Beau Billingslea

Beau Billingslea

does it all: television, films, stage, radio, and video games.

In the world of anime, Beau has voiced a multitude of characters including Jet Black in COWBOY BEBOP, Ogremon, Sagitarimon and Parrotmon in DIGIMON, Michael in ARGENT SOMA, Woolly Mammoth in DINO-ZAURS, and Bear in RAVE MASTER. He narrates for The History Channel, the series DANGEROUS MISSIONS and HERO SHIPS), and has done numerous radio and television commercials (on-and off-camera), not to mention video games (including SAFARI, OUTLAWS, DYNASTY WARRIORS, ZINO, BREAKDOWN, ACE COMBAT 5).

Beau’s career in show business began in New York when he was cast in the National tour of The Great White Hope. His stage work includes MacBeth, Emperor Jones, Bell, Book and Candle, Street Scene, Dracula, A Christmas Carol, Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest (LA Shakespeare Festival), Detective Story at the Ahmanson Theatre, with Charlton Heston, and Driving Miss Daisy (for which he was nominated for an Ovation Award in 2005).

Beau is currently shooting the second season of the Nickelodeon series JUST JORDAN, playing the family patriarch, Papa Grant. His television credits include guest starring roles on WEST WING, JAG, THE DISTRICT, THE DIVISION, NYPD BLUE, TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL, MURDER SHE WROTE, BAYWATCH, MATLOCK, FAMILY LAW (recurring as Judge Harrington), 7TH HEAVEN, WALKER TEXAS RANGER, PROFILER, MAD ABOUT YOU, MURPHY BROWN, DIAGNOSIS MURDER, MARRIED WITH CHILDREN, EVENING SHADE, and many others. He appeared for two years on GENERAL HOSPITAL as Russell Stern and for six years as attorney Arthur Sturgis on DIVORCE COURT.

The most notable television movies and mini-series Beau has appeared in are GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN, SILENT PREDATORS, PENTAGON WARS, TO LIVE AGAIN, GEORGE WALLACE, TERROR IN THE FAMILY, ARMED AND INNOCENT, and NORTH AND SOUTH, BOOK II.

Beau’s film credits include HALLOWEEN H20, MY FAVORITE MARTIAN, LEPRECHAUN (6th) IN THE HOOD, THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT, GALE FORCE, FINAL VOYAGE, FINAL JUSTICE, OUT FOR BLOOD, NIGHT SHIFT, TEN TO MIDNIGHT, REAL GENIUS, THE BLOB, IN THE ARMY NOW and SURFACE TO AIR, to mention a few.

Beau is a graduate of the University of Connecticut where he was co-captain of the football team. He received a Juris Doctorate from the University of Connecticut, School of Law and practiced criminal law. He is a Vietnam era veteran having served 6 years in the U.S. Army.

Steve Blum

Steve Blum

A veteran of the voice-over business, Steve Blum cut his vocal teeth in the industry, on anime shows like GUYVER and GIANT ROBO, and since has voiced hundreds of diverse characters in productions representing every media imaginable!

Steve's training was highly unorthodox by industry standards. Before voice acting became a full-time profession, Steve worked in a book store, a pet store, an auto-parts store, serviced fire protection equipment, ran a mailroom, drove a delivery truck, managed warehouses, became an international film and video sales/service coordinator, copywriter and marketing executive for a sci-fi film company, an ADR script writer, part-time musician...

As one of animation's most credited and sought-after voice actors, Steve is currently in production playing the lead role in Marvel’s new original animated series WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN, and voicing the characters Chameleon and Green Goblin in the new SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN series on the CW. Best known as Spike from COWBOY BEBOP THE MOVIE, Tom (the robot) from Cartoon Network’s TOONAMI, Roger Smith from BIG O, Flamedramon, Guilmon, Falcomon and a pile of other… well… “mons” (kids and bad guys too) from 4 seasons of DIGIMON, …the voice of 7-11, Zabuza and Orochimaru from NARUTO, Moses, Collins and others from BLOOD PLUS, Jamie from MEGAS XLR, Heatblast, Vilgax and Ghostfreak from the CN series BEN10 and Blunk in the Disney series W.I.T.C.H… and far too many more to mention here.

In the game world, he’s played Vincent Valentine from FINAL FANTASY, CRASH BANDICOOT, Pitfall Harry, Ethan Hunt, Wolverine, Jabba the Hutt, dozens of Stormtroopers and other characters from STAR WARS, Orks, Elves and Dwarves from LORD OF THE RINGS, Ares, the God of War, Rhino and Venom from SPIDERMAN, CAPTAIN AMERICA, Brutes from HALO 3, Jack Shepard from LOST THE VIDEO GAME and many many others.

