My goodness, it's been too long hasn't it!

Well, what better way to post a new blog post than to announce a freshly renovated website, tons of extra features and a brand new creative project!

First up, we have the new website itself. After an unfortunate incident involving myself and HTML, my old template was rendered useless and I had to re-build it. However, this gave me the opportunity to update the tired images, freshen up the information and add a couple of new pages.

The most notable additions are the Gallery and expanded "About" pages.

The Gallery is a collection of behind the scene photos from the various projects I've worked on over the last nine months. From bloody soldier zombies, to interviews with gaming legends, there's loads of cool shots in there and I'd love for you guys to check it out.

I've also re-vamped my "About" section. Now you'll find a Personal Bio, a Previous Work section and a new page talking about my latest creative project "LeLattè". The Personal Bio page is similar to the one before and focuses on me, my history and my interests. "Previous Work" is a collection of the theatre, screen and presenting work I've done in the past and features some photos and information. Finally the "LeLattè" page explains a little about what the project is, who the main character is and where you can check it out!

LeLattè is something I'm really excited about, and already very proud of. Not only is the comic brought to life by Nina-Serena's incredible artwork, but it's a collaboration between us where we get to drawn on childhood inspirations and tell a fun, action-packed story. We've got big plans for LeLattè, but we'll just have to be good and wait for when the time is right.

Please do check out the comic at www.lelattecomic.com and follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/lelattecomic

Thanks for dropping by and hopefully I will speak to you sooner rather than later!

Take care, keep creating.
~Mark

The photo above was taken by Oz Mills during the Voice Talent panel on Sunday at MCM Expo October 2012. I'll get the details about that photo in a bit, but before I go any further with my post-Expo write up I want to say a big, big, big thank you to everybody who came along to the panel (or indeed any panel on Theatre B). I really appreciate it and it was brilliant to meet so many wonderful people!

I won't bore you with the details of how early I had to get up, what swag I grabbed on Friday or anything like that. Instead I'll focus on the bits I imagine most of you will be interested in!


The Bioware Community Panel.

On Saturday the Community Team from Bioware, Chris Priestly, Jessica Merizan and Holly Conrad came on stage to answer questions and speak with a packed theatre of die hard Bioware fans (myself included). I have no juicy gossip for you that hasn't already been announced, but as a reminder Dragon Age 3 is planned for the latter quarters of next year, a new Mass Effect game is in the works and there is more ME3 DLC to come!

A lot of questions were focused on the games and the team themselves, asking questions about what it was like to work for Bioware, how to get jobs in their fields, who did they romance in Dragon Age and Mass Effect etc.

If you're a Bioware fan and you didn't make it to this panel, you missed out! But hopefully we can get these guys back again and they can bring some of the writers with them!


The Underwater Realm

VidFest is a new event/thing that MCM has started doing in recent years. They get video makers, YouTubers, WebSeriests and other online-video folks to come along, talk about their products and show off their creations.

Whilst the VidFest panels featured incredibly popular YouTubers such as Tomska, OMFG It's Jack & Dean, Simon's Cat and more; it was actually The Underwater Realm that really left an impact on me.

This incredible project, funded by crowd-sourcing and a lot of hard-work tells five short stories about various people throughout history discovering the mysterious civilisation of Atlantis. Shot with amazing under-water technology, scratch built sets and amazing special effects for what is still an "indie project" this just absolutely blew me away!

Check out their Kickstarter video below, but I highly recommend you visit The Underwater Realm's page here to see their "The Journey so far" video!

The Voice Talent Panel inc Live Script Reading

So going back to that photo at the top of this entry. That's me on the podium introducing the voiceover guests; Liam O'Brien, Courtney Taylor, Ali Hillis, Alix Wilton Regan and Adam Howden.

I think this photo sums up the highlight of the event for me. I got to share a stage with these talented and lovely people, introducing them to their dedicated fans and just generally have a great laugh with them.

I'm a big fan of the "Live Script Reading" panel that takes place at San Diego Comic Con, Emerald City Comic Con, etc. They get a bunch of Animation/Game voice-actors to read through a script in various character voices/impressions. My favourite has to be the Star Wars reading, with Billy West, John DiMaggio, Tara Strong, and a whole host of other amazing VA's.

So, for this MCM Expo, I wanted to do a reading as well. I knew we wouldn't have a whole panel to use so chose two scenes from a Disney movie I figured everybody would know pretty well.

Aladdin.

