2009: Guests of Honor

Carrie Savage is looking forward to Anime North 2009! Carrie has voiced many anime characters: from California she has voiced such characters as "Fuko" in I, My, Me! Strawberry Eggs, "Rakka" in Haibane Renmei, “Hakufu” in Ikki Tousen, “Nancy Makuhari” in R.O.D. the TV, “Maromi” in Paranoia Agent, “Shima” in Stellvia, "Nina" in Ultra Maniac and others such as Daphne in the Brilliant Blue,Marmalade Boy, Gankutsuo, Dear.S, GunXSword, Ergo Proxy, Girl’s Bravo, Texhnolyze, Melody of Oblivion, Tsukihime, Sakura Wars the Movie, Dangaizer 3, Aguarian Age the Movie, and Ghost Talker's Day Dream. Her Texas characters include “Mokona” in Tsubasa Chronicles, and XXX Holic, “Rihoko” in Witchblade, “Miu” in Kenichi, “Asta” in Trinity Blood, “Penny” in Shin Chan , “Solty” in Solty Rei, as well as roles in other shows such as School Rumble, Sasami, Moon Phase, Rumbling Hearts, Shuffle, Ragnarok, Mushishi, Samarai 7, Full Metal Alchemist, Suzuka, Hell Girl, Origin “Spirits of the Past”, One Piece, Ouran Host Club, Black Blood Brothers, Negima, Darker than Black, Aquarion, Xeno Saga, and more that are still… “a secret” ! She has also had a fun time voicing characters in video games such as Final Fantasy 7 “Crisis Core”, Suikoden 5, Tales of Legendia, Romancing Saga, The Dynasty Warriors Series, Culdcept, Rumble Roses II, Star Ocean 4 "The Last Hope" and more including some that can‘t be mentioned just yet (He he he!) . She even got to be the voice of 2 “My Little Pony” toys; Baby “Skywishes” and a singing T-pot! Carrie has script adapted for such shows as School Rumble, and Shuffle, and was also lucky enough to get to directed episodes 1-4 of Shuffle, as well as just a little occasional directing on various other shows.



Carrie has a heavy background in Theater and is a very small time film actress. She also loves traveling around the world helping struggling children and adults in 3rd world countries such as Africa and the Philippines, and actually recently returned from a mission trip to Uganda.



Carrie is happy to be able to be a part of Anime North 09. She hopes to bring some cast autographed Anime stuff from both California and Texas shows for the Charity Auction, so save your money and get ready!

Vic has been acting for stage and screen since he was 8 years old. But he started his career in anime about ten years ago as Vega in Streetfighter II. Since then Vic has been in more than a hundred shows, known for such roles as Edward Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist, Tamaki Suou in Ouran Highschool Host Club, Fai in Tsubasa Chronicle, Ikkaku in Bleach, Yukito in Air, Takanaga in Wallflower, Dark in DN Angel, Kurz in Full Metal Panic, Broly in Dragonball Z, Kougaijji in Saiyuki, Tatsu in Peacemaker, Virgil Walsh in Trinity Blood, Hikaru in Macross and many more. Vic has also voiced roles in a large number of video games including Soul Calibur, Disgaea, Persona III, Project Sylpheed, DBZ, Bleach, FMA and more.

But even longer than his voice acting, Vic has been a professional music composer / singer / producer who has written and produced hundreds of songs for TV, radio and CD. He sings the themes for shows like One Piece & DBGT, and has produced several CDs of his own original music. And finally, in addition to anime and music, Vic has a degree in film and works regularly writing, producing and directing video and film productions.

At the age of five years old, Jessie wanted to be in a commercial. Her mother decided the best way to test the waters was to get Jessie involved in local theatre. The show business bug bit and Jessie officially began her young career at the age of five in the play, “Oliver”. Today she can be seen in many commercials including a commercial for Barbie and T-Mobile. One of her most recent commercials is for Chrysler, where she is arguing with her father from the backseat of the car.

