x Featured Contributors | GeekGirlCon

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Featured Contributors

Ashly Burch

Ashly Burch

Ashly Burch is a BAFTA nominated actor and Emmy nominated writer. She is best known as Chloe Price in Life is Strange, Tiny Tina in Borderlands 2, Cassie Cage in Mortal Kombat X, and as the co-star, co-writer and co-creator of the web series Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin’? Burch will be appearing in Q&A with Ashly Burch and Sarah Elmaleh  in Room Tahoma 3/4 – Garnet on Saturday at noon and “Wait…I Know That Voice” in Room Tahoma 3/4 – Garnet on Sunday at 10:30am. Burch will be in the signing area on Level 3 on Saturday from 4 to 5pm.

Bonnie BurtonBonnie Burton

Bonnie Burton is an author who writes about feminism, crafting and pop culture. Her books include The Star Wars Craft Book, Girls against Girls, and Womanthology. Check out her web shows Vaginal Fantasy Book Club Show and Geek DIY. Find her at grrl.com and on Twitter @bonniegrrl. Burton will be appearing in “Crafting with Feminism Workshop: Let’s Make Tampon Buddies!” in Room Chelan 5 – America on Sunday at 11am. Burton will be in the signing area on Level 3 on Saturday from noon to 12:45pm and Sunday from 1 to 1:45pm.

Sarah ElmalehSarah Elmaleh

Sarah Elmaleh is an actor and advocate for games, developers, and games performance. Best known for voicing player character Katie in Gone Home, she can be heard in a wide variety of titles: Galak-Z to Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Gravity Ghost to the upcoming For Honor (as the female Viking Raider.) People have called her ‘the Nolan North of indie games’ or ‘the queen of the Indie MEGABOOTH’ – but she prefers the fan-dubbed title of ‘Sean Bean of Wadjet Eye Games,’ for her many ill-fated appearances with the studio. Elmaleh will be appearing in Q&A with Ashly Burch and Sarah Elmaleh  in Room Tahoma 3/4 – Garnet on Saturday at noon and “Wait…I Know That Voice” in Room Tahoma 3/4 – Garnet on Sunday at 10:30am.

li-kovacsLi Kovacs

Li Kovacs started making her own costumes at a young age and has turned her love of videos games, anime, and nerdy culture into a profession. For over a decade she has been making costumes and modeling professionally for some of the biggest names in the video game industry including PlatinumGames, Koei/Tecmo, and Nintendo. Nintendo recognized Li’s passion for video games and have hired her countless times to bring their iconic characters to life. Her work has won numerous awards and has been featured throughout the world in online and print magazines. She has been invited to dozens of conventions across the globe where she has been a panelist, hosting workshops and judging costume competitions. Li currently resides in Seattle, Washington. You can keep up with her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or at likovacs.com. Kovacs will be a judge in the Cosplay Contest on Saturday at 4pm in Room Tahoma 3/4 – Garnet.

Moxie McGriffNatalie “Moxie Girl” McGriff

Canceled – Natalie “Moxie Girl” McGriff is unable to attend due to hurricane-related travel delays

Natalie “Moxie Girl” McGriff is the 9-year-old co-author of The Adventures of Moxie McGriff, a series of books aimed at teaching young girls of color the importance of loving themselves just as they are. Natalie previously suffered from low self-esteem regarding her hair texture and skin tone. Through encouragement from her family and friends, Natalie is now proud to be herself. She seeks to empower other young girls of color by transforming their “flaws” into super powers! McGriff will be appearing in “Geeky Kids Making Your Mark” in Room Chelan 5 – America on Sunday at 1pm. McGriff will be in the signing area on Level 3 on Saturday from noon to 12:45pm.

michele-morrow-photo-credit-isaac-sterling-featureMichele Morrow

Michele Morrow started her career as a horror movie actress, with more than a dozen titles to her name, and when she made the leap from horror to gaming she quickly rose to the top as one of the most in-demand hosts for video games and nerd culture. Her current resume includes voice acting, podcasting, and hosting one of the biggest eSports events in the country. She is the co-Anchor of Blizzcon 2016, host of Bleacher Report’s daily eSports show “eStream”, co-host of the Status Effect podcast, and voices Gwen in the upcoming Embers of War. Morrow will be appearing in“Wait…I Know That Voice” in Room Tahoma 3/4 – Garnet on Sunday at 10:30am. Morrow will be in the signing area on Level 3 on Saturday from 11 to 11:45am.

