Broward Anime Festival announces additional guests
Fort Lauderdale, FL - Anime Supercon's "Broward Anime Festival" (B.A.F.) is a 3 day festival for fans of Anime, Cosplay, Manga, Video Games and Comic Books taking place February 6-8, 2009 at The Inverrary Resort: 3501 Inverrary Blvd., Ft. Lauderdale FL. 33319.
The Broward Anime Festival is proud to announce the additions of several new guests to its growing line up of stars, including superstar voice actor Billy West, Cosplay superstar Yaya Han, Entertainment/Cosplay guest C.J. "Kefka" Collins and Entertainment guest Stephanie Chateau.
Billy West joins us as our Guest of Honor for the event. Mr. West is known around the world for his roles in Futurama (The voices of Philip J. Fry, Prof. Hubert Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg and Zapp Brannigan), The Ren and Stimpy Show (The voices of Ren and Stimpy), Doug (The voice of Doug) and as the voices of Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd in over a dozen Looney Tunes films.
Over his career Mr. West has been the voice talent for close to 120 different characters including some of the most iconic animated figures in television history. He has become one of few voice actors who can impersonate Mel Blanc in his prime, including characterizations of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd and other characters from Warner Bros. cartoons. Mr. West provided the voice of Stimpy in Nickelodeon's The Ren and Stimpy Show from 1991 until 1996, and he provided the voice of Ren from 1993-1996 (after Ren's original voice John Kricfalusi left the show). Mr. West's most notable work is as the star of Futurama for it's entire television run as well as the recent direct to video films and as the voice of Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd in the 1996 movie Space Jam. He reprised the role of Bugs and Fudd in subsequent Looney Tunes feature-length films and even returned as Fudd in the theatrically-released Looney Tunes: Back in Action. In 1998, West starred in Scooby Doo on Zombie Island as Shaggy, becoming the second person to portray the character (the first being Casey Kasem). In 2004, West voiced the classic character Popeye in the 75th anniversary film Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy, and made his live-action film debut in Mark Hamill's Comic Book: The Movie. Other films featuring West's vocal talents include Joe's Apartment, Cats and Dogs, Olive: The Other Reindeer and three Tom & Jerry direct-to-video movies.
Yaya Han joins us as our Cosplay Guest of Honor for the event. Over the past eight years, Yaya Han has made a name for herself in the world of cosplay and costuming. To this day, she has made over 75 costumes, with more to come. Her intricate and lavish creations have won awards and acclaim worldwide. She has participated in convention and cosplay activities in five countries, and shared her knowlege as an invited guest.
Joining Mr. West and Ms. Han as new additions to the B.A.F. guest line up are Entertainment and Cosplay guests C.J. Collins (aka YouTube Kefka) and Stephanie Chateau (Producer of Concept Galaxy). C.J. Collins will be attending Supercon's Broward Anime Festival to film some new material for his popular YouTube channel lolfilmworks ( http://www.youtube.com/user/lolfilmworks ). Assisting him will be Concept Galaxy ( www.conceptgalaxy.com ) producer Stephanie Chateau, who will also be spending the weekend with C.J. producing his videos as well as scouting the con for new cosplay talent to showcase in future productions.
The current guest line-up for B.A.F. now includes:
Billy West: Broward Anime Festival Guest of Honor. Star of Futurama (The voices of Philip J. Fry, Prof. Hubert Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg and Zapp Brannigan), The Ren and Stimpy Show (The voices of Ren and Stimpy), Doug (The voice of Doug) and as the voices of Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd in over a dozen Looney Tunes films.
Yaya Han: Broward Anime Festival Cosplay Guest of Honor. Over the past eight years, Yaya Han has made a name for herself in the world of cosplay and costuming. To this day, she has made over 75 costumes, with more to come. Her intricate and lavish creations have won awards and acclaim worldwide. She has participated in convention and cosplay activities in five countries, and shared her knowlege as an invited guest.
