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Marie Aizawa Phelan
Since 1988, Marie Aizawa Phelan has been a full-time professor of Communication Studies at Shokei Gakuin University located in Natori City, Miyagi, Japan. Her major interests are in the fields of intercultural communication, popular culture and interpersonal communication. She has been a member of the Communication Association of Japan (CAJ) since 1987 and served as a member of the board of directors for over ten years. She was vice president of the organization from 1998-2000. She also became the first chairperson of the Northeast Chapter of CAJ in 1993 and is still an active member of the organization. She studied twice in the U.S. under Rotary scholarships. Her M.A. is from Northwestern University and her Ph.D. is nonverbal semiotics from Tohoku University. She is presently studying how Japanese pop culture is perceived by young people in the United States with her colleague, Minoru Ohno, in the Department of Culture and Communication Activities at Shokei Gakuin University. She is excited to be attending her second ConnectiCon.
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Minoru Ohno
Minoru Ohno has been a full-time professor at Shokei Gakuin University located in Natori City, Miyagi, Japan since 2008. Before his present position, he worked as a producer in the Anime and advertisement industry. After he gradtuating from Chuo University in 1971, he was employed by the Yomiuri Advertisement Company where he worked for thirty-two years. He then worked for Hakuhodo DY Media Partners from 2003 to 2008. For thirty-seven years, he made major contributions to the golden age of Anime creation. He collaborated with numerous directors, scenario writers, and character designers in the planning and producing more than two hundred Anime. For example he produced the well-known Anime "Battle of the Planets," "Speed Racer," "Magical Angel Creamy Mami," and "Fairy Princess Mincky Momo." He now teaches classes in the Comic & Anime Industry, the Contents Industry, and a Graduation Seminar in the Department of Culture and Communication Activities at Shokei Gakuin University and is studying how Japanese pop culture is perceived by young people in the USA with his colleague, Marie Aizawa Phelan. He is thrilled to be attending his first ConnectiCon.
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Carlos Ferro
Carlos Ferro is one of the leading voice acting talents working in the industry today. A star of the award-winning, best-selling GEARS OF WAR and GEARS OF WAR 2, Ferro is known to video game fans worldwide as the voice of COG soldier Dom Santiago. In addition to his work on GEARS, he is also known as the voice of Michael Corleone, head of the Corleone family in THE GODFATHER II and Leonardo da Vinci in ASSASSIN"S CREED 2. Ferro has lent his voice to such well-known properties as JUSTICE LEAGUE, SPAWN, REIGN: THE CONQUERER, X-MEN: NEXT DIMENSION, TONY HAWK'S AMERICAN WASTELAND, SCARFACE: THE WORLD IS YOURS, QUANTUM OF SOLACE, INDIANA JONES AND THE STAFF OF KINGS as well as the popular SAINTS ROW and UNCHARTED franchises. Anime fans know him as the evil Thomas Waltham from GOLGO 13: QUEEN BEE. Ferro is also an accomplished actor and has starred in landmark television shows such as STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION.
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Rachel Robinson
A successful working voice actress for close to ten years, Rachel Robinson was introduced rather quickly into the gaming world with one of the biggest franchises and best
loved games in history, FINAL FANTASY XIII, voicing the role of Oerba Yun Fang, fearless L?Cie warrior who fights alongside Lightning, Snow, Vanille, Sazh and Hope to save Cocoon. She has worked regularly on Seth MacFarlane?s ?American Dad?, voiced the role of Vera Cortez in the online comic companion piece to EA?s
DEAD SPACE and was featured in the film ?Universal Remote? as Mary, Mother of Jesus in the animated segment, ?That Darn Jesus.? She was the voice of both Pamela Anderson and Verne Troyer for MTV2?s CELEBRITY DEATH MATCH (same episode, different death matches), and was heard in the VH1?S ?GAMES ARE COOL? campaign.
