context: I started working as a project manager for live events, while continuing to explore the idea of developing original IPs that one day I’d love to produce.
I heard about the EYE program thanks to a friend. He knew my long-term dream: understanding how to run a production studio in Europe and eventually build one myself someday. He told me, “This program is literally made for you.” At first I wasn’t sure, but the more I read about it, the more it made sense.
While looking for potential hosts, one of the studios that immediately came to mind was 3Doubles. I already knew their work, but I had never had the chance to collaborate with them. So I wrote to Dario, explained who I was, what I wanted to learn, and how my hybrid background (artistic + production) could also bring something useful to the team.
He was very open from the beginning, and that gave me the confidence to go forward.
Now I’ve been here for a few weeks and I’m honestly learning a lot. I’m finally seeing how things work from the inside:
how a production is structured, how budgets are built, how internal projects move forward,
how service work is managed, ow teams communicate…
all the things I’ve always wanted to understand.
On my side, I’m helping wherever it makes sense: supporting the production team, analysing processes, suggesting small workflow improvements, and trying to anticipate issues thanks to my experience on both sides — artistic and production. It’s interesting to see how simply having lived both worlds helps you spot things before they become actual problems.
This experience is already helping me grow, both personally and professionally. I feel I finally have a mentor I can learn from, and a perspective that is much more concrete and realistic. I still have a long road ahead, but I’m motivated and really grateful to be here. And now… time to get back to work!