At the age of 7 Jessie began auditioning for voice over parts, which has been extremely successful and exciting. Jessie's voice can be heard on TV shows, movies and radio advertisements. Some of the movies she has voiced in are, “Finding Nemo”, “Spider Man 2”, “Son of the Mask”, and “The Bad News Bears”. And some of the advertisements have been for McDonald’s, In and Out Burger, and many more! Jessie also can be heard as the voice of a few notable cartoon characters as well. She is the voice of Toph, in the animated adventure, “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and formerly was the voice of Meng in the same show. You can also hear Jessie in Disney’s animated comedies, “Kronk’s New Groove” and the “The Emperor’s New School” where she is the voice of Chaca. And more recently the animated feature film, “Meet The Robinsons" as the voice of young Franny, the little girl with the frogs.

Jessie also has performed on stage and guest starred in television shows such as “General Hospital”, “Strong Medicine” and stage performances such as “Meet Me In St. Louis” as the role of Tootie, and “Annie” as the role of Annie and more. Jessie is a member of the singing and dancing troop, “Kids On Stage For A Better World” who perform throughout the year in community shows.

Jessie is a very talented singer and aspires to have a hit on the radio some day. School is very important to Jessie, and she is an honor roll student. Her hobbies include reading, drawing, horses, dance, singing, spending time with friends, and hangin’ with her pet Ferret, named Scrabbles.

Tara Platt is best known for her voice acting work on such roles as Dream Girl (Legion of Superheroes), Wonder Woman (DC VS MK) Hrist/Leone (Valkyre Profile: Silmeria), Genie/Isabel (HALO 2/ilovebees), Temari (Naruto) and Tokiko (Busou Renkin). Tara has performed internationally in film, TV, animation and theatre. Some of her on-screen credits include TV: Gilmore Girls, Charmed, The Playbook, One Life to Live, Days Of Our Lives; FILM: Time & Tide, Scarecrow III, I’m Through With White Girls, BackSlash, Death’s Door. Anime fans may recognize her voice-over work in animated series and features from: Digimon: Island of Lost Digimon, RaveMaster, Tokko, FateStayNight, DearS, Boys Be, Monster; VIDEO GAMES: Tokobots, Eternal Sonata, Final Fantasy XII, Desperate Housewives, Valkyrie Profile: Silmeria, World of Warcraft. She is currently acting in and producing the feature film Tumbling After with her partner Yuri Lowenthal and their production company Monkey Kingdom Productions due out in ‘09. She and Yuri are currently co-authoring a book on voice-over. For more information on her or her credits, please visit her website www.TaraPlatt.com.

Yuri Lowenthal is known for his voice acting in such roles as Superman (Legion of Superheroes), The Prince of Persia (PoP:Sands of Time), Kamal (HALO 2/ ilovebees), Sasuke (Naruto) and Ben Tennyson (Ben 10: Alien Force). He also recently kicked Samuel L. Jackson’s ass in Spike TV’s Afro Samurai. Yuri Lowenthal is an international theatre performer in addition to his work in voice over. Yuri is also no stranger to the on-camera world: TV: Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, Alias, Gilmore Girls, Close To Home, Reasonable Doubt; Film: In the Blink of an Eye, Death's Door, Dante’s Criterion and Tumbling After - which he wrote and produced with Tara Platt under their production company Monkey Kingdom Productions. Catch him in the animated features Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo, Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, and Paprika; as well as playing Bobby Drake “Ice Man” in the new animated Wolverine and the XMen Series. Yuri's also known for his work in video games, Saint’s Row and the Final Fantasy series. Anime fans may also know him from series RaveMaster, Kyo Kara Maoh, Ergo Proxy, Gurren Lagann, Noein, Code Geass, and more. He is currently co-authoring a book on voice-over with Tara Platt. For more information, please visit his website www.YuriLowenthal.com.