Stay tuned… this bigmouth has only just begun to spew!

For a complete listing of Steve Blum’s impressive portfolio, please visit his listing at The Internet Movie Database.

Richard Epcar

Richard Epcar

is very well known to Anime fans, starting with the original ROBOTECH series – in which he played Ben Dixon, Lunk, and Gruel. Most recently he can be heard as BOBOBO-BO BO-BOBO on Cartoon Network, which he also helps write and direct. He is extremely well-known as Batou in the GHOST IN THE SHELL movie, CD Rom game and is now playing Batou in the series, GHOST IN THE SHELL: STAND ALONE COMPLEX, G.I.T.S.: S.A.C. - 2nd GIG and G.I.T.S.: S.A.C. - SOLID STATE SOCIETY. He also wrote-directed and did the voice of Batou in GHOST IN THE SHELL 2: INNOCENCE. He was Guld Goa Bowman in MACROSS PLUS and Mac in TEKNOMAN, which he also wrote and directed. He wrote for TRANSFORMERS: ROBOTS IN DISGUISE and did the voice of Armorhide. He’s directing the new LUPIN THE THIRD series and does the voice of Jigen. He just did the lead in two new original animated shows, ROBOTECH: THE SHADOW CHRONICLES, which he also directed and Morocco in the original series, AVENGING APES OF AFRICA. He just directed an original animated movie with an all star cast – SHARKBAIT, in which he plays Moe.

He wrote and directed into English AZUMI, FEARLESS with Jet Li, PATLABOR III, THE RETURNER, OMYOJI, THE SECRET OF MAMO, TOY WARRIOR, FIGHTING SPIRIT- doing the voice of Kamogawa, and directed the CGI series ZENTRIX. Richard has also performed in roles from LAIN, SERIAL EXPERIMENT, TRIGUN, WINGS OF HONNEAMISE, FIST OF THE NORTH STAR, FUSHIGI YUUGI as Mitsukake, CAPT. HARLOCK, NINJA SCROLL, STEROKO, BASTARD, STREET FIGHTER, DAIGUNDER, GTO, SAMURI X, RUROUNI KENSHIN as Seijuro Hiko, MACRON, MACROSS I, II, III, MACROSS PLUS, GUNDAM, MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM, WITCH HUNTER ROBIN, RACER X IN THE NEW SPEED RACER, COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO and CYBER SOLDIER 009 – as Black Ghost, to name just a few.

He was named ‘Favorite Actor’ by DVDVisionJapan.

Not many people know that he directed the first season of DIGIMON and did three lead voices on that show, including Etemon, Myotismon and Apemon. He also wrote and directed and did lead voices on several animated series, including, NOEIN, EAGLE RIDERS, FLINT THE TIME DETECTIVE, MON COLLE KNIGHTS and directed ADR for POWER RANGERS, and many, many other anime shows too numerous to mention.

Some of the games you’ve heard him on are: STAR WARS: EMPIRE AT WAR, KINGDOM HEARTS 2, XENOSAGA I, II AND III as Ziggarat 8 or Ziggy, BLACK HAWK DOWN, ROBOTECH: INVASION, SAMURAI WARRIORS, DYNASTY WARRIORS, WARCRAFT III, JADE CACOON, GALERIANS, STREET FIGHTERS, STAR OCEAN 3, PLUS SHADOW HEARTS II AND LUPIN III which he also directed. He is starting work voice directing on a huge game – SMACK DOWN vs. RAW 2007 in which he will travel all over the U.S. directing the Super-Stars of Wrestling.

His television career includes recurring characters on daytime shows such as DAYS OF OUR LIVES, GENERAL HOSPITAL, and SANTA BARBARA. In primetime and syndicated television, he’s done several shows, including COLUMBO, DIAGNOSIS MURDER, GUNS OF PARADISE, BEVERLY HILLS 90210, MATLOCK, WHO’S THE BOSS?, CHEERS and BABYLON 5.

On film he co-starred in MEMOIRS OF AN INVISIBLE MAN with Chevy Chase and Sam Neill, and just starred in a short film entitled, THREESOME. Live action feature films that he has adapted and directed into English include many, many foreign films, including Academy Award winners CINEMA PARADISO, BELLE EPOQUE, EAT, DRINK, MAN, WOMAN and WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN, FENCING MASTER, WIDOW OF ST. PIERRE, AMORES PERROS, MISSION KASHMIR, THE EMPEROR AND THE ASSASSIN, OLDBOY and SHIRI, to name a few.

