Fan-Works
Voice Actors & Industry
- Troy Baker
- Stephanie Young
- Robert Axelrod
- Michele Knotz
- J. Michael Tatum
- Chris Cason
- Christopher Smith
Fan-Works
Martin “LittleKuriboh” Billany
LittleKuriboh (AKA Martin Billany) is the creator of Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged series and the godfather of the abridged age. He has thus far produced no less than 58 episodes, a spinoff, a prequel, a christmas special and two movies, creating a cultural phenomenon in the anime world. In addition to playing nearly every character in his own series, he has made cameos in the Death Note, Naruto, Sonic X, Trinity Blood, Pokemon, Fullmetal Alchemist and Sailor Moon abridged series. With a mission to revitalize interest in the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise and make it more accessible to Joe Public, LittleKuriboh will continue the original abridged series providing us with priceless entertainment for many years to come.
All-round nice guy and community fan-favourite, he is also associated with TeamFourStar (the group behind Dragon Ball Z Abridged, for which he also supplies voices) and has made guest appearances on comic-book video review series Atop the Fourth Wall and more recently made a cameo in the 200th episode of The Nostalgia Critic.
91.8 The Fan
Voice Actors & Industry
Matthew Myers
Matthew Myers is most well known as the lead singer and songwriter from otaku band LeetStreet Boys. LeetStreet Boys first emerged in the anime convention scene with their 2008 hit song and animated music video “Yuri The Only One” which has now reached over 1.5 million YouTube views. The band has gone on to release 3 full-length albums titled “LeetStreet Boys,” “Otaku Hearts” and “L3g3nds,” as well as produce animated music videos for singles “Guitar Hero Hero,” “She’s So Kawaii” and “Cosplay Girlfriend.” LeetStreet Boys has performed at numerous anime conventions across North America and their music is enjoyed by anime fans worldwide.
Matthew Myers has composed music for video games and other media professionally since 2006. He continues to be involved with numerous Japanese style visual novels and RPGs. Fans can hear Matt’s music in “Heileen 3,” “Loren Amazon Princess,” and “Always Remember Me” from Winter Wolves Games, “The Royal Trap” and “Date Warp” from Hanako Games, as well as (the humorous) “Mark Leung: Revenge Of The Bitch.” Additionally Matt created music and audio for the grand prize winning entry in Nokia’s “Calling All Innovators” game development competition, and also recorded and mixed vocals for Square-Enix’s ill-fated XBox title “Gun Loco.” Currently Matt continues to write songs, compose music and produce animated videos. www.leetstreetboys.com
Troy Baker
Rocker-turn-actor Troy Baker has become the go-to voice actor for the gaming community. The Texas native first began working in video games by playing Sgt. Matt Baker in the “Brothers in Arms” franchise and in anime as Frank Archer in Full Metal Alchemist.
Since then, Troy has been chased by “Ghostbusters” as Slimer: shouted “Steel Guard!” as Snow Villiers in “Final Fantasy XIII;” dodged grenades, RPG’s and Russian ultranationalists in Activision’s juggernaut FPS “Call of Duty;” battled for the Autobots as Jetfire in “Transformers: War for Cybertron;” as Jazz in “Transformers: Fall of Cybertron” dealt with bizarre relationship issues and nightmarish “Qbert-ian” puzzles as Vincent in “Catherine;” and gone toe-to-toe with Batman as Two Face/Harvey Dent in Spike TV’s “Game of the Year 2011″ nominee, “Batman: Arkham City.” Most recently, gamers soared through the skies of Columbia with him as Booker Dewitt in “Bioshock Infinite” and fought to survive the infected as Joel in “The Last of Us”.
Fans will recognize him as the evil Van Kleiss in Cartoon Network’s “Generator Rex;” as Hawkeye in Disney’s “Marvel’s Avengers Assemble”, as Yamato and Pain in “Naruto Shippuden”, Excalibur in “Soul Eater”, and everyone’s favorite punk, Kanji Tatsumi in “Persona 4″.
On camera, Troy has starred opposite Val Kilmer, Steve Zahn and Karl Urban in “Comanche Moon;” and Lou Diamond Phillips in “Striking Range,” for which he also performed on the soundtrack as lead singer and guitarist for Tripp Fontaine. He’s even traveled the country spotlighting pop culture conventions as the host and producer of “Road Rage.”
An avid gamer, cartoon fanatic and comic book fan, Troy says “It’s quite rare to have a job that affords you opportunities to participate in creating something that you’ll geek out over later.”