Mark Hildreth is best known for his role as Cardinal Reginald Pole in the Showtime television series The Tudors, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Anime fans know him for his roles as Heero Yuy in Gundam Wing and Mobile Suit Gundam, and Terry Bogard in the Fatal Fury movies. Mark has over 30 credits as an actor in film and television, and over the last 18 years has lent his voice to over 40 animated productions, including X-Men: Evolution, Dragonball Z, GI Joe, Please Save My Earth, Stargate: Infinity, Max Steel and Action Man. As a singer/songwriter, Mark is becoming known to his fans as an honest and moving musician, with music reminiscent of Stevie Wonder and Elton John. Mark will be performing a live concert this year at Anime North, where you will be able to purchase his latest album, Complex State Of Attachment.

www.mark-hildreth.com

Tara Tallan has been making comics—writing, drawing, inking, lettering, and publishing-- for over fifteen years, and has appeared at comic conventions across North America. She was nominated for the Ignatz Award for Promising New Talent in 1998 and the Friends of Lulu Kim Yale Award for Best New Talent in 1998 and 1999.

Although she has devoted most of her time to the ongoing science fiction comic Galaxion, her comic work has also appeared in the fantasy anthology Mythography, Armored Soldier Valkyrion: The Role-Playing Game, and Roberta’s Space Adventure, a graphic novel about the Canadian astronauts, from Scholastic Education Canada.

Galaxion Book 1: The Jump, collecting the first three chapters, has just recently been put into print. Galaxion stories can also be read on Tara’s website: www.galaxioncomics.com.

Camilla d'Errico is an Italo‐Canadian artist from Vancouver who has been making waves in the fine art and comic industries with her manga‐influenced style. Despite having amassed a wide artistic background in animation, fine arts, illustration and graphic design her passion is comic art, notably manga.

In 1998 when Camilla first attended the San Diego Comic Con she instantly realized what path she would follow ‐ and she hasn’t looked back since. With the two‐issue graphic novel, “Avril Lavigne’s Make5Wishes”, the final 5 issues of “Nightmares & Fairytales”, two self‐published books, and her own creator‐owned miniseries and soon to be graphic novel, “BURN” under her belt, she is looking towards new horizons with an upcoming graphic novel with famed writer, Grant Morrison and publisher DC/Vertigo, as well as a collaboration other top writer, Neil Gaiman. She is also venturing deeper into the entertainment industry, currently working with a movie production studio in Hollywood and her first videogame being released in August 2009.

Ever the prolific artist, Camilla lives the double life of comic artist/creator and Pop Surrealist painter. What began with pseudo‐steam‐punk‐futuristic gargantuan headgear adorning strikingly beautiful girls has become known collectively as Helmetgirls. Camilla has expanded upon the concept of headgear to include animals of all kinds, intertwining and juxtaposing her stylized, fantasy girls with life‐like animals. The final effect is surreal and emotionally charged.

Camilla’s paintings have graced the walls of various Lowbrow galleries, with sell‐out shows across North America and a growing global collector base. Her work has even caught the eye of the renowned International ontemporary Gallery, Opera Gallery of New York. Her upcoming exhibits will be in Los Angeles and New York, followed by a show for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and a solo show in Rome, June 2010.

Camilla has also contributed to the growing popularity of custom painted, one of a kind vinyl art toys, and is working on new, custom sculptures based on her characters. Her images have been beautifully translated onto clothing, handbags and fashion accessories, protective laptop covers, and stationery and journals with notable companies like Dark Horse.

A dream come true was her inclusion in Ashley Wood’s art book, Swallow Vol. 5, published in January 2009. Camilla was also featured in the respected art magazine, Hi Fructose, Vol 10 and will be one of a select group of artists to be included in the upcoming, Ultimate Illustration Vol. 2, by Monsa Press. More recently, one of Camilla’s pieces, Aida, won the Artslant Juried Showcase Competition.

Camilla has distinguished herself through her ability to seamlessly weave comic art and manga with surrealist elements, wrapping it all together with an extensive emotional palette. Thanks to her relentless energy, dedication, and passionate talent, she has followed her dream of successfully working creatively for a living.

For more information, please visit, www.camilladerrico.com, or Camilla’s Blog,MySpace,Behance,Deviantart, Twitter and Facebook

Heroes of the World, is a project created by two Canadian artists, Mark Williams and Joe Bonsu assisted by business manager, Shawn Cuffie. It involves the creation of superheroes from around the world, placing each superhero in a different country and emphasizing the importance of unity through diversity in their artwork. “This work appeals to everyone and it instills a strong sense of pride for your heritage, but also touches strongly on the idea that diversity enriches our experiences and ultimately unites us,” explained the creators of the project.

