Easily one of the busiest voice actors in the world, millions of fans know him as the voice of Duo Maxwell from Gundam Wing and Gundam: Battle Assault 2 as well as Koga from the hit series Inuyasha. Older fans may be familiar with his work as Piccolo in Dragon Ball Z and/or his work as Deadeye Duck in Bucky O'Hare and The Toad Wars.
Fans of Transformers know Scott well, as his voice talents have brought countless memorable characters to life, including Dinobot, Waspinator, Rattrap, Silverbolt and Dinobot II in Beast Wars/Beast Machines; Jetfire in Armada; and Jetfire and Strongarm in Energon. He can also currently be heard as Snarl and Backstop in Transformers: Cybertron.
Scott’s voice work has earned him the adoration of fans worldwide. Fans find Scott’s work everywhere, both in anime and domestic animation, including lending his vocal talents to Hohenheim in Full Metal Alchemist; Wolverine/Logan in X-Men: Evolution; Ace – The Bathound and Ignatius in Krypto: The Superdog; Destro and Gung Ho in G.I. Joe: Valor vs. Venom / Spy Trooops; Beast Man, Clawful, Mer-Man, Ram Man, Stratos, and Kobra Khan in He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe; Senor Hasbeena, Francisco of the Forest, Mino-Toro, El Perrito, and Heavy Trafficin ¡Mucha Lucha!; Vulture, Electro and Lester in Spider-Man Unlimited.
Other notable voice work in anime includes King Aston and Jajuka in The Vision Of Escaflowne; Jajuka in Escaflowne: The Movie; Zoids Battle Announcer, Deed #1, Rastani Sr.,and Serge in Zoids Fuzors; and Harlock in Galaxy Express 999/Adieu, Galaxy Express 999. His work can also be heard in series and movies such as Johnny Test, Bionicle, Scary Godmother, Barbie: Fairytopia, Barbie Of Swan Lake, Candyland: Great Lollipop Adventure, Dragon Booster, Gundam Seed, Gundam Seed Destiny, Under The Skin, Master Keaton, Ben Hur, Yakkity Yak, The Christmas Orange, Frogger Beyond, Reboot, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer & The Island Of Misfit Toys, Nascar Racers, Casper's Haunted Christmas, Weird-Ohs, Shadowraiders/War Planets, Jin Roh: The Wolf Brigade, Warriors Of Virtue, The Wacky World Of Tex Avery, Ranma ½, Hamtaro, and many more too numerous to list!
Aside from his voice work, Scott is also an accomplished live-action actor, whose credits include The Green Chain, Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, Stargate Sg-1, Strange Frequency, The Outer Limits, Ladies And The Champ, Viper, Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation, Extreme Dinosaurs, Highlander, Hawkeye, Final Fight, Someone Else's Child, Seasons Of The Heart, Crackerjack, and Sleeping With Strangers.
More recently Scott has been lending his vocal talents to characters like Stork, the lovably neurotic Merb in Stormhawks, Grumpy Bear in the newest Care Bears andWasabi (yes, a burbling ball of wasabi!) in Sushi Pack. In the past two years Scott has also contributed his voice to characters in Eon Kid, Ricky Sprocket, and the Warhammer 40,000 videogames
Scott is currently exercising his evil genius in Gundam 00 as the dark and enigmatic Ali AlSaachez, and Voltar, the truly maniacal evil genius, in League of Super Evil. Some of his other present projects include Powerpuff Girls Z, Maryoku Yummy, Rollbots, and Twisted Whiskers. … and when his busy schedule permits he can be found playing his level 70 Blood Elf Priest on World of Warcraft …
Johnny Yong Bosch got his start fighting giant bugs as Adam, the Black Ranger on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. He is also known for his voice work as Vash in Trigun, Kaneda in Akira, Ichigo in Bleach, Renton in Eureka Seven, Claus in Last Exile, Clair in Heat Guy J, Sakaki in Witch Hunter Robin, Mike in Please Twins, Albert in The Count of Monte Cristo, Nero in Devil May Cry 4 and Kiba in Wolf's Rain.
Aside from acting Johnny's the front man for the edge rock band, Eyeshine.
Greg Ayres has spent the last year rockin' his way through two new anime series. As the loud-mouthed Hideki in *Nerima Daikon Brothers*, and Koyuki, singing in the the band in *Beck:Mongolian Chop Squad*. He is also thrill to be able to add the role of Kaoru Hitachiin in Ouran High School Host club to his list of new favorite roles. Other recent works include JR. in *Xenosaga*, Roan in *Ragnorok The Animation*, Yamazaki in *Welcome to the NHK*, Nowy, in *Glass Fleet*, and Yukinojoh Tohyama in *The Wallflower*.
The once "Fanboy" turned VA started working in anime a little over five years ago, and within the first two years managed to snag two of his favorite roles in anime. He was thrilled to voice the role of his favorite character Son Goku in *Saiyuki*. Just one year later voiced Kaworu Nagisa in the Director's Cut of *Neon Genesis Evangelion*. Other roles include Chrono in *Chrono Crusade*, Negi Springfield in
*Negima*, Heihachi in *Samurai 7*, Jr. in *Xenosaga:The Animation*, Satoshi Hiwatari in *DNAngel*, Pope Alessandro XVIII in *Trinity
Blood*, Tsuyoshi in *Kodocha*, Leo in *Ghost Stories* , Tsujido in *Speed Grapher*, and Gau Ban in *Shadow Skill*.He can also be heard in other anime titles such as *Super Gals*, *Spiral*, *Macross *, *Mythical Detective Loki*, *Burst Angel*, *Gravion*, *Godanner*, * Pretear*, *Full Metal Panic*, *E's Otherwise* and a whole lot more.
When he's not in a booth with headphones on, you can usually find him sporting headphones of another variety behind *"the decks"*. A veteran nightclub DJ of many years, Greg has really enjoyed the opportunity of
doing something else that he truly loves. From packed rooms at anime conventions, to the legendary stage of *The Knitting Factory (NYC)*, Greg never misses an opportunity to share his love of music with
anyone who will listen.
Greg Cipes, the driving, creative force behind Cipes and The People, is an extraordinary “triple threat” musician, artist and performer.
First and foremost, he is a singer, songwriter, and powerful live performer. His shows are mesmerizing and uplifting (you tube, myspace and his web page have some great live footage). Second, he is an accomplished actor, appearing in many TV SHOWS (Without a Trace, Deadwood, House, 24/7, ER, Ghost Whisperer) and FILMS (John Tucker Must die, Club Dread, Holes, Simon Says, Pledge This). Last fall, he was a feature player in the MTV reality show 24/7. Third, he is a legendary voice-over artist, known throughout the country as the voice of the popular character “Beast Boy” of Teen Titans, the animated show on The Cartoon Network. He also appears in Disney Channel’s W.I.T.C.H. and Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! He has also provided voice spots for many popular video games, including Grand Theft Auto. Cipes has what can best be described as a cult following in the cartoon industry.
He left behind a promising career as a pro surfer in Florida to pursue acting and directing in Los Angeles. He dropped out of USC directing school after landing a Warner Bros. pilot. Even though his acting and voice over career was taking off, music was still his passion, and the best vehicle to spread his positive message. He spent 3 years with Greg Whitman (producer) making the Cipes and The People album, which is a potent collection of Pop, Rock and Reggae. It has many wonderful choices for pop singles, with all songs on the record written by Cipes or co-written by Cipes and Whitman. “Free Me” was the first single released from the record, which achieved some success in pop radio markets this past fall, getting played on 40+ pop stations including Sirius Hits 1. The second single off the album will be the song “Fly,” which will be released in early spring 2008. The remix of this song is the subject of the pro article.
While on national tour last fall with the B-Side Players and Salvatore Santana, he made various key radio talk show appearances, including spots on Mancow Morning Madness and KLSX Media Whores.
Cipes is also unique because he has a POINT OF VIEW. His self-declared “Conscious Revolution” (and title for the album) is his attempt to unite people’s disparate beliefs and bring them together through a shared consciousness. “Music is a celebration, a time for people to rejoice in their connections.” He has studied many different religions and embraces them all as a path to the greater divine being. He is perhaps most comfortable spreading his positive and uplifting message to the younger generation, and never misses and opportunity to interact with the youth around him. He has lead many spirituality and enlightenment classes to adolescents, including regular stops at the Agape International Spiritual Center in Culver City, CA. His spirituality and intense desire to make this world a better place for all of us is what makes his message and music all the more vital.
His myspace page www.myspace.com/cipesandthepeople contains several episodes of “CipesSpace,” a short video series where you can meet Cipes and hear some performance pieces.
Simply put, he is the complete package: an immensely talented rising star bringing people together through his music and message.
David Williams
is an ADR Director and DVD Producer
for Houston-based ADV Films. A long-time fan who has been with
the company since his living room was used as the production facility for its
first show (Devil Hunter Yohko), he has directed a variety of projects including
Angelic Layer, Pretear, Najica, the original Nuku Nuku OVAs, Dirty Pair and
Aquarian Age.
Lauren Goodnight, a voice actress for Antarctic Press and ADV Films, has appeared in Pretear (Natsue Awayuki), Angelic Layer (Narrator), SuperGALS! (Sanae), Sorcerer Hunters: Chocolate, Springs, and Other Hot Things (Shiorina), Evangelion: Director's Cut, Noir, and RahXephon. She is thrilled to be starring as Brittany "Cheetah" Diggers in the third Gold Digger OVA to be released later this year by Antarctic Press, as well as in the remastered releases of the first and second videos. Anime has always been a part of her life, from watching Voltron and Speed Racer as a child through her Bachelor's Degree thesis on fandom (especially anime fandom)...showing how the love of something central can bind people together. In between all of the anime, she dances, sings, draws and writes.
Doug Smith is an accomplished freelance
artist and voice actor who has performed many roles for ADV and Funimation,
including the lead, Kintaro Oe, in "Goldenboy". One of his lesser known but
more powerful roles that of Squeebo, the poor blind orphan in the OVA series
"Splendid Eyeball Gremulak", which, unfortunately for fans everywhere, doesn't
actually exist.
Doug is a man of adventure, traveling the country and globe, working to
hone his artistic skills and always in search of the elusive American Dream.
There’s no place he won’t go, the jungle, desert, the highest mountain peaks,
the depths of the ocean and the silent void of outer space to reach that
elusive dream. His artwork has been used for CD
album covers, magazines, comics, posters, anime con program guides and
badges, exorcisms, DVDs and TV. Doug is also the Art Director for non-profit
Voices For, an organization which works with talented people in the anime/manga
industry to create products, the profits of which are donated to charity.
Be sure to stop by Doug's table, view his
art and say hi and buy some art lest the CURSE OF THE PHAROA--- wait,… sorry.
There's no curse. But please buy some art anyway. It will make you happy.
Stephen Robert Bennett IV was born *&#@?! years ago at Tachikawa Air Force Base in Tokyo Japan. Being an Army brat, Steve moved all over the place in his younger days with his parents and four brothers, He spent his early years in Alaska and Colorado, and lived for almost eight years in Germany during elementary and junior high. The family moved back to Japan when Steve was in his teens, and while he was there he was lucky enough to land a job with Studio Aoehyma, and work under the great Japanese animator, Noboru Furusei (New Dominion Tank Police, Lupin III, etc.) During his time at Studio Aoehyma, Steve learned quite a bit about anime, and worked on such titles as Cat's Eye, the Urusei Yatsura TV Series and Only You, as well as many others for televison and Movies. But finally, the family moved back to the States and settled in Virginia. Steve finished up high school, took some college courses, and ended up working at a bunch of different jobs. He worked at King's Dominion amusement park (where he met his future wife Nikki), and he also worked in a Japanese restaurant, a video store, and ended up working in construction.
Steve's Interest in Military history lead him to take part in such movies as "Gettysburg" and various History Channel shows. Just look for him in the feathered gray slouch hat next to the soldiers in grey kepis! About the time Steve and Nikki tied the knot (1994), Steve attended his first anime convention as a guest --Katsucon 1-- and finally remembered his true calling. He started up Studio Ironcat, a Japanese manga publisher, in 1997 and quit his construction job. Ironcat ran until 2004. Although Steve enjoyed his time with Ironcat, the job kept him too busy to focus on his own art. With the close of Ironcat, Steve was finally free to create his own comics, and get back into the artistic side of the industry. Today, Steve is busier than ever at conventions, has two new webcomics on-line at http://www.stevebennettart.com/ ("Shakespeare Rodeo" and "Life With Steve") and is finally letting his creative juices flow!
(And Koala's are running rampant at Koala Klub too!)
Steve has been to numerous anime conventions over the years (too many to mention here!) and has also lent his talents to other venues, such as the American Movie Association, Loyola University in Louisiana, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Iowa Gallery of Art.Steve also won the 1996 Osamu Tezuka Award for outstanding American Anime/Manga artist, and has taught animation/cel painting instructional classes at Comic Anime and Anime Pavillion. Steve's many appearances and personal approach to teaching and talking with anime fans about anime/manga over the years and his involvement with charities American Cancer Society, The Lupus Foundation, and Make A Wish Foundation have earned him the sobriquets of "Anime's Goodwill Ambassador".
Steve's friendly nature will entertain and inform all folks big and small so wherever he appears next, just pull up a chair, sit back, shoot the breeze with him and enjoy the ride!
Yaya Han is a costume designer, model and cosplay entertainer with over 10 years of experience. After discovering cosplay at her first con a decade ago, she quickly absorbed the heart and soul of costume design and creation. To this day Yaya has made a myriad of costumes in the genres of anime/manga, video games, sci-fi and of course from her own original designs.
Her intricate and lavish creations have won awards and acclaim nationwide, most recently the Yume Cosplay Cup with a dream vacation in Japan. She has taught a multitude of panels on costume craftsmanship, presentation, makeup, wigs and more; and judged countless costume contests and performed in front of many peers and fans alike on stage.
Yaya has traveled to over 50 conventions and events within the USA as well as internationally to Italy, Mexico, United Kingdom, Germany and Brazil as a Guest.
ASHLEY CLARK (Anna May Belle) is a multi-media artist and writer, and has been working in the anime style for nearly a decade. Her first webcomic, 'Shades of Red', debuted in 2003. She has since turned her attention to her newest literary project, 'Tales of Asajima'. You can enter the world of Asajima through the webnovel 'Nowaki', and continue your journey with the first of her print novels, 'The Yukari'.
Ashley has won numerous awards as not only an artist, but also as an AMV creator, cosplayer, and film editor. Within the anime community, Ashley is widely known as Anna May Belle, webmistress of AnimeBelle.com, one of the most highly regarded and popular anime websites in the south. AnimeBelle hosts a gallery containing over 24,000 photos with hundreds more added after every convention she attends. The website also hosts forums, guest interviews, event reporting, and a convention schedule of southern anime conventions. If it's of interest to southern anime fans, it interests AnimeBelle, y'all!
They're back! Southern California's three-piece edge rock band Eyeshine. The band is currently in the studio recording their debut album, "Red Stripes / White Lights". Eyeshine's 'huge hooks' and 'infectious melodies' are bound to make it into your playlist.
Johnny Yong Bosch (vocals, guitar), Maurice Salmin (drums), and Alex Orantes (bass).
"Cipes and the People are one of the most conscious new reggae/pop bands out of California. They have the Spirituality and mystic vibe to take reggae to the next level."
- Native Wayne Jobson, Indie 103.1 Radio Los Angeles
"Reggae is the weapon of the future," explains Greg Cipes about The Conscious Revolution, the debut album from his group Cipes and the People. "It's the music that unifies everyone and everything."
Cipes and the People has coalesced into a core 8 person line-up, which includes two back-up singers, lead guitar, acoustic, bass, keyboards and steel drums. The band was featured in the MTV show Twentyfourseven, which spurred more than 200k people to check out their music on MySpace, where they were the site's #1 unsigned reggae band earlier this year.
Select Start is the band that will bring your favorite Video Game moments to life with their live renditions of old and new Video Game music.The six-member band uses their classical music and rock ‘n roll background to create a unique and versatile sound.By combining their love of Video Games and Music, they are able to give all gamers and music fans an experience they will never forget.Armed with two violins, a cello, flute, guitar, and keyboard these six have performed in conventions all across the state of Florida, showing the world the amazing sounds of the game.You can check them out at www.selectstartband.com or www.myspace.com/selectstartband.com.
The Heroes Alliance is a not-for-profit organization that is made up of civic-minded people who want to use their talents and abilities to entertain and educate members of the communities in which they live. The Heroes Alliance (or H.A.) does this by taking their skills in fields like seamstressing, prop creation, make up and more to make superhero costumes all in an effort to make the world a better place.
For over four years now, the H.A. has been working with local police and fire departments, children's hospitals, Metropolitan Ministries, Give Kids the World and even the US Army to achieve this goal.
Along with visting children in need and raising money for disater relief the H.A. also works with comicbook, sci/fi and anime conventions to help promote the convention and get the word out about our group. Because the more people that know who we are and what we do, the more potential we have to make a difference.
“ Music is my life and my lover. Being able to stand behind the decks sharing my music and making people happy is one of the biggest thrills I find about being a DJ.”
DJ Heavygrinder has toured continuously for years and she now appears to capacity crowds in venues throughout North America, Japan, South East Asia and Europe. Heavygrinder is a headlining artist in one of electronica’s epicenters-- Ibiza. She has released several singles in the last six years and re-mixed dozens of tracks for other artists. Heavygrinder is the first Myspace phenomenon in electronica music: Her myspace site includes over 530,000 avid fans, greater than the circulation of most publications.
It grows by the thousands daily- 15,000 new people visit her site on a 24 Hour basis to hear her music: www.myspace.com/djheavygrinder www.djheavygrinder.com has a mailing list of over 900,000 people.
Heavygrinder's Debut Album in North America, Europe and SE Asia is titled, ETERNITY.
ETERNITY combines Heavygrinder's Original Music mixed impeccably with Hits by Artists from around the world, Artists with whom she collaborates and admires.
The Voice of C&C Music Factory's Zelma Davis heralds the release of Heavygrinder's first original single from Eternity. Titled, "Mind Eraser," this soaring new track by HG and Zelma combines Heavygrinder's driving original music with Zelma Davis' vocals and lyrics. "Mind Eraser" goes to clubs and Radio around the world the second week of April 2008.
“My motivation is to share my passion for music with others whether I’m working on a new song or playing a DJ set for an audience.”
At age thirteen, she began to actively pursue her love of music through the study of vocal training; simultaneously taking center stage through modeling. After years of traveling and successful model work, she made her way to LA. It was in the City of Angels that she realized her first love in the sounds of underground dance music, becoming captivated by the power of the DJ and the reaction of the crowds.
Now 24 years old, HeavyGrinder is capturing the attention of audiences worldwide. In addition to North America, Spain ( Ibiza ), Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia and Mexico have been key international stops for this talent. Heavygrinder’s influences are wide ranged and vary from the Aphex Twins to Luciano Pavarotti to Quincy Jones to Heavy Metal. Whether it’s a DJ performance, her new mix CD, ETERNITY, or her music production DJ Heavygrinder continues to demonstrate why she has an ever-growing fan base throughout the world and why she will continue to be a name to follow for many years to come.
DJ Heavygrinder is also a talented Anime (Animation) artist and will be appearing and performing at conventions around North America throughout 2008-2009.
A native of Seattle, HeavyGrinder currently resides in Los Angeles where she is a part-time student, and full time Musician and DJ.
David Stanworth has been interested in video games and animation for his entire life. When he realised he's FAR too worthless to do either, he stuck with comics. Snafu-Comics started in the summer of 2002 and has quickly grown to incorporate over a dozen seperate comics, Snafu, PowerPuff Girl Doujinshi, Grim Tales, Sugar Bits, Tin: The Incompetent Ninja, Ever After, Sticky Floors, and many more. With more to be added soon!
Snafu has constantly been an evolving comic often drastically changing art styles and directions comic to comic. The subject matter could range from anime, videogames, politics, social commentary or fart jokes (mostly fart jokes.) But what Snafu really excells at is a strong forum community of active participants. Snafu wouldn't exist without the the fantastic support from the online community. We're excited to meet everyone at Metrocon so come by our table and say hi! Plus we have some pretty cool T-shirts and prints ;)