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Michele Knotz
A native of the Jersey Shore, Michele Knotz has always had a passion for acting. She was cast in her first animated voice-acting role as Hajime Yagi in "The World of Narue" in 2003. Since then she has also voiced Takako Kawashima in "Shootfighter Tekken," Matsumoto and various additional characters in ?To Heart,? and Razali, Cindy, Greta, and The Fairy in ?The Third.? In 2006, Michele landed the lead roles, Jessie, May, Misty and Nurse Joy for the Pokémon 10th Anniversary Special, ?The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon,? and continued to voice these characters throughout Season 9 of ?Pokémon, the Battle Frontier.? She has also voiced the characters May, Jessie, and Manaphy for the Pokémon Movie 9, ?Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea.? She voiced Chikorita in the Pokémon Special, ?Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, Team Go-Getters Out of the Gate.? Along with human-speaking characters, she has voiced various Pokémon in the series such as Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Chimecho, Beautifly, Masquerain, Dustox, Cacnea, Seedot and many others. You can catch Michele as May, Jessie, Misty and Nurse Joy at http://www.pokemonlearningleague.com/; an interactive web site dedicated to educating children in Math, Science and Language Arts. In Seasons 10, 11 and 12 of ?Pokémon, Diamond and Pearl,? she returned as Jessie and Nurse Joy as well as the Pokédex, Piplup, and many other Pokémon characters. Michele voiced the Pokémon Trainer, Squirtle and various other Pokémon for the Nintendo Wii video game: ?Super Smash Bros. Brawl.? She has also voiced Ogiue Chika in ?Genshiken,? Koyuki Asagiri in ?Kujibiki Unbalance,? and Chou?un in ?Ikki Tousen.? This is Michele?s third guest appearance at Connection. She can?t wait to meet all the fans throughout the weekend!
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Bill Rogers
Since his debut in Assemble Insert back in 2001, Bill Rogers has been providing voices to some of your favorite characters in some of your favorite shows. If you?ve watched Shingu, KO Beast, His and Her Circumstances, Joe vs. Joe, Madara, To Heart, Kujibiki Unbalance, Gokudo, or Comic Party you?ve probably heard his voice. But he is best known for his work in Gravitation (Touma Seguchi), Boogiepop Phantom (Yamamoto), Genshiken (Tanaka Souichiro), The Third (Kevin) and more recently in Ikki Tousen (Gakushuu). He can also be heard on Saturday mornings as the voice of Brock in Pokémon, (as well as various creatures that appear in that show).
In the world of video games, Bill has lent his voice to the X-Box game Bullet Witch as well as supplying the voices for Red, Yellow and other fun characters in the m&m series for Wii (which games include Adventure, Beach Party and Kart Racing). He has also voiced various Pokémon including Bonsly, Weavile and the legendary Lucario in the Wii smash hit Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Outside of the anime & video game field, Bill works with Ebru TV, supplying English voice acting for a variety of Turkish programming. He also works with the Chase Wilson company, providing work on camera and on microphone for various safety films. You can also see Bill on camera in a number of indy films including the Outworld Entertainment feature ?The Frappinos? which will be released in 2010.
You can find samples of his work at: http://www.youtube.com/billrogersvoice
And you can follow Bill on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/billsvoice/96294771575
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Daniel Kevin Harrison
Daniel Kevin Harrison is an actor, producer, writer and electrical lineman. His anime VA credits include Gokudo, Gravitation, Madara, Shingu, and KO Beast. He has appeared in feature films such as Clint Eastwood's Bird, The Langoliers, and Wake, with Martin Landau and Gale Harold.
Older viewers with especially acute ADD will remember seeing him on LA Law, General Hospital, Santa Barbara, Houston Knights, and The Law and Harry McGraw. Daniel has also developed and produced films based on the Jack McMorrow mystery series, but his REAL passion is standing 100 feet in the air supported by only 2 teeny metal spikes in order to give you the electricity needed to watch your favorite anime!
This is Daniel's fifth appearance at Connecticon, and he encourages all fans to come to his panels and say hi.
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Bettina M Kurkoski
Bettina M. Kurkoski, the creator/writer/artist of My Cat Loki, was born March 26, 1973 in Montague, Massachusetts. Now residing in Plymouth, Mass, where she works as a freelance illustrator thru her business, Dreamworld Studio. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth in 1996 with a BFA in Illustration, she entered TOKYOPOP's Rising Stars of Manga 2 competition in 2003, placing as a runner-up, her work Axis Lumen published in the winners' compilation. My Cat Loki, volumes 1 & 2 now available now from TOKYOPOP, is Bettina's first professionally published series. She has also contributed the convention exclusive cover for Star Trek: TOS manga vol. 1, cover and story art for Star Trek: TOS manga vol. 2, story art for Star Trek: The Next Generation manga vol. 1 and story and art for the Princess Ai/My Cat Loki crossover story in Princess Ai: Encounters, all available from TOKYOPOP. Bettina is currently working on the TOKYOPOP/Harper Collins Seekers manga series based on the best selling Seekers novel series. You can see more of her artwork at www.dreamworldstudio.net.
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