Stephanie Sheh: Stephanie Ru-Phan Sheh (born April 10, 1977 in Los Angeles, California) is a Chinese-American voice actress, a writer, and a story editor. She is also credited as Jennifer Sekiguchi, Tiffany Hsieh, Lulu Chiang, and Laura Chyu. As Jennifer Sekiguchi, she has been honored with a nomination for "Best Voice Actress in an Anime Comedy" by the American Anime Awards for her work in Girls Bravo and Haré+Guu. Stephanie has a ridiculously huge body of work. Some of her main roles include: Naruto (Hinata Hyuga, Naruto Uzumaki's Sexy Jutsu, Kin Tsuchi, and Hanabi Hyuga), Bleach (Orihime Inoue, Isane Kotetsu, Yoshi), Code Geass:20Lelouch of the Rebellion (Kaguya Sumeragi, Anya Alstreim), The Prince of Tennis (Tomoka Osakada, Nanako Meino, An Tachibana), Tengen Toppa (Gurren Lagann, Kinon Bachika), Zatch Bell! (Shion Hibiki, Penny).
Sophie Mcnutt: Sophie McNutt, Director of FUNImation's Operation Anime, will be representing FUNImation Entertainment at B.A.F. Ms. McNutt will be hosting various panels to discuss a w ide array topics such as the current state of the anime industry, upcoming titles, running local anime clubs, and more!
C.J. Collins: Best known as the You Tube Kefka, C.J. Collins will be attending B.A.F. to film some new material for his popular YouTube channel lolfilmworks. ( http://www.youtube.com/user/lolfilmworks )
Stephanie Chateau: Producer of Concept Galaxy ( www.conceptgalaxy.com ), Stephanie Chateau will be at B.A.F. assisting C.J. Collins in the production of his new videos and will also be spending the weekend scouting the con for new cosplay talent to show case in future productions.
Plus: Brian Boling (Propmaster/Cosplay Guest), Deleon Walters (Artist), Joel Estrada (Artist), Manny Aquilera (Artist), Jiro Tamase (Artist), The Earth Dies Screaming (Musical Guest), Stonefox (Musical Guest), Nakia Mann (Artist), Patrick Baker (Artist) and MANY, MANY more to be announced!
The event will include celebrity guests, console video gaming, L.A.N. gaming, tabletop gaming, card gaming, artists, writers, vendors, industry guests, Q&A's, parties, costume contests, anime programming, manga, cosplay, workshops, panels, cosplay photo shoots, dance parties, tournaments and more! Some of the main events planned include a Friday night "Mardi Gras Ball", Costume Competition with over $2,000 in cash and prizes to be awarded, Saturday night "Till Death Do Us Part" Valentines Ball, The Supercon Vendor Fashion show, Karaoke, Sunday afternoon Gothic Lolita Tea Party, Cosplay Competition, Pocky Eating contest, Late Night "Club B.A.F." dance party Friday and Saturday night and multiple photo shoots. More events are in the planning stages and will be announced soon!
The convention hours of operation are:
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6: 5:00PM - 2:00AM
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7: 11:00AM - 2:00AM
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 8: 11:00AM - 6:00PM
For more information and updates: visit www.animesupercon.com
B.A.F. Tickets are currently available online and will be available at the show.
General A dmission (3) Day Weekend Pass
$25 if reserved before January 15, 2009
$30 if reserved after January 15, 2009
$35 at the door
Single Day passes are available online and at the show for Friday ($20), Saturday ($25) and Sunday ($20)
Children under 10 years old are FREE when accompanied by a paid adult.
Parents accompanying children over 10 years old are eligible for a Parents ticket (which provides a $10 discount)
Military, Police and Firefighters get a $10 per ticket discount.
VIP Tickets are available for $100
Vendor and Artist space in now available and information is online at http://animesupercon.com/VENDORS.html
About Supercon Conventions
Supercon Conventions is the organizer of South Florida's largest genre conventions, including Florida Supercon, Anime Supercon and The Broward Anime Festival. Founded in 2006, Supercon Conventions is run by lifelong fans of Comic Books, Anime, Animation, Cosplay, Science Fiction, Horror and Video Games with the goal to provide the most entertaining and educational experience possible. For more information visit www.floridasupercon.com or www.animesupercon.com