A fusion of art, media

As an artist and sculptor, Tim McElyea got to display his work in galleries nationwide. Today, his work is reaching the heavens.

As Media Fusion Inc. approaches its 12th year in business, its latest challenge is to communicate NASA's vision for its Ares lunar program. With high-definition animation, the company is developing "the visual communication that is communicating the product," McElyea said.

Helping customers communicate is what Media Fusion does, whether it's video, printed material, a trade show display, a Web site or all of the above.

"You don't have to look too hard to find someone who can do a brochure," McElyea said. "The difference is, we try to understand the company's technologies and needs, so that when we're talking to the rocket scientist or the technologist, we understand what they're trying to do.

"Customers come back and tell us it's a need that's often not met."

Media Fusion has gone from being a startup financed by McElyea's cashed-in retirement savings and loans from relatives to an award-winning agency with $2.5 million in annual revenue. The company recently won this year's Small Business Award in the Business Services category from the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce.

A Huntsville native, McElyea earned a degree in art from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. His prints, drawings and sculptures were shown around the country. He also freelanced as an artist for architectural firms.

In 1995, McElyea left Intergraph Corp. after working for five years as the company's director of animation and multimedia. His mother and stepfather helped him get the business started, loaning him $65,000.

"They invested in the business instead of the stock market," he said.

He launched the firm with two partners but is sole owner today.

"It took five years before I was not worried - more than five years before my salary met what I had been making at Intergraph," McElyea said.

Media Fusion did work mainly for the private sector until 2001. When the dot-com bubble burst, the company pursued government contracts.

"It's hard to send bills to companies that are filing bankruptcy," he said. After the terrorist attacks, "businesses put things on hold."

McElyea, who is part American Indian, took Media Fusion through the Small Business Administration's 8(a) certification program for small, disadvantaged businesses.

Today, Media Fusion is seeing growth in both sectors. Commercial customers include Intergraph, Keystone Foods, First Commercial Bank and First Baptist Church. The company has also done work for the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

He said marketing the company's services has been one of his biggest challenges.

"In our business, you need to go out and find work," McElyea said. "You can't advertise. It's all a relationship business.

"That's a background we didn't have, but now understand."

He's also learned to let employees be creative in their approach to work. At his animation team's suggestion, McElyea purchased equipment allowing the team to do Mocap, or motion capture, a technique in which the actions of a human are captured on video, then modified with a different background or "body." Motion capture is what makes an airplane walk or a human climb a cliff or building without special equipment.

"We're one of the few (companies) in the Southeast that have that capability," he said.

Media Fusion recently submitted a bid for a $10 million NASA contract that would allow the company to set up an office in Washington, D.C., in support of NASA headquarters. Twenty-two Media Fusion employees work at Marshall Space Flight Center on the Unified NASA Information Technology Services contract.

McElyea said government agencies can be tougher customers than private businesses.

"If the NASA administrator calls on a Sunday afternoon and wants a magazine cover ready Monday afternoon, I'm going into the office," he said. "It must get done, and it must be accurate."