Joe Osei Bonsu

Born in North York, Ontario, Joe Osei Bonsu has always had a passion for art. His inspiration for the visual arts comes from all the Batman comics he used to take from his brother’s room, as a kid. His fascination with comic book art would encourage Joe to enroll himself into schools like Sheridan College, and Seneca College for programs such as Digital Animation, Art Fundamentals, and Digital Media Arts.


Mark Williams

A graduate of Sheridan’s Illustration and Digital Animation programs, Mark Williams has an excellent sense of imagination which is inspired from mainly video games and manga. An imagination that helps his artwork stands out. His skills lie strongly on animation, character design, and storyboarding. As well as he’s an artist, Mark is also an accomplished actor and dancer.

Shawn Cuffie

Founded in 1996, DLM Entertainment Company has been a lifelong project for Shawn Cuffie, its founder and president. Located in Toronto DLM entertainment has become a leader in entertainment through out Canada and beyond. Shawn and his team have given their expertise in many occasions by managing and working with many artists across the board for the past 14 years. DLM Entertainment has made it possible for young talent to make their mark in the entertainment world through passionate dedication and by inspiring them to push themselves to their limit.

Vincent Galvez

Raised in the suburbs of Mississauga, Vincent is a writer, performer, producer, director and editor. In 2002 he graduated with honors from the Vancouver Film School film foundation program.He is currently an Active Board Member of the Kapisanan Philippine Centre for Arts and Culture and is focusing on his career as a free-lance writer and producer.

Born in quebec and schooled at Sheridan Mr CÉCYRE is returning to Anime North once again.

Based in the Ottawa area he has worked for Atkinson’s Films, Hinton, Lacewood Productions, Fundbag Animation Studios, Dynomight Cartoons and is currently uprating his skills to include computer animation. His tasks included Sheet direction, posing, storyboards, assistant-animation and animation and some supervision. The projects included Teddy Ruxpin, Dennis the menace, The Racoons, The Nutracker Prince, Papyrus, Monster Force, For Better or For Worse, Blazing Dragons, Watership Down, Tales from the Cryptkeeper, Magic School Bus, Neverending Story, Pink Panther, Ace Ventura, Arsene Lupin, , The Critic, Sniz and Fondue, Spicy city and quite a few more. Aside from discussing his favourite series (and bashing a few things he abhors) he can be found discussing the merits of various forms of animations and the various aspects of film making, censorship, and other aspects of the creative process..

This is a special year for Les at Anime North since he is celebrating his honeymoon at the convention after marrying Mandy St. Jean, his long time girlfriend and co-creator of their webcomic and soon to be animation, Medieval Canada. Les has been animating a sequel to their hit FantaSize animation for the past three years, and expects the second DVD to be released later this year. Les has worked with Ben Dunn to create most noteably the Luftwaffe 1946 OVA and Ninja High School: Time Blast the video game. For more info you can check out their creations on DarkainArts.com

Known as the “Godfather of American Manga” Ben Dunn has been writing, drawing, and publishing comics for over 20 years. Founder of Antarctic Press, Ben pioneered the way for manga artists and fans by being one of the first to bring this style to the U.S.

Born in Taiwan and a naturalized citizen of the U.S., Dunn made trips back to his birthplace as a child where he was first exposed to manga. “I thought, ‘Wow, this is really cool!’ It was unlike anything I’d seen before, and I gravitated to it from the very first time I saw it.”

Over the years, Ben has published many comics and compilations beginning with perhaps his best known and longest running comic, Ninja High School. Titles like Mangazine, Mighty Tiny, Heaven Sent, and Warrior Nun Areala are a few of the books Dunn has created for Antarctic Press. He also conceptualized and drew some of the first story arcs for the Marvel Mangaverse, a fifth week event that took off as a new series for the company.