Richard has also done tons of voice work on many television shows and film, including GILMORE GIRLS, JAG, DEVIL’S REJECTS, DIAGNOSIS MURDER, XENA, HERCULES, GLADIATOR, INDEPENDENCE DAY, INSPECTOR GADGET, SEVEN, RUMBLE IN THE BRONX, MAN IN THE IRON MASK, ROUNDERS, CRIME STORY, HELL RAISER III & IV, HARD TARGET, OPERATION CONDOR, HOPALONG CASSIDY, ER, NASH BRIDGES, BABYLON 5, and many others.

As an International Supervisor for Universal Pictures and DreamWorks, Richards work has taken him all over the world supervising the foreign dubs and mixes of feature films such as: GLADIATOR, MADAGASCAR, GALAXY QUEST, CHICKEN RUN, EL DORADO and the 20th Anniversary release of E.T. .

With even more credits in in animation, video games, television and directing that are just too numerous to continue listing here, MechaCon is extremely honored and piveleged to welcome back Richard Epcar as a special guest at MechaCon this August.

Melissa Fahn

Melissa Fahn

is an amazing, multi-talented actress, singer, and dancer known primarily for her work in anime dubs and other mainstream animated television series, as well as her work in Broadway and Los Angeles Theatre.

Melissa Fahn grew up in Southern California. Her father worked in television production, giving her and her three older brothers (actors Tom Fahn and Jonathan Fahn and jazz trombonist Michael Fahn) performance experience while they were young. Melissa started singing and dancing at the age of three; she made her musical theater debut at age twelve and was privately trained in acting, dancing, and singing.

She majored in dance at Cal State Long Beach but left after one year to devote her time to work and theater. At her job as a receptionist, her voice caught the attention of a casting director for a new BETTY BOOP featurette. Melissa has since voiced many animated characters including Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tirvrusky IV of COWBOY BEBOP, Tachikoma of GHOST IN THE SHELL: SAC, Gaz of INVADER ZIM, Rika of DIGIMON TAMERS, Kristy Daimon of DIGIMON DATA SQUAD, Ray of EUREKA 7, Kitty in HELLO KITTY'S PARADISE, Tia of ZATCH BELL, Haruka Kaminogi of NOEIN, Kanako Urashima of LOVE HINA AGAIN, Sora Hasegawa of AH! MY GODDESS: THE MOVIE, and many more.

Melissa has also voiced characters in several video games. She provided the voice of Sara Trantoul in CASTLEVANIA: LAMENT OF INNOCENCE, Charlotte Aulin in CASTLEVANIA: PORTRAIT OF RUIN, Rika Nonaka in DIGIMON RUMBLE ARENA, Conchita in GOD HAND, Okuni in SAMURAI WARRIORS, Asia, Fiore,and Gob Princess in WILD ARMS 4, and Tia in ZATCH BELL! MAMODO BATTLES and ZATCH BELL! MAMODO FURY.

She has performed in Los Angeles, Denver, Paris, Avignon (France), and elsewhere in shows including Hal Prince's 3HREE, GILLIGAN'S ISLAND THE MUSICAL, and the rock-opera VOX LUMIERE. She was nominated for a Denver Critics Circle Award as Best Actress in a Musical for her performance as Maria in WEST SIDE STORY. Stephen Schwartz invited her to join a workshop of his new musical WICKED; after a trial production in San Francisco, she performed eight nights a week in the Broadway ensemble and was the understudy for Glinda and providing the pivotal silhouette of Dorothy. Most recently, she has performed as Tillie in the Los Angeles Musical Theatre Guild’s production of the musical murder mystery REDHEAD, and as Marty in the Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities' production of GREASE.

In addition to her acting abilities, Melissa has an enchanting musical voice. Melissa's debut CD AVIGNON is out now, and she has agreed to do a special musical performance for us on Saturday night at MechaCon! The concert will be open to all attendees. More information on the concert will be up on our events page soon. This will definitely be a can't miss event! To hear some clips of Melissa Fahn's CD AVIGNON, or to find out how to order it, visit her webpage at www.melissafahn.com.

Carl Macek

Carl Macek

has been involved with various forms of entertainment media since the mid-1970’s. Graduating college with a degree in “The Theory and Criticism of the Visual Media” his career began as a journalist and West Coast editor for several publications but he soon he moved into marketing and promotional co-ordination. Starting with grassroots promotional work on milestone films such as STAR WARS and ALIEN, he eventually divided his time between development and promotional efforts for companies such as MGM and Columbia Pictures and worked for numerous industry icons including Dino Di Laurentiis and Ivan Reitman. Along the way, Macek wrote or co-edited several books on filmmaking. Eventually he became a “genre expert” specializing in science fiction and animation.