jennifer-paz-2012Jennifer Paz

Jennifer Paz can currently be heard as the voice of Lapis Lazuli on 2-time Emmy nominated animated Cartoon Network series Steven Universe. For her work on the ground breaking series, she was honored with a 2014 Behind the Voice Actors Award. Her TV, film and recording credits include Can’t Hardly Wait, Touched by An Angel, Santa with Muscles, and Disney’s The Lost Chords recording series as Cinderella, among others. Jennifer made her professional debut in the Broadway Blockbuster hit musical Miss Saigon where she starred as “Kim” on the 1st National Broadway US Tour. Her Broadway and International Tour credits include Les Miserables (10th Anniversary Broadway cast), The Fantasticks (Singapore Repertory Theatre), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Broadway Asia), and David Henry Hwang’s newly adapted Flower Drum Song (pre-Broadway production, Mark Taper Forum). Jennifer has been a featured soloist with “Do You Hear the People Sing” Dream Concert featuring the music of Golden Globe winning composers Alain Boublil and Claude Michel Schoenberg. Jennifer is a proud Pacific Northwest Native where she has worked locally with the 5th Avenue Theatre in roles such as Cinderella, and the Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. She was last seen in Village Theatre’s acclaimed production of In the Heights. Other Village Theatre credits include Beauty and the Beast, Evita, The Who’s Tommy and The King and I. Jennifer is a proud member of singing group Mama Bares alongside fellow Steven Universe co-star Deedee Magno Hall (voice of Pearl). You can find them on Youtube singing their viral parody hit “Rolls Royce” (Lorde’s “Royals”) and most recently debuted their concert “Mama Bares – Once Upon a Playdate” with Los Angeles based theatre East West Players; the nation’s premier Asian American Theatre organization. Jennifer currently splits her time between Seattle and Los Angeles, where she resides with her partner Anthony Fedorov (“American Idol” Season Four finalist and BMI singer/songwriter) and their son Julian. Follow: @Jennifer_Paz. Paz will be appearing in “Wait…I Know That Voice” in Room Tahoma 3/4 – Garnet on Sunday at 10:30am and “Magic, Music, & Friendship: Steven Universe” in Room Tahoma 3/4 – Garnet on Sunday at 1:30pm. Paz will be in the signing area on Level 3 on Sunday from 3 to 4pm.

Pisara Cosplay

(c) Kyle Mistry

Pisara Cosplay

Pisara has been cosplaying and making costumes since 2008. She specializes in wig styling and crossplaying techniques. Currently, she’s working full-time for Arda Wigs and doing wig commissions for clients around the world. Self-taught in costuming and wig work combines with her Cosmetology School background, Pisara has made over 100 costumes and styled more than 200 wigs for commissions and various established companies. She’s very excited to host an interactive wig workshop at GeekGirlCon and share her knowledge with others. When not working on wigs or catching up on anime, Pisara enjoys cooking, drawing, and singing in the shower. You can learn more about her by browsing her Instagram for her wig work, food pics, and cosplay/fashion posts. Pisara will be a judge in the Cosplay Contest on Saturday at 4pm in Room Tahoma 3/4 – Garnet.

SammusSAMMUS

SAMMUS is an Ithaca, New York-based rapper and producer. Her production is characterized by her use of uniquely chopped samples, and video game-like synths. She has been called a “20-credit” rapper because of her smart lyrics, diverse subject matter and versatile flow. Visit www.sammusmusic.com for more info. Sammus will be appearing in “The Women of Nerdcore” panel in Room Tahoma 3/4 – Garnet on Sunday at 12pm. Sammus will be in the signing area on Level 3 on Sunday from 10 to 11am.

Kiki WolfkillKiki Wolfkill

Kiki Wolfkill heads up 343 Industries’ transmedia and entertainment efforts. She served as Executive Producer on the digital series “Halo: The Fall of Reach”, “Halo: Nightfall”, the upcoming Halo television series, as well as the Halo Channel experience on Xbox One, PC, and mobile platforms. As a passionate storyteller both in and out of games, Kiki brings together her production background and her creative leadership to deliver on the next chapter in Halo’s expansive universe. Kiki joined 343 Industries in 2009 as Executive Producer and was responsible for building the internal “Halo 4” game team and shipping “Halo 4. An industry veteran of nearly 20 years, Kiki’s career in games began in the visual arts, where she eventually became Director of Art of Microsoft Studios. Her past credits include the Project Gotham Racing and Forza Motorsport franchises, as well as classics like Fable, Crackdown, Gears of War, and Mass Effect. In 2013, Kiki was named one of the 10 Most Powerful Women in Gaming by Fortune Magazine. Wolfkill will be appearing in “Journey into the Gaming Industry” in Room Tahoma 3/4 – Garnet on Saturday at 12pm.

cheyenne-wiseCheyenne Jaz Wise

It wasn’t until Cheyenne Jaz Wise accompanied some friends to her first comic book convention as a film student in 2009 that she caught the cosplay bug. a third generation seamstress with a love of comic books and character acting, it was the perfect fit for her quirky mixture of interests. She immediately began to tailor her studies to focus more on costuming, taking a mixture of fashion, theater, and prop classes in order to hone her skills.

Ever since she made her first full cosplays in the summer of 2013 after graduation, Cheyenne has credited cosplay with some of the best moments in her life. It’s given her confidence, helped her through hard times, and given her opportunities to make people smile. Her costumes have been recognized both with awards in cosplay competitions, and recognition from original creators such as Bruce Campbell and George Perez. The approval that she says is the most important, however, is the joy she sees on children’s faces when she makes cosplay appearances with critical care comics, a Las Vegas based Charity group that brings comic books and smiles to hospitalized children. As much impact as Cosplay has had in her life, she hopes to keep improving and growing and bring the joy it gives her to others. Wise will be a judge in the Cosplay Contest on Saturday at 4pm in Room Tahoma 3/4 – Garnet.

Women of Pixar

The Women of Pixar panel will be located in room Tahoma 3/4 – Garnet on Saturday at 1:30pm. 

jude-brownbill-pixarJude Brownbill

Jude Brownbill joined Pixar Animation Studios in May 2010 as an animator on the feature film Cars 2. She has since worked on the short film Riley’s First Date, and features Brave, Inside Out, Monsters University, and The Good Dinosaur. She is currently a directing animator on Disney•Pixar’s upcoming feature film Cars 3. Prior to Pixar, Brownbill was a supervising animator on the British television series Kerwizz and Stitch Up Showdown. Raised in Somerset, England, Brownbill earned a BA in Computer Visualization and Animation from Bournemouth University in Dorset, England.

Yun Lien Yun Lien

Yun Lien joined Pixar Animation Studios in October 2005, working on the animation software for Brave. In 2010, she moved to the Render Pipeline Group and has worked on all of the studio’s films since then, including Monsters University, Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur, and Finding Dory. Prior to Pixar, Lien held various positions at several different startups and Oracle, growing into an Engineering Manager position. Raised in Newton, MA, she graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Computer Science and minor in Music. Lien currently resides in Berkeley, CA.

angelique-reisch-pixarAngelique Reisch

Angelique Reisch started at Pixar Animation Studios in 2004 as an intern on Cars. She soon began working in lighting for Ratatouille, and continued as a key lighting artist and lighting technical director on Cars 2, Monsters University, Up, WALL•E, and Brave. Most recently she served as the character lighting lead on Inside Out. She is currently working on an upcoming Pixar project. Raised in Houston, TX, Reisch earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Science and a Master’s of Visualization Sciences from Texas A&M University. She currently resides in Walnut Creek, CA.

trina-roy-pixarTrina Roy

Roy’s obsession with graphics in early music videos inspired her to leave her hometown of Seattle and head to Chicago to study VR and Scientific Visualization. The physics experience landed her a job writing simulation code for a little movie about a big green ogre named Shrek. Since then she’s worked on eleven different movies including Harry Potter, The Dark Knight, and Inception. Trina’s back in the world of animation as a Senior Engineer on Pixar’s RenderMan software team. When she’s not making pixels dance you’ll find Trina drinking excessive amounts of coffee or hiking in the Cascades.

 becki-tower-pixarBecki Tower

Becki Tower joined Pixar Animation Studios in June 2008 and worked as an animator on Up, Toy Story 3, Brave, The Good Dinosaur, and Finding Dory. She animated content for the Ratatouille theme park ride in Paris, and promotional materials for Monsters University. She is currently working on Cars 3 (June 2017). Prior to Pixar, Tower worked on Horton Hears A Who at Blue Sky Studios and Guitar Hero 3 on Neversoft Entertainment. Raised in Wrentham, MA, she graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design with a BFA in Computer Art and also an MFA in Computer Animation.

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