Stephanie Young
Stephanie Young is a professional actress, singer/songwriter, producer, and fan of caffeinated beverages that jolt her from one creative project to the next! As a voice actress and singer, she quickly developed a niche voice for dominating females, witches, warriors and queens in the wonderful worlds of anime and gaming. She is best known for her work as “Nico Robin” in One Piece (new dub with Funimation), ”, “Olivier Armstrong” in Full Metal Alchemist, Brotherhood, “Clare” in Claymore, “Arachne” in Soul Eater, “Shamrock” in .hack Quantum, “Juiz” in Eden of the East, , “Junko” in Desert Punk, “Sherry Cromwell” in A Certain Magical Index, “Momoko” in Okami-san and Her Seven Companions, “Eve” in Spice and Wolf II, “Moeran” in Fractale, “Choka” in Hero Tales, “Oise” in Oh! Edo Rocket, “Tamayo Kataokon” in Rideback, “Yoshikawa” in Bamboo Blade, “Elfriede” in Moonphase, “Mana” in Negima,“Katherine” in King of Thorn, “Miranda Maverick” in Solty Rei, “Sophia” in Aquarion, “Kagero” in Basilisk, “Sasha Jobson” in Blassreiter, “Lecty Leque” in Heroic Age, “Flanca” in Gunslinger Girl, “Oruha” in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, “Nora” in Witchblade, “Echidna Parass” in Black Cat, “Nanako” in Crayon Shin-chan, “B.B.” in Glass Fleet, “Yuuri Kitajima” in Dragonaut, “Jane” in Grappler Baki Maximum Tournament, “Yahagi” in Mushi-shi, “Dr. Kozuki” in Rumbling Hearts, “Itoko Osakabe” in School Rumble, and “Mireille” in Trinity Blood.
Stephanie’s latest game projects include the role of the “Sheriff of Lynchwood” in Borderlands II, the lead female vocals (singing) in Ms. Splosion Man, and “Weaver” in Orcs Must Die! In Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smilely, Stephanie is the female vocalist in the “Brad” theme song, as well as the voice of the Viking hottie, “Nordya”. Other gaming credits include Fiona” in Spike Out, Battlestreet and “Selket” in Unreal Championship II, The Liandri Conflict. Stephanie can also be heard singing theme songs for Dragon Ball GT, Negima, One Piece, and as her character Oruha in Tsubasa.
As a singer/songwriter, Stephanie enjoys lending her signature, soulful vocals, along with her guitarist husband David, to the Dallas-based pop/jazz band, The Brehms. Their single, “Red Dress”, featured on their self titled album, was a finalist in the USA International Songwriting Competition! Stephanie is also a graduate of Baylor University with a degree in Theatre Performance. Her love of performing lead her to work extensively on the stage, as well as on both sides of the camera with the production house, Blue Logic. Stephanie is a two-time nominee for the Dallas Theatre League’s Leon Rabin Award for her work in the Dallas Theatre Community, and she is represented by The Horne Agency.
Robert Axelrod
Robert Axelrod has carved a career in show business that runs the gamut. Born and raised in New York City, he did commercials and theater as a child and teen, eventually ending up in the Soho Avant-garde Theater scene in a show called “Little Trips”, then Off-Broadway in a play called “The Destroyers”. Axelrod left acting for the world of music. He spent eight years as a working rock musician playing electric bass and singing in folk, rock, and soul bands. Music brought him to Los Angeles where he decided to return to acting, a decision he never regrets.
Since then, Mr. Axelrod has appeared in over thirty feature films including four with Charles Bronson, the Sci-Fi hit remake “The Blob” with Kevin Dillon andmany others. Television appearances include guest star roles on “Amazing Stories”, “Star Trek Voyager”, “Tim And Eric’s Awesome Show”, and “The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. He also starred in the Michael Jackson music video “Stranger in Moscow”, and the horror dark comedy, “The Revenant”. His performance in the short film THE GOLDFISH is garnering rave reviews.
Mr. Axelrod is also a busy voice over artist. He is the voice of Lord Zedd and Finster on the “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers”. The Lord Zedd voice is one of the most recognizable character voices around. He voiced Armadillomon and Wizardmon on “Digimon, Microchip, The Punisher’s sidekick, on “Spiderman”, Rico on “Robotech”, and has voiced countless Anime features including “Akira”, “The Big O”, “Cowboy Bebop”, “Brain Scratch”, et al. As Lord Zedd, he starred in both the first Power Rangers feature film and the wildly popular live show that toured the country. He was a regular character on Saban Entertainment’s “Wowser” series (as Ratso Catso), “Journey To The Heart of the World” (as Scarface), “Hallo Spencer” (as Elmer), and more. He just finished narrating the mockumentary “Safety First: The Rise of Women and voicing four Anime series, “Gaiking”, “Danguard Ace”, “Captain Horlock”, “The Adventures of Nadja”, and “Fist of the North Star”.