In 1984, Macek began his association with Japanese animation. He worked with Harmony Gold, U.S.A. to develop the groundbreaking anime series ROBOTECH that has been credited with igniting the still growing anime movement outside of Japan. Following his success with ROBOTECH, Macek began working for D.I.C. to develop original animation and merchandising properties. This led to his association with John Kricfalusi and later Bill Kroyer. Macek worked with Kroyer as a writer/producer and then split off with Kricfalusi to start an independent animation studio that later became Spumco.

In 1988/89 Macek joined with Jerry Beck to create Streamline Pictures – a distribution company dedicated to bringing Japanese animation into North America. After a few years, Beck left to pursue other opportunities in animation, but Macek and Streamline continued bringing such classic anime films as AKIRA, VAMPIRE HUNTER D, FIST OF THE NORTH STAR, ROBOT CARNIVAL and WICKED CITY (among others) into theaters, television broadcast and home video for over a decade. One of his most enduring projects during this period was the English-language adaptation of the Miyazaki classic MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO.

In the late 1990’s, Macek returned to original animation production and was instrumental in developing several projects (HEAVY METAL 2000 and later LADY DEATH). However, he still maintains his interest in anime. Most recently, he has adapted, produced and directed English-language versions of Tomino’s classic 49-episode fantasy AURA BATTLER DUNBINE. He continues to adapt Japanese anime for the North American market – most recently with GALAXY RAILWAY, NARUTO, BLEACH and KYO KARA MAOH!

Currently, Macek has been working in on a slate of original projects as well, including: WAR EAGLES – a novel inspired by Marian C. Cooper’s unrealized masterpiece set just prior to the start of World War II; THE D’ARC; GIRL IN THE IVORY TOWER and several others. Creating strong compelling stories and unforgettable characters is the hallmark of Macek’s unique brand of storytelling.

His efforts and output have been both praised and criticized with equal zeal over the years. But one undeniable fact remains – the current acceptance and growth of Anime would certainly be different had it not been for Macek’s groundbreaking work bringing Japanese animation to the largest possible audience.

Mary Elizabeth McGlynn

Mary Elizabeth McGlynn

has been involved in almost every aspect of Anime and the gaming world as a voice over actress, writer, singer and ADR director. As an actress, she portrayed Major Motoko Kusanagi in GHOST IN THE SHELL 2: INNOCENCE, GHOST IN THE SHELL: STAND ALONE COMPLEX, G.I.T.S.: S.A.C. - 2nd GIG and G.I.T.S.: S.A.C. - SOLID STATE SOCIETY for which she won the first ever American Anime Award for Best Actress. She is also well-known for voicing many diverse roles such as Kurenai from NARUTO , Julia and Twinkle Maria Murdock from COWBOY BEBOP, Helba and Bordeau from .HACK, Jagura from WOLF'S RAIN and Caroline from VAMPIRE HUNTER D, among others.

As a director, Mary Elizabeth is currently directing all things NARUTO for Viz Media, Bandai Namco and Cartoon Network which includes the NARUTO series, the NARUTO: ULTIMATE NINJA and NARUTO: CLASH OF NINJA games and NARUTO: THE MOVIE. Among her many other directing credits are COWBOY BEBOP the series, COWBOY BEBOP: KNOCKIN’ ON HEAVEN’S DOOR, WOLF’S RAIN, DIGIMON TAMERS, DIGIMON FRONTIER and the movie APPLESEED. She was also a co-writer for the American adaptation of METROPOLIS.

Mary Elizabeth has had the great honor of singing the music of Akira Yamaoka for the movie SILENT HILL as well as the games: SILENT HILL 3, 4, 5 and ORIGINS. For the gaming world she has directed the voice work for SOUL CALIBUR LEGENDS, RESIDENT EVIL: UMBRELLA CHRONICLES, DEVIL MAY CRY 3, 3.5 and 4, SPYHUNTER, TOKOBOTS, NINJA GAIDEN, CASTLEVANIA 1 and 2, DRAKENGARD as well as many other titles coming soon!