Among the many things Ben Dunn has been working on lately is a series of young reader books for Abdo about Sherlock Holmes. This follows many other titles Dunn worked on for Abdo, both fictional and historical.

Most recently, however, is the exiting announcement by Perfect Circle Productions of the upcoming animated production of Heaven Sent and Warrior Nun Areala. Director Seth Kearsley, of Eight Crazy Nights and Family Guy fame, will be directing Heaven Sent; a director has not been announced yet for WNA. Ben Dunn lives in Forney, Texas with his wife and two children. No matter what comes his way, he never strays from his first love, NHS, which he still draws every month.

Svetlana Chmakova was born and raised on a small settler colony on the moon, where she first discovered her love of comics when reading contraband issues of ElfQuest.

When she was 16, she snuck on a berillium transport* to Earth and landed in Canada , of all places. Slightly irradiated and woozy, she somehow ended up in an animation school which led to all sorts of trouble including a sudden career in comics-making. Svetlana’s first full-length OEL manga series “Dramacon” was published by TOKYOPOP and met with much critical approval and offers of Pocky. It is now published in 12 languages and the hardcover collected edition of all 3 volumes can be used as an excellent self-defense weapon.

Currently Svetlana is finishing the second volume of her next series “Nightschool” which is being serialized in a new monthly anthology Yen Plus. “Nightschool” is an urban fantasy story about a secret high school for witches, vampires, werewolves and it’s the kind of story Svet’s been waiting to write since high school. You’ve been warned.

(*NOTE: Svetlana's family and friends may dispute the story of Svetlana's arrival to Canada, and claim that she was actually born and raised in Russia, flew across the ocean in a normal plane with her family, and that she was never irradiated at all. So just, uh, tune it out.)

Heather Dale explores folk stories and legends from around the world through her songs. Her innovative duo shows with fellow multi-instrumentalist Ben Deschamps feature as many as a dozen folk instruments, from bodhran drum to mandolin, along with Heather's rich and evocative voice.

Heather effortlessly interweaves the history and mythology of Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia, Spain, Greece, Native and Inuit cultures, and the Canadian Maritimes. "Heather Dale is a positive, vibrant singer... and audiences really resonate with her voice and energy." (GreenManReview.com)

Mark Dillon (Disturbed) began playing the piano at the age of seven. Mark’s interest in games and royal conservatory training fused when he first played Final Fantasy 2 for the Super Nintendo. Whether it’s for nostalgia, the unique sound or simply the excellent quality the music has always been Mark’s primary focus in video games. Mark looks forward to bedazzle you all with his performances. While handing out sheet music for his arrangements he will do his best to fulfill your requests!

Mark currently runs a site that is solely attributed to video game music that is played on piano called named http://www.vgPiano.com.

Nagata Shachu (formerly Kiyoshi Nagata Ensemble), based in Toronto, Canada, has enthralled audiences with its mesmerizing and heart-pounding performances of the Japanese drum (taiko) since its formation in 1998. The ensemble has toured widely throughout Canada, the US and Italy performing in theatres, concert halls, and major music festivals.

While rooted in the folk drumming traditions of Japan, the group's principal aim is to rejuvenate this ancient art form by producing innovative and exciting music that seeks to create a new voice for the taiko. Taking its name from founder Kiyoshi Nagata, and shachu (an old term for a performing troupe), Nagata Shachu has become renowned for its exacting, straightforward yet physically demanding performances as well as for its diverse repertoire. Their playing is the combination of unbounded spirit with the highest levels of musicianship and discipline. The result is an unforgettable experience that is both powerful in expression and heartfelt in its sincerity.

Nagata Shachu has the unique distinction of having sponsorship from four major Japanese drum manufacturers. Since 1999, the ensemble has rehearsed in its own fully equipped and dedicated taiko studio.

In addition to having recorded five CDs of original music, Nagata Shachu produces its own annual concert where it premieres new works and often collaborates with guest artists.

Combining thunderous, primal drumbeats with subtle, intricate rhythms, the ensemble is able to produce a wide spectrum of sound. Featuring a vast array of Japanese taiko (including the massive O-Daiko), gongs, bells, wooden clappers, shakers and bamboo flutes, Nagata Shachu will take you on a musical journey beyond all borders.