After assigning roles (with a bit of faffing on my part) the guests jumped into it and did an amazingly hilarious job. I was too busy being nervous and following the script to focus on the audience but I heard a lot of laughs and I think people enjoyed it, and I hope the guests did too!

If I could go back, there are a few things I would change though, mistakes I can learn for next time. In hindsight I would have asked Alix to do Samantha Traynor as the narrator rather than a generic voice. I did this because I wanted Alix to do Sam as Aladdin in the other scene later on, as we never got to do that scene it was a bit of a wasted opportunity. I also would have gotten Ali to do Liara instead of Lightning as Lightning can be a bit too dour for her own good, in addition I would have suggested Tintin for Adam right off the bat and saved myself a lot of faffing and worry on his part!

Oh, and I would have done Christopher Walken as Prince Achmed instead of Jean-Claude. But that's just me.

Still it all worked out in the end and I like to think everybody had a great laugh. You can watch the reading below! The video is courtesy of ChillSimian!

Hearing Liam O'Brien say "Vell maybe I don't vant to be a princess anymore!" in a camp German accent is still the funniest bit for me.

After the reading, we did a classic Q&A with the fans. Lots of questions all around but my favourite one was from Lauren Sammout who asked Ali this question about her character Liara's development:

And those are my three main highlights!

I could sit here and write about all the other amazing stuff at MCM October Expo 2012. The amazing artists, getting to sit down and play some great games, chatting to various guests, fans, and friends in the bar afterwards, but I would be here forever!

This was my favourite MCM Expo yet and I really hope I get asked to host the Voice Talent panel again next year! I'm also hoping to get the Web-Series I am starring in at VidFest 2013! If you'd liked to check the series out (it's like Game of Thrones meets Downton Abbey!) then you can check it out on Twitter here & on Tumblr here.

Thanks folks and look forward to more updates from me soon!

Hello Adventurers!

As some of you may already know, the London MCM Expo is one of the biggest fan-culture events in the UK. It's an event I've been a part of for a while now, either as a stage host or as an attendee.

I'm very happy to announce that this weekend I shall be returning to the Excel Centre, in London's Docklands, to once again step up on-stage and host the Voice Actors Panel!

It's going to be a blast, with some fantastic guests!

At the time of this post the Voice Actor Panel is on SUNDAY at 3.30PM so make sure you come along for it!

But do keep in mind that at hectic and incredibly busy events like MCM Expo, event times can get jiggled about and change! Make sure you check the program on the day and keep an eye on the Twitter hashtag just in case!

So, who will be there? Well at the London's Comic Con MCM October Expo (longest event name ever!) we have...

Liam O'Brien - Gaara from Naruto, Asura from Asura's Wrath, War from Darksiders & Darksiders 2, Jushiro Ukitake from Bleach; as well as various voices in The Amazing Spider-Man, Transformers; Fall of Cybertron and many more!

Ali Hillis - Liara T'Soni from Mass Effect, Lightning from FFXIII & XIII2, Felicia Hardy in The Amazing Spider-Man, Karin from Naruto, Emma Frost in X-Men, as well as on-camera work including CSI, Beverly Hills Chihuahua and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

Courtney Taylor - Ada Wong in Resident Evil 6, Jack in Mass Effect, Mary in Guild Wars 2, Asheara in Diablo 3; as well as additional voices in Star Wars the Old Republic, Gears of War 3, Avatar the Last Airbender.

Adam Howden - Anders in Dragon Age 2, Shulk in Xenoblade Chronicles, Thompson in The Adventures of TinTin; as well as additional voices in Fable III, Dragon Age Origins and The Old Republic.

Alix Wilton Regan - Samantha Traynor in Mass Effect 3, Patty Steelbeard in Risen 2, Goal in Deponia, Isabel in Trine 2; as well as various voices in Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Origins and more!

It's not 100% confirmed which guests will be on the panel and which guests will be there just for signings and meet & greets etc. However all of the guests will be around the Expo and will no doubt be excited to meet fans so come and say hi!

I'm really excited about the event myself, it's always a very vibrant and energetic atmosphere full of people with so much passion for games, anime, comics, movies, TV, or whatever other geek-culture you can think of! I'm also really excited to chat these guests and talk about themselves and their work!

I'm also looking forward to the routine drinks at the Foxes Bar after the show.

Please come along to the panel (Sunday at 3.30pm remember!) and I look forward to seeing you there!

~Mark