Ellyn Stern

Ellyn Stern

started in anime with the original ROBOTECH series – in which she played several characters. Most recently she can be heard as Marumaru’s Mom and Jiro’s Mom in BLUE DRAGON, Yu’s Mom on NOEIN and Jack’s Mom in MAR. She can be heard in several of the lead voices in ABC’s UGLY BETTY telenova’s. She voiced Haraway in GHOST IN THE SHELL 2: INNOCENCE. She played Rosalind in ARMITAGE III, Himeno in FIGHT!! SPIRIT OF THE SWORD, Sayaka in METAL FIGHTER MIKU, Moru in VAMPIRE PRINCESS MIYU and Hiroshi’s Mom in ZENKI. Other credits include voice work in ZENTRIX, MINI PATO, DIGIMON, BOBOBO-BO BO-BOBO and Parome in GENMA WARS, as well as several roles in MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM - THE MOVIE TRILOGY, LUPIN THE THIRD, PATLABOR 3, and FIGHTING SPIRIT, to name just a few.

Her other animation work includes WINGS OF HONNEAMISE, SAMURAI X, THE LITTLE PUNK, HONEY BEE HUTCH, WISDOM OF THE GNOMES, MACROSS I, II, III, TOM SAWYER, CAPTAIN SCHNAUZER, GIGI and many others.

She can also be heard on the video game SHADOW HEARTS II as Veronica Vera and other characters as well as on BUSHIDO BLADE 2.. AERO WINGS 1 & 2, JADE CACOON, SUPER MAGNETIC NEO and GALERIANS are games she voiced as well as directed. Other CD-Rom games include INHERIT THE EARTH and ABBY.

Ellyn has directed PUT A MAN IN YOUR LIFE and BETWEEN YOUR LEGS. She has co-directed BELLE EPOQUE, SNOWBALL, EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN, THE LAST EMPEROR, MARCELLINO BREAD AND WINE and SUPERWIFE.

On film she is set to star in A DOLL’S LIFE, beginning in June 2007.  She has also recently shot two pilots, RN’S, and EDEN. She also starred in JESSIE’S GIRLS, co-starred in DUCHESS AND THE DIRTWATER FOX, FATAL CHARM, and PRISONER IN THE MIDDLE (aka WARHEAD). On television she’s done numerous shows such as AMERICAN CARROTT and CHARLIE’S ANGELS, as well as recurring characters on GENERAL HOSPITAL, SANTA BARBARA and DAYS OF OUR LIVES.

Ellyn has also voiced lead voices in many live action feature films that have been adapted into English including Academy Award winners CINEMA PARADISO, BELLE EPOQUE, EAT, DRINK, MAN, WOMAN, KIKA, MOSTLY MARTHA, WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN, FENCING MASTER, WIDOW OF ST. PIERRE, AMORES PERROS, MISSION KASHMIR, IRON MONKEY, THE EMPEROR AND THE ASSASSIN, ONMYOJI-YING-YANG MASTERS, LE FEMME NIKITA, TAE GUK GI, BABBETTE’S FEAST and SHIRI, among others.

She recently starred with her husband, Richard Epcar, in the hit play RUMORS by Neil Simon at Theatre 40 in Beverly Hills. They also starred in an episode of CLEAN SWEEP together. In November, she re-created her role as Jacqueline Kennedy at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, in WE’LL NEVER BE YOUNG AGAIN, the story of JFK’s assassination, in which the horror of that day is recalled.

Tommy Yune

Tommy Yune

has worked for over a decade in the comic book and video game industries. His early game development experience includes character design of the pioneering 3D fighting game FX FIGHTER for the Nintendo SuperFX chip and conceptual design of the award-winning JOURNEYMAN PROJECT series. He also wrote and illustrated hit comic book titles such as SPEED RACER, RACER X, ROBOTECH, and DANGER GIRL: KAMIKAZE which were published by DC Comics' Wildstorm and Cliffhanger labels. His first work in feature animation was creating the computer-generated opening sequence of Kevin Altieri's GEN13.

Tommy grew up on a steady diet of anime, watching as much PRINCE PLANET, GATCHAMAN and CASSHAN as he could in Asia and the United States. Then he shunned television and went back to being a responsible student to the delight of his parents. However, right before entering the UCLA School of Engineering, ROBOTECH brought anime back into his life and he eventually found himself at the ArtCenter College of Design instead. His parents wept.

Tommy first worked in an official capacity for the ROBOTECH universe by helping design Robotech.com for its launch in 2001. He has since become Harmony Gold's creative director and oversees new development, including ROBOTECH: THE SHADOW CHRONICLES which completed production in 2006.

His recent work can been seen on Robotech.com

With production of ROBOTECH: SHADOW RISING well underway, team MechaCon is biting at the bit to hear what ROBOTECH goodness Tommy will bring to whet fans' appetites next August!