Michele Knotz
You may have heard of Michele Knotz from a little well-known anime series called “Pokémon.” Now in their 16th season, Michele returned as the voice of Team Rocket’s Jessie as well as Snivy, Woobat, Minccino, Klink, Klang, Klinklang, Petilil and their evolutions. Before season 14, Michele voiced May, Nurse Joy, the Pokédex, Piplup, Manaphy, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Chimecho, Beautifly, Masquerain, Dustox, Cacnea, and many others. She also voiced Misty for the Pokémon 10th Anniversary Special, “The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon.” In the Pokémon Special, “Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, Team Go-Getters Out of the Gate” she voiced Chikorita. Other anime roles include Hajime Yagi in “The World of Narue,” Takako Kawashima in “Shootfighter Tekken,” Matsumoto and various additional characters in “To Heart,” Razali, Cindy, Greta, and The Fairy in “The Third,” Ogiue Chika in “Genshiken,” Koyuki Asagiri in “Kujibiki Unbalance,” Chou’un Shiryuu in “Ikki Tousen,” Tomoe and Airi in “Queen’s Blade,” and Potaru Tanaka and Inumi in “Magical Witch Punie-Chan.”
As far as video games go, Michele has voiced the Pokémon Trainer, Squirtle and various other Pokémon for the Nintendo Wii’s: “Super Smash Bros. Brawl,” Piplup and many others in “PokéPark Wii – Pikachu’s Great Adventure,” Snivy, Piplup and many others in “PokéPark 2 Wonders Beyond,” various characters in “Heathcliff the Fast and the Furriest,” Alisa Bosconovitch and Roll in Capcom’s “Street Fighter X Tekken,” and Grace in “Castle Dracula.” But Michele doesn’t just work on anime and video games. She’s also a script adapter for various dubbing projects and lends her voice to many other types of work. To see all of Michele’s credits, pictures, and listen to her voice demos, check out her web site at: http://micheleknotz.com/
J. Michael Tatum
Nurtured on anime classics from the tender age of Star Blazers, et al, reclusive fanboy-turned- voice actor/writer/ADR director/flake extraordinaire J. Micahel Tatum spent more years than he cares to remember in what might charitably be described as freefall before landing, mostly by accident, smack dab on the industry of his dreams. To this day, some believe the small crater made by the impact remains the source of his power.
Discovered by Funimation warhorse and visionary ADR director Christopher Bevins, who cast him as Rikichi in 2005’s Samurai 7, Tatum’s inexplicable luck has held long enough to see his flag hoisted on a slew of dream roles, most notably Kyoya Otori in the hit English language dub of Ouran High School Host Club and suave, demonic Sebastian Michaelis in Black Butler. Other characters the man still can’t believe he’s had the crazy good fortune to play include: Doumeki in XXXHolic, Jiro Mochizuki in Black Blood Brothers, Isaac Dian in Baccano!, Both God Eneru and Dalton in the new dub of One Piece, Komui Lee in D-Gray Man, Dororo in Sgt. Frog, the titular loveable savage of Heroic Age, Ryosuke Takahashi in Initial D, Lawrence Kraft in Spice and Wolf, Zarbon in Dragon Ball Z Kai, and Scar in Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. His vocal “stylings,” much to the chagrin of drama teachers everywhere, he’s sure, have also been featured in Romeo X Juliet, Speed Grapher, Trinity Blood, Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple, Black Cat, Nabari, Ghost Hunt, School Rumble, The Tower of Druaga, Aquarion, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles, Shuffle!, Shigurui, Glass Fleet, Mushishi, Soul Eater, along with feature- length films such as Vexille and Summer Wars, among many others.
And as if being involved with so many awesome shows wasn’t enough, in late 2007 the fluky so- and-so tempted fate by officially branching out into ADR directing and adaptive scriptwriting for Funimation as well. His ADR directing credits to date include Aquarion, Jyu-oh-Sei, Romeo X Juliet, Big Windup, Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne and Corpse Princess, while his writing credits include substantial work on Ouran High School Host Club, Heroic Age, Initial D, Blassreiter, Ga Rei: Zero and Dragon Ball Z Kai.
In early 2010 he teamed up with Terri Doty and Stephen Hoff to launch That Anime Show, a web-based chat show centered on colorful, often diabolically unhinged interviews with friends and colleagues within the dubbing industry, all episodes of which can be downloaded for free at thatanimeshow.com
Ever the workaholic, Tatum is currently burning the midnight oil on a number of exciting projects due for release later this year. And before you ask, the “J” stands for… Well, it stands for whatever you’d like it to.
Chris Cason
Chris Cason is an ADR director, voice actor, and writer for FUNimation Entertainment. Beginning in 1999 (as the original Tien Shinhan and Mr. Popo in Dragonball Z), Cason has had the opportunity to be associated with many exciting properties. He has voiced such characters as Gluttony in Fullmetal Alchemist, Boo and Whitey in Shin-Chan, Chamo in Negima, Haruki Hanai in School Rumble, Shu in Dragonball, and Kazamachi in Basilisk.
He can also be heard in: Gunslinger Girl, Black Cat, Trinity Blood, Hell Girl, Ouran High School Host Club, Witchblade, Claymore, and D. Gray Man.
Some of his ADR directing and assistant ADR directing credits include: DBZ Uncut, Dragonball, Dragonball GT, Case Closed, Galaxy Railways, Baki the Grappler, Yu Yu Hakusho, Negima, School Rumble, Hell Girl, Kaze no Stigma, and Bamboo Blade.
Chris is thrilled to be a part of Another Anime Convention this year!
Christopher Smith
Who The Hell Is Christopher Smith, Anyway?
Chris indulges his inner child every time he goes to work. Since the age of six, mesmerized by Kimba the White Lion and Speed Racer, he dreamed of being the voice of cartoon characters. Starting as background voices in Robotech and Captain Harlock (third guy from the left who screams when he blows up), Chris now voices main characters in Vampire Knight (Kaien Cross), Naruto (Ishidate, Shuura), Bleach (Kibune, Rose, Wonderweiss), Gurren Lagann (Kittan), Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society (Puppetmaster), Honey & Clover (Hanamoto), Moribito (Mikado), Flag (Beloqui), Overman King Gainer (Kashmir Val), Tenjho Tenge (Kagurazaka), multiple characters in Code Geass, Monster, and many more. His game titles include Street Fighter 4 (Rufus), World of Warcraft (Selin Fireheart, Mal Ganis), Dead Space (Commander Cadigan) Command & Conquer (Scalpel, Firehawk), Mortal Kombat vs DC (Superman), Samurai Warriors (Nobunaga, Sun Wu Kong), Final Fantasy: Dissidia (Emperor), Tales of Symphonia 2 (Tenebrae), Starcraft 2 (Banshee) and numerous others.
Literary Guests
Kody Keplinger
Patricia Briggs
Patricia Briggs, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Mercy Thompson series, lives in Washington State with her husband, children, and a small herd of horses. She has written 17 novels to date. Briggs began her career writing traditional fantasy novels, the first of which was published by Ace Books in 1993, and shifted gears in 2006 to write urban fantasy. In Fall 2010, Patricia made another foray into traditional fantasy, when Ace published a revised version of her very first book, Masques (2010), and its never-before-published sequel, Wolfsbane (2010), both of which debuted on the New York Times bestsellers list for Mass Market Fiction.
In 2006, Ace Books published Moon Called, the first book in her #1 New York Times bestselling—and signature series—about Mercy Thompson. The non-stop adventure left readers wanting more and word of this exciting new urban fantasy series about a shape-shifting mechanic spread quickly. Blood Bound (2007), the second book in the series, debuted at #12 on the New York Times bestsellers list. After the incredible success of Iron Kissed (2008), which landed at #1 on the New York Times list, the Mercy Thompson saga continued to win the hearts of readers and grew in popularity with the release of each book. Bone Crossed (2009), the fourth book in the series and first to be published in hardcover, debuted at #3 on the New York Times Hardcover bestsellers list, where it stayed for four weeks. The most recent hardcover, Silver Borne (2010), debuted at #1 on the New York Times Hardcover bestsellers list and stayed on the printed list for a total of three weeks!
Briggs also writes the Alpha and Omega series, which are set in the same world as the Mercy Thompson novels. What began as the novella “Alpha and Omega” in an anthology called On the Prowl (2007), was then expanded into a full new series. The subsequent books were Cry Wolf (2008) and Hunting Ground (2009), both New York Times bestsellers. The third book of the Alpha and Omega series is Fair Game (2012) and debuted at #4 on the New York Times bestsellers list. For more information about Patricia Briggs and her marvelous novels, feel free to visit the author on the web at www.patriciabriggs.com.
Sarah M Harvey
Sara M. Harvey made her fiction debut in 2006 with the romantic urban fantasy A Year and a Day. Sara’s love of Steampunk pushed her towards writing within that genre with her Blood of Angels novella series from Apex Publishing: The Convent of the Pure, The Labyrinth of the Dead, and The Tower of the Forgotten. They can be described as paranormal Victorian Age romances with lesbian protagonists set in a Steampunk environment. Harvey’s showcase of her unique style of genre-crossing work has been described by Jacqueline Carey as ‘a compelling blend of the numinous and the creepy’. Her most recent publication is Seven Times a Woman, a romantic fantasy set in mythic Japan out from New Babel Books and she just finished Music City, an urban fantasy about Nashville. Sara lives in Nashville where she teaches costume and art history and has too many dogs.