Visit http://www.kiyoshinagata.com/index.html for more!

The Bukkyo-Kai Buyo Group is a Japanese dance group based at the Toronto Buddhist Church, under the direction of Sensui Kozakura, Members range in age from 7 years old to seniors. Although most of our dances are in the “Shin-buyo” or modern style of Japanese dance, our dance repertoire ranges from classical to folk to more modern popular music.

The group has performed at many venues in the Greater Toronto Area and around Southern Ontario. Our members enjoy learning, sharing and promoting Japanese culture through dance.

Please join us for two exciting workshops in kenjutsu (classical Japanese swordsmanship). These special workshops will focus on one of the great styles of Japanese swordsmanship: Katori Shinto Ryu. It is one of the oldest schools of Japanese swordfighting and was created during the Warring States Period (c. 1460). It is an elegant style and very classical, being an actual sword style created by a samurai to train other samurai for battlefield fighting.

Guest Instructor: Douglas Tong


Our guest instructor will be Mr. Douglas Tong from Tokumeikan. Mr. Tong studied Japanese swordsmanship exclusively in Japan with some of the great masters. Mr. Tong was one of the last direct pupils of the famous Master Yoshio Sugino, who was the swordfight choreographer for two of Kurosawa’s most celebrated samurai films (Seven Samurai and Yojimbo) and also Inagaki’s Miyamoto Musashi (re-titled as the Samurai Trilogy in North America). The swordplay featured in these legendary films has been hailed as the best Japanese swordplay ever captured on film.



Fans of swordplay in jidaigeki and chanbara anime such as Lone Wolf and Cub, Ninja Scroll, etc…, will not want to miss this chance to learn some of the true swordfighting techniques actually used by the samurai.



Come and experience this rare art which has been handed down in secret from generation to generation for over 600 years. Only recently have outsiders been allowed to see it.

This year Anime North is honoured to have Ricky Dick as their Costuming Guest Of Honour.

Ricky started attending cons in 1979 and immediately hooked up with the fannish costuming community. His costumes have always relied on interesting presentations, elaborate makeups, and an attention to detail. (He has won countless awards over the years including, Best In Show Workmanship at Costume-Con, four times). He founded the NJ/NY chapter of the Costumers Guild, and in addition to making costumes, he also judges and MC’s many masquerades.

He was awarded the International Costumers Guild Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004.

As a performer Ricky has been able to work all over north America, in circuses ( yes he’s ridden an elephant) , at the White House, and even at Walt Disney World.

On top of all that, since 1993 Ricky along with Family and friends, started Castle Blood, an interactive theatrical styled Halloween Haunted attraction, Which has won numerous awards, and in 2006 spun off it’s own TV series, Castle Blood’s Midnight Monster Hop, where they perform skits and variety acts in a humorous Horror theme ala Hilarious House of Frightenstein, as cut ins around a classic horror movie Ricky will be hosting the Saturday Night Masquerade as Gravely MacCabre.

Karen Dick became a fan of anime, STAR TREK, and fantasy costume design all during the same crucial 2-year period between ages 9 and 11. She considers herself a “fan’s fan” and makes no value judgments between the different aspects of fandom, or between media fandom (including anime) vs. literary fandom.

Karen is best known for her costumes, which she has been making and competing for 35+ years, and for her corsets, which she has been making for 20+ years. Karen treats costumes as clothing for an alternate universe, builds them to last, and likes to embellish them with beading or other special detail work. She enjoys the construction process as well as having the finished product, and especially likes imagining the sort of character who would wear these clothes. Her early inspirations were Bill Theiss’s creations for the original STAR TREK television series, and Bob Mackie’s amazing designs for the 1970’s variety shows hosted by Carol Burnett and Sonny and Cher.

The first time Karen made a costume and competed it was for the Equicon STAR TREK and media convention in 1973 (run by Bjo Trimble of the “Save Star Trek” letter writing campaign). She also made her first media recreation costume (a classic STAR TREK uniform) that same year to work the registration desk at the San Diego Comic-Con when it was in its relative infancy. Her costuming career is split almost evenly between her own original designs (which she has been sketching since 1967) and media re-creations, including costumes for herself and others from various animes (more on that below), BARBARELLA, DUNE, ELFQUEST, LEGEND, STAR TREK, STAR WARS, UFO, UNDERWORLD, and even ZARDOZ, to name a few. Her track record includes multiple Best In Show wins at Worldcon, Costume-Con, Balticon, and Westercon. She co-founded Costume-Con in 1983 as way for costumers to have a convention of their own, and CC will celebrate its 27th birthday this year.

Karen’s long relationship with anime began when she was just 9 years old. She got hooked on ASTRO BOY (and a plethora of other Japanese imports such as Gigantor, Amazing Three, Prince Planet, Marine Boy, 8th Man, etc. being shown on broadcast TV in Los Angeles) in 1964, which led to her becoming a STAR BLAZERS / SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO fan in the late 1970’s and a ROBOTECH / MACROSS fan in the 1980’s. Fred Patten cites her in his Watching Anime, Reading Manga book (under her maiden name, Schanubelt) as being an early adopter of anime costuming. She competed STAR BLAZERS, CAPTAIN HARLOCK, and GALAXY EXPRESS 999 groups in masquerades at regular science fiction and comic conventions in the early 1980’s (because anime conventions did not exist until the 1990’s), and won Best in Show with a huge STAR BLAZERS group at the 1980 San Diego Comic-Con. Some say she helped spawn the whole “cosplay” movement because of the high visibility of these early anime costume groups, which were worn constantly in the halls as well as onstage at many West Coast conventions in the early to mid-1980’s.

Similarly, Karen’s long relationship with STAR TREK began when she was 11. Karen became a fan during the original run of the original TV series, in 1967. She designed costumes and wrote (and later published) fan fiction based on the STAR TREK universe. She wore a self-made “STAR TREK LIVES” bracelet to college, which led to her finding the local chapter of S.T.A.R. (Star Trek Association for Revival), which led to her attending her first STAR TREK convention in 1973 and making her first costumes. Some of her friends from S.T.A.R. were trying to scratch build the STAR TREK props. Nothing was coming out the same way twice, and Karen’s industrial engineer father (the late Franz Joseph) said, “Your friends need blueprints,” and promptly drew blueprints for the hand phaser and communicator. Next thing she knew, the whole dining room table was covered in a huge roll of vellum, and her father was drawing THE WHOLE SHIP, deck by deck. And thus was born the Booklet of Ship’s Plans (aka the “Enterprise Blueprints”) and The Star Fleet Technical Manual, both of which were published by Ballantine Books in the mid-1970’s and were the inspiration for all “TREKnical” books ever since. The “enlarge by squares” uniform patterns in the Tech Manual are based on Karen’s working patterns, and most of the other drawings were done using her extensive collection of 35mm film clips as reference material. Karen is still receiving mail from fans of her late father’s work.

In real life, Karen is a technical editor and illustrator for a company specializing in technology patents. Her current projects include working on costumes and corsets for the CASTLE BLOOD HAUNT COUTURE line, working front of house for the CASTLE BLOOD haunted attraction, and co-hosting the MIDNIGHT MONSTER HOP television series (as “Grizelda MacCabre”) with husband Ricky. She is also working on a set of costumes based on ancient Greek mythology for display in a museum in New Jersey set to launch in 2010. And she will be chairing the 30th anniversary Costume-Con in Pittsburgh in 2012.

Nobuyuki Hiyama debuted as Yeti in the animation film "Kaiketsu Zorori" (1989) when he was 22 years old, which his mentor worked as the acoustic director in this film. He stood at a turning point of his career acting as Syndrome in the TV series "Chikyu SOS, Soreike Kororin". He is also known for his voice acting in Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann (Viral, Old Coco; 2007), BLEACH (Ikkaku Madarame; 2004), Mobile Suit Gundam SEED (Matsuda Asrael; 2002), Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS team (Shiro Amada; 1996), The King of Braves GaoGaiGar (Guy Shishioh; 1997), Yuyu Hakusho (Hiei; 1992), The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Zelda (adult); 1998). His official representative voice acting role is Guy Shishioh in The King of Braves GaoGaiGar, so he is called "Yusha-oh", which means The King of Braves in Japanese, among his fans and colleagues.

In addition to his voice acting work, he regularly holds the talk show "Omaera No Tamedaro" with Voice actor Toshiyuki Morikawa.

Not only as a voice actor, but also as a singer Nobuyuki Hiyama has released CD albums in Japan. Nobuyuki Hiyama will be performing a live concert at Anime North, where you will be able to enjoy his voice and songs.

Jess Hartley is an avid gamer who has the good fortune to work as a novelist, writer, and freelance writer/editor/developer in the gaming industry. She began playing role-playing games in the mid-1980s, when she and some friends picked up a copy of the “red box” of D&D from Toys-R-Us and attempted to teach themselves how to play. Since then, she’s played a bit of everything, from Aftermath to the Zorcerer of Zo. She’s an avid role-player, and loves rpgs of every sort: tabletop, LARP, online or video games. She’s managed to avoid MMORGs for the most part so far, but only out of a sense of self-preservation and need to avoid having them consume her entire life!

At conventions or at home, Jess can often be found gaming. Among her favorite games to play are White Wolf’s RPGs (Exalted, Scion and World of Darkness), Munchkin, Guillotine, Quicksand, Fluxx and Lost Cities. But she’s willing to try just about anything once, so if you’ve got a favorite she hasn’t tried, she’d love to learn!

Jess started working with White Wolf in 2003, when she penned the Exalted novel, “In Northern Twilight”, which was a Runner-Up for Pen & Paper’s 2004 Fan Awards in the category of Best RPG-Related Novel/Anthology. Later, she helped write Compass of Celestial Directions 1: The Blessed Isle, an Exalted 2nd edition supplement.

Since then, she has written content for Skinchangers, Reliquary (which she also developed), Midnight Roads and Innocents from the World of Darkness core game line, The Beast That Hunts The Blood (Nosferatu Clanbook) for Vampire: The Masquerade, Free Council, Silver Ladder and Mysterium for Mage: The Awakening, all four of the Promethean: The Created supplements (Pandora’s Book, Strange Alchemies, Magnum Opus and Saturnine Night), “Predators” for Werewolf: The Forsaken and “The Compass of the Celestial Directions 1: The Blessed Isle” for Exalted Second Edition. She’s also contributed to the Scion line (Scion: Demigod and Scion: God,)and was part of the core team that created Changeling: The Lost and Hunter: The Vigil, working on both the core rule books, as well as several supplements for each of the lines.

One of Jess’ latest projects has been helping create Geist: The Sineaters, White Wolf’s newest game line, which will make its formal debut in August of 2009, as well as multiple electronic projects such as The Rose-Bride’s Plight, a Changeling: The Lost Storyteller Adventure System .pdf product.

A life-long native of the Pacific Northwest, she’s recently found herself transplanted to the wilds of Southeastern Arizona, where she dwells with her husband and daughter and a menagerie of other interesting creatures. She’s an active member of The Camarilla and the Society for Creative Anachronism, and participates in a plethora of other strange and curious hobbies and pastimes which often make her neighbors and acquaintances scratch their heads in confusion.

More information about Jess can be found through her website at http://www.jesshartley.com, and questions or inquiries can be addressed to “ jess@jesshartley.com”.

http://www.jesshartley.com
http://www.white-wolf.com

Malcolm Sheppard is renown publications involved with White Wolf and now his own gaming platform "adamant entertainments: terminal identity. : Malcolm started freelancing in 1999, producing material to accompanyt he Mage: The Ascension Ole playing game from White Wolf Publishing . Since then, he has produced material for several other lines, including Dark Ages and Exalted. From 2003-2004. Later on Malcolm was asked to put Mage to bed with the central "canonical" story in Mage's Time of Judgment book, Ascension. Afterwards, he was asked to write parts of the sequel, Mage: The Awakening and several supplements for White Wolf Gamings