Anime Expo 2012 Welcomes Voice Actors Joel McDonald And Ian Sinclair As Part Of An Extensive Program From Funimation

LOS ANGELES (June 20, 2012)– Anime Expo (AX), North America's largest anime, manga, and Japanese pop culture celebration, today announced two of FUNimation's leading voice actors -- Joel McDonald and Ian Sinclair – as Official Guests of Honor when it returns to the Los Angeles Convention Center from June 29 – July 2, 2012.

McDