In the coming weeks I will be hitting the Liberty City Anime Con as a member of the press in order to snap a whole lot of photographs and give you an idea about the event should be unable to attend. Historically speaking, I’ve tried to do a few advance announcements for the conventions that allow me to wander about and since I recently received a lengthy mailer about their official guests, I just had to share it with you. Take a look down below and get excited if you are planning on attending as well. This is a bit of a long one so please get a cup of coffee and a danish or something as you read on through this.
The Press Release:
The guest list for Liberty City Anime Con is… huge. So big that we can’t fit them all into this email! See some below, and click HERE to view the full list.
Here’s something important – “Comic Cons” and some other anime cons make you pay money for an autograph. We do NOT! Autographs are free!! There are some notes:
* Some guests are limited to just 1 autograph. Sometimes they will charge for more than 1 autograph (determined by their contract and their agent) – the guest keeps 100% of the money.
* All autograph sessions are limited to first-come first-serve. A guest can typically only meet 50 to 60 people in an hour, and can usually only sign for one or two hours at a time.
Todd Haberkorn: Todd Haberkorn has been on stage, on set, and behind a mic for many years. Not only is Todd an actor in LA, he works as a producer, writer, and director as well. And he’s even been an action figure or two. Haberkornmobile sold separately. In the animated world, he is especially known for roles such as Natsu from Fairy Tail, Sparrow Hood in Ever After High, Elfonso in Sophia The First, Italy from Hetalia, Ling Yao from Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Tierno from Pokemon, Allen Walker from D. Gray Man, Hikaru Hitachin from Ouran High School Host Club, Death The Kid from Soul Eater, and many others.
As far as video games go, you’d recognize his voice in the Call of Duty Series, Persona series, World of Warcraft, Street Fighter IV, Ghostbusters, Silent Hill: Book of Memories, Borderlands 2, and Rage to name a handful. His voice makes sure to get its marathon training in as an award winning narrator for audiobooks. Do a Google search and you’ll find everything from thrillers and young adult to zombie sagas and children’s books.
As far as on camera is concerned see him in the internationally recognized and award winning, Star Trek Continues, as Spock. When he isn’t working on films, industrials, and television projects for other companies, Todd does work with his company Out of the Office Productions. This is one aspect of a long history of on camera work in narrative film, commercials, and shorts.
When he isn’t fighting digital monsters in video games or trying to save the day on film, Todd travels the U.S. and internationally making appearances at gnarly pop culture conventions as a guest to meet super cool fans and sign autographs. He is represented by The Horne Agency, LMTalent, Jeff Zannini Management, Go Voices Talent Agency, and VOX USA.
Quinton Flynn: Quinton Flynn has done numerous anime and video game voices. Some of his most prominent voice roles include Reno, Axel, Raiden, and Doctor Riddles. Quinton’s voice has been burning up film and television since he first arrived in Los Angeles from his native Cleveland. He is an A-list voice actor, having played such famous animated characters as Jonny Quest, Spiderman, Speed Racer, The Human Torch, Timon, Snowbell in Stuart Little, just to name a few. His television and film appearances include Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, King of Queens, Animaniacs, Woody Woodpecker, Robot Chicken, and many more.
His best known roles in video game franchises have been his work providing the english voices of Raiden in the Metal Gear Solid series, Axel in Kingdom Hearts II, and Reno in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children the motion picture. If you’re hip to the anime scene you’ll know him as Iruka-sensei and Deidara in Naruto and Naruto Shippuden, Marcus Damon in Digimon Data Squad, and Carl in Blood+, to name a few.
Tom Fahn: Tom was the voice of Agumon on Digimon: Digital Monsters and is thrilled to be currently reprising the role on Digimon Adventure Tri for Toei Animation. He is currently recurring on Dragon Ball Super as Emperor Pilaf and on Hunter X Hunter as Buhara both on Toonami on Adult Swim. Other credits include JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Naruto, Bleach, The Adventures of Panda Warrior playing the dog Bruce Barkley directed by Wendee Lee, two roles (Stu the Turtle and a Male Ox) in Ice Age 2: The Meltdown directed by Carlos Saldanha, and some fans may remember Tom’s memorable death scene as Rocco Bonnaro on Cowboy Bebop with Steve Blum, directed by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn. A memorable Video Game credit includes begging for his life (yet again!) on Watchmen: The End Is Nigh directed by Collette Sunderman, and he’s also died several times on several episodes voicing several characters on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
A career highlight is working in the same studio on the old Hanna-Barbera lot where The Flintstones were recorded, playing the Woim in the Boid N Woim for Cartoon Network-What A Cartoon, directed by Kris Zimmerman. From the early days of anime, other credits include The Guyver as Sho Fukamachi, and Orguss as Kei Katsuragi directed by the legendary Kevin Seymour. Originally from Huntington, New York, Tom always wanted to be an Actor but his greatest credits are his wife, Dorothy and their daughter. They live in Los Angeles where he is represented by Vanessa Gilbert at Solid Talent.
Carrie Savage: Carrie Savage is a voice actress known for many roles, including Toola in Origin: Spirits of the Past, Rakka in Haibane Renmei, Mokona in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, and she’s also appeared in Vampire Knight, Squid Girl, Durarara, Witchblade, Fairy Tail, and Modoka Magica, in addition to countless other shows and video games such as Disgaea, Final Fantasy, and more. Carrie is currently residing in NY where she just graduated of one of NY’s famous Broadway schools; “Circle in the Square Theater School”, and is sticking around in the great city of New York for a while, although she certainly misses Los Angeles, which she considers home. Carrie will always continue with voice acting and conventions whenever possible; School or no school, with Muscular Dystrophy, or with God’s healing! (She defiantly relies on God’s strength infused into her body on a daily basis!) Carrie has also enjoyed the unique task of being able to travel in order to help struggling children and adults in
developing countries when funding could be raised to do so. She has done this in such places as Africa, Portugal, Russia, Romania, Mexico, the Philippines, some parts of the US and Australia.
Tyle Walker: Tyler Walker is an ADR director, script writer and voice actor for FUNimation Entertainment. A native of East Texas, he grew up spending equal time playing in the woods, playing Atari, and watching cartoons like Scooby Doo, Superfriends, Star Blazers, and Battle of the Planets. After graduating from the University of North Texas with a BA in Radio, Television, and Film, he spent time playing in bands and eventually started working as an ADR engineer and production assistant at FUNimation in 2002. A bit of trivia: His former band, The Pointy Shoe Factory, had three songs featured in Dragon Ball Z Movie Eight: Broly, The Legendary Super Saiyan. Since then, he has worked as ADR director on around six hundred episodes of such series as Baccano!, Toriko, Dragon Ball Z, Ghost Hunt, Basilisk, Black Cat, Blassreiter, Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom, Hell Girl, Is This a Zombie, Negima, TO, Ragnarok the Animation, and 175 episodes of Fairy Tail. In addition to directing and producing, he has also written numerous scripts for titles such as Fairy Tail, One Piece, Bamboo Blade, Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom, Hero Tales, Shangri-La, and both seasons of Is This A Zombie. When he’s not at the FUNimation studios, Tyler plays drums and produces music for his current band, Wirewings. Somehow he still finds time to go out into the woods, play video games, and watch cartoons.
Heather Walker: Heather Walker loves the freaks, the geeks, and the oddballs. From birds and giant rats, to tortured mystical children, to sexy nurses, she has played a wide variety of roles in her relatively brief time as a voice actress. Whether she is screaming her head off for an entire scene or being innocently naughty, Heather loves extreme characters. Some of her roles include Hiruko from Shangri-La, Aki from Maken-Ki, the misunderstood villain Mary Hughes in Fairy Tail, and most recently the role of Zoe, the revolutionary girl, in the audio play Chimpanzee. She studied creative writing at the University of North Texas and besides voice acting, Heather is a stylist, poet, birdwatcher, and environmentalist, and is currently being certified as a Texas Master Naturalist. So not only does she love voicing animals, she loves protecting them too.
Damian Hess: MC Frontalot (née Damian Hess) is the original mastermind of Nerdcore Hip-Hop and still its Final Boss. Front was born in San Francisco and grew up in Berkeley. He was tall and scrawny, had trouble breathing, and could not see well. A special teacher was called in to help him attain basic competence on the monkey bars, another to give him standardized tests meant for older children. Thusly, he was the most popular kid in his elementary school. Just kidding! He got pushed down a lot and called “nerd.” Did he maybe even deserve it? I mean, really – who strikes out at kickball? He spent the next twenty years or so trying to get over it. And kind of succeeded! Flash forward to 1999: the dotcom bubble is maximally inflated; nerds everywhere imagine themselves to be popular and/or hip. Damian is getting overpaid to code web pages, which leaves him free in the evenings to play with audio software. A longtime idolizer of rappers, he has been committing his own esoteric hip-hop compositions to four-track tape since high school, revealing them to nobody. But, suddenly! Multi-track desktop studios, cheap pro-grade recording hardware, skyrocketing bandwidth, semi-anonymous web publishing: these factors converge on Damian’s rap hobby like a flock of winged monkeys. He posts an MC Frontalot web page, dubbing his output “Nerdcore Hip-Hop” because his audience is composed of several Star Wars figurines who live on his desk (and also random internet people who click on his MP3s by mistake).
Now it is 2016. Nerdcore has metastasized into an internet phenomenon and underground touring powerhouse, with dozens of well established live acts and more than a hundred home-studio rhymers self-identifying within the subgenre. MC Frontalot, called alternately the movement’s godfather or grandfather (thanks, kids), leads the charge, performing for thousands around the country and at prominent geek gatherings such as Comic-Con, the Penny Arcade Expo and BlizzCon. He’s been featured in Newsweek, CNN, The New York Times, Spin, Wired, Blender, XXL, XLR8R, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, The London Daily Telegraph, NPR, G4TV, Esquire, Playboy, CMJ, The Guardian (UK), The Wall Street Journal, and scores of city papers nationally and internationally. He has released six studio albums, Nerdcore Rising (Sept 2005), Secrets From The Future (Apr 2007), Final Boss (Nov 2008), Zero Day(Apr 2010), Solved (Aug 2011), and Question Bedtime (Aug 2014). The documentary feature, Nerdcore Rising: The Movie, which focuses on Front’s live band and exposes the the Nerdcore phenomenon in general, debuted at the South By Southwest Film Festival in 2008. Front lives in Brooklyn and still spends most of his time rapping into a computer.
Chuck Huber: Chuck’s most recent anime roles are Reever in D-Gray Man Hallow, Austria in Hetalia, Jajuka in Escaflowne, Kuro (Sleepy Ash) in Servamp, Kuniharu in The Disastrous Life of Saiki K, Asanaga in Endride, Petra’s Father in Attack on Titan, Kyūta’s Father in The Boy and Beast, Tony Stark in Death Battle, Jason the Toymaker in Creepy Pasta and Emperor Pilaf in the DBZ movies and upcoming DBZ Super. Chuck hosts the weekly DubTrax podcast commenting with guests and characters on anime episodes and the GameChurch podcast which discusses how to live life if it’s a video game. Chuck’s digital presence is at chuckhuber.org and @chuck_huber in the twitter. Chuck Huber started acting in Anime in the roles of Garlic Jr., Android 17, Kibito, Master Shen and Mr. Shoe in DBZ. Since then he has voiced hundreds of characters including Hiei in YuYu Hakusho, Stein in Soul Eater, Kululu in Sgt. Frog, Mohji in One Piece, Shou Tucker in Full Metal Alchemist, Hiro in Shin Chan, Ash in Black Butler, Reever in D. Gray Man, Hector in Glass Fleet, Yuichi in Initial D., Akai in Oh Edo Rocket, Melt in The Tower of Druaga, Adashino in Mushishi, Eric Nishijima in Darker Than Black, Havel in Trinity Blood. He has been a writer on Hetalia, Sgt. Frog, Baccano, Spice and Wolf, Strike Witches, Dragonaut and the upcoming Skip Beat!. Video games Chuck has contributed voices for include Borderlands II, Ghostbusters, The Walking Dead, Aeon Flux, DBZ, Smite, The Killing Floor …among others. As a filmmaker Chuck has acted, produced, written or directed for Arbor Day – The Musical currently on Amazon Prime, Prince Adventures, The Troubadoors, The Fragility of Seconds, The Mechanical Grave, Odd Man Out among others. He began acting in Chicago at the Goodman Theater, Court Theater, Steppenwolf Theater after graduating from DePaul University and continues to work on stages in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Most recently he played Hugh Jameison in the movie Parkland, produced by Tom Hanks and starring Billy Bob Thornton and Paul Giamatti. He plays Russian bad guy, Colonel Kashoid, in AmeriGeddon and the demon Baal in The Crossroads of Hunter Wilde directed by Mike Norris (son of Chuck Norris), plays Dr. McCoy in Star Trek Continues; Dean Hansen on Season 2 of American Crime on ABC and Detective Swinton in the upcoming feature film The Harrowing.
Aaron Roberts: Aaron provides the voices for Uta in Tokyo Ghoul, Grimsby Keane in Black Butler, Samuel in Fairy Tail, Urie Sogami in Dance With Devils, and Kamui Woods in My Hero Academia. Nominated for 2014 Breakthrough Voice Actor of the Year by Behind The Voice Actors, Aaron Roberts scored his first big role as Sunny in Toriko: Gourmet Hunter. Having provided voices for over 100 anime series, he’s been featured in such roles as Michael the Archangel in High School DxD, Hideki Tama in Evangelion 3.0, Lacus Welt in Seraph of the End, Natsuhiko Koyama in Assassination Classroom, Cody Balfour in Gangsta., and Mamoru in Kamisama Kiss. You may have also heard him in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, Attack On Titan, Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, Code: Breaker, One Piece, Daimadaler: Prince vs. Penguin Empire, Blood Blockade Battlefront, Divine Gate, Eureka Seven AO, Ghost in The Shell: The New Movie, Haganai, Maken.
Brittany Lauda: Brittany Lauda is a TX/NY voice actress & ADR director who is best known for playing Leviathan in Seven Mortal Sins, Audrey Belrose in Huniepop/Huniecam, Osana Najimi in Yandere Simulator, Kaoru Daichi in Ladies versus Butlers, Plug Cryostat in Juden-Chan, Yonaga in Alice and Zoroku and Mirim in Queen’s Blade (to name a few!). You can also catch her voice in Pokemon XY, Hasbro apps & games like My Little Pony and Transformers, and various video games. Brittany can also be heard in anime titles by Media Blasters & Funimation like Rio: Rainbow Gate, World War Blue, Fairy Tail, Gosick, Akiba’s Trip: The Animation, and more. She co-owns Kocha Sound where she does directing & casting – some notable production credits of hers include the massive, highly anticipated JRPG YIIK: A Postmodern RPG, exciting party game Marooners, adventure point and click Minotaur and goofy anime series like Ladies verus Butlers, Juden-Chan Recharged and World War Blue. She acts as Head ADR Director over at Media Blasters and also dabbles in ADR writing. Outside of voice over & directing, Brittany enjoys playing with her Shiba Inu puppy named Raven, collecting Pinny Arcade pins, playing video games, reading comics, squeeing at how cute Gon & Killua are in HUNTERxHUNTER and rewatching Katekyo Hitman Reborn.
Matt Shipman: Matt Shipman is a Texas and New York based Voice Actor, ADR Writer and all around nerd-guy. He is best known for voicing Shay Obsidian in Yu-Gi-Oh Arc V, which is currently airing on NickToons. Additionally, he can be heard in Gosick as the voice of Kazuya Kujo. Other titles include World War Blue, Nanbaka, Akiba’s Trip: The Animation, Juden-Chan: Recharged, Rio: Rainbow Gate Reshuffle, One Piece and the upcoming title My Wife is the Student Council President. Matt is the lead ADR writer for Juden-Chan and My Wife is the Student Council President and works as assistant director for Media Blasters titles. He also co-owns Kocha Sound alongside Brittany Lauda. Matt plays Street Fighter, loves the Zero Escape and Persona series, watches seasonal anime, plays card games, and loves to talk about all things nerdy.
Ian Rubin: Comedian, Actor, sexy Hobbit. From NJ, Ian Rubin has been traveling all around the east coast, entertaining crowds of geeks, and expressing what it is like to be a nerd when no one around him understands! His stand-up focuses around the important issues such as: Why can’t he find any Little Mac amiibo’s? Why does the song “Tank!” groove so hard? And for the love of everything, why do some people think it is okay to just pick someone up? (I MAY BE HOBBIT SIZED, BUT THAT IS NOT AN INVITATION TO “TAKE ME TO ISENGARD.”) An Improviser, Ian will often divert from his regular comedy show and rant about something more interesting, more frustrating, or sometimes he’ll just get distracted by something shiny. He’s the greatest comedian ever.*
Michael A. Zekas: Michael A. Zekas is a voice actor and audio engineer originally from South Jersey and now deep in the heart of Texas with work playing nationwide in animation, video games, and educational media. A regular in the cast of Media Blasters productions, you can hear his work as Cliff Strive in the anime Holy Knight and among the cast on Ladies vs. Butlers and Juden-chan. Outside of anime, Michael acts as the Left-Hand Man of award-winning Austin-based indie game developer Team Dogpit as a recurring actor, audio engineer, casting director, and software Q.A. for the games Lotería del Adiós, Hashtag Everest, and Slam Fighter II. Other notable roles include Technobabylon and Shardlight as published by New York-based adventure game studio Wadjet Eye Games as well as Lords of Xulima, Norse Noir, the web animation Epsilon, radio plays Ruffled and The Amazing Adventures of Action Jack & Obvious Girl, and the fantasy ESL educational series Red Magic by Little Fox.
Come on out and have some fun. Whether talking about business, caffeinated beverages, world culture, puppies, or fabulously posing like a Joestar, your entertainment is his pleasure.
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PiercingMetal Thoughts: Whew, that was some kind of list wasn’t it? I hope you noticed that at the beginning there was a link about it being even longer online at the official website. Anyway, you can also find that care of the link below. So I’ve admitted to not being the biggest study of the whole Anime scene since I am more focused on the type of things that one sees at the NY Comic Con but that said I am looking forward to learning more about it. I am also rather excited to see some of the talented cosplayers that I met at last year’s event and seeing that they have been up to since our last exchange. See you soon with other stuffs.
Official Websites:
LCAC: http://www.libertycityanimecon.com