FanCons.ca Press Releases


March 19, 2007

News for AnimeNEXT 2007:

AnimeNEXT announces four more guests

AnimeNEXT is excited to announce Chris Patton, Mike Pollock, Wayne Grayson and Jonathan Klein will be attending AnimeNEXT 2007!

Chris Patton has been working as a voice actor for over nine years, for such companies as ADV Films, FUNImation Entertainment, and Okratron 5000.
His credits include "Fakir" in Princess Tutu, "Greed" in Fullmetal Alchemist, "Sasame" in Pretear, "Sousuke Sagara" in all the Full Metal Panic series, "Creed Diskence" in Black Cat, "Sho Fukamachi" in the new Guyver, "Ikki" in Air Gear, "Nishi" in Gantz, "Oboro" in Utawarerumono, "Eiji" in Gravion and Gravion Zwei, "Hiroki" in The Place Promised in Our Early Days, "Manabu" in Beck, "Ichiro" in Nerima Daikon Brothers, "Hajime" in Ghost Stories, and "Ayato" in RahXephon.
Other credits include Dragonball Z: Tree of Might, Solty Rei, Bubblegum Crisis 2040, Megazone 23, Excel Saga, video game work in Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2(Turles) and Unlimited Saga, and ADR Scriptwriting for Gantz and Gravion Zwei.
Chris is a complete roller coaster freak, having ridden over 85 coasters around the country (and soon the UK!), and is also an electronic music junkie; so much so, in fact, that he recently formed an electropop/dance band called PLID that have played all over Texas and the US, and are starting to get club/ radio play in the electronic underground.

After wasting much of his formative years toiling in local radio, Mike Pollock has now found his one true path: voice acting. His big break came with the kid's video Little Tug's Big Adventure where he narrated and did all the main voices. Mike broke into Anime as Professor Kamo in Demon Fighter Kocho. You may also remember him from such videos as Moon over Tao (Sukiyo), Twin Signal (Professor Otoi), Weiß Kreuz/Knight Hunters (Takitori), and Berserk (Lord Adon). Mike finally broke into television with guest roles in Pokémon and as Arthur Hawkins in Yu-Gi-Oh! Then he landed the coolest gig ever on the Fox Box/4Kids TV as Meat in Ultimate Muscle:The Kinnikuman Legacy, the Mayor and Samo, the bartender, in Kirby: Right Back At Ya!, Garbageman on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dr. Eggman and Ella on Sonic X, and one of the promo announcers. Also, he was eventually cast as the interim narrator in Pokémon. Most recently he's been heard as Langston Lickatoad in Viva Pi-ata on 4Kids TV and as Bonaparte in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX on Cartoon Network. When he's not muttering into a microphone, Mike writes comedy bits and other show prep for morning radio shows nationwide at Dial-Global Radio Networks. And if you've listened closely, you may have heard Mike on radio commercials for TV Land's I Pity the Fool, Verizon, Daffy' s, iN DEMAND and Capalbo's Gift Baskets, and promos for HBO International. Should idle curiosity prompt you to learn more about Mike, please visit his website.

Jonathan Klein is the vice-president, co-founder and co-owner of New Generation Pictures, Inc., a company that has been translating, subtitling and dubbing anime for such major companies as Geneon, Bandai, Urban Vision, Central Park Media, The Right Stuf and TOKYOPOP. During the last Nine years, New Generation Pictures has worked on more than 250 different projects for both U.S. and international release. Jonathan's work has mainly been as the producer of both English dubbed and subtitled versions for anime, including; Hellsing and Hellsing Ultimate, Gun x Sword, Kamichu, R.O.D the TV, DearS, Daphne in the Brillant Blue, The Melody of Oblivion, Ghost Talker Daydream, Ikki Tousen, I My Me! Strawberry Eggs, NieA Under 7, Amazing Nurse Nanako and many other titles. Jonathan also directed the English language versions of Haibane Renmei, Texhnolyze, Melody of Oblivion and Anime Insider Magazine "Best Dub of 2004", Paranoia Agent. His current project is directing the English language version of Ergo Proxy for Geneon. Besides anime, Jonathan has also directed several video game projects for Square Enix and Namco, including Time Crisis 4, Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria, and Romancing Saga and several other games that he hopes he can talk about by the time of this convention. Beyond working as producer and director, Jonathan's responsibilities also include scriptwriting, script adaptation and even working behind the microphone as a voice actor. Jonathan has voice acted in such shows as Ergo Proxy, Rumiko Takahashi Anthology, Kamichu, Girls Bravo, Gun x Sword, Burst Angel and Beck. And for the last 10 years he was a columnist for the Japanese movie magazine, Roadshow where he wrote about the business of the Hollywood film industry. This is his first time attending AnimeNEXT.

Wayne Grayson-Best known as the voice behind Joey on "Yu-Gi-Oh!" and Michelangelo on "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", Wayne's recent and upcoming projects include "GaoGaiGar", "To Heart", "Easter Island" and "The Third". He also regularly appears as Syrus on "Yu-Gi-Oh GX". Past credits include: "Revolutionary Girl Utena", "Sadamitsu the Destroyer", "Ultimate Muscle", "Giant Robo", "Samurai Deeper Kyo", "Pokemon", "Patlabor", "Shaman King", "Animation Runner Kuromi", "The Winx Club", "Princess Natasha", "Kappa Mikey", and various monsters and animals on "Chaotic" and "Viva Pinata". On the commercial end of things, you can hear him touting the virtues of various products on television and radio spots. He's also been a fixture of the NY theatre scene for over 15 years, appearing in several productions with the NY Fringe Festival and other reputable companies. Wayne's a self-professed pop culture junkie, but to this day, he can't understand the appeal of reality television.

AnimeNEXT is the New York City area anime convention. Located at the Meadowlands Expo Center and the Holiday Inn in Secaucus, NJ, AnimeNEXT is only minutes from New York City. AnimeNEXT is July 6-8, 2007. Come out to see the latest anime titles in our 24-hour video rooms, check out the latest manga in our Manga Library, and see what's playing in the video game room. AnimeNEXT will also feature industry guests, voice actors, music videos, anime game shows, artist's alley, the art show, cosplay and a whole lot more. If you want to keep up-to-date with the latest in AnimeNEXT 2007 news, check out our website at www.animenext.org. It is that simple! We'll see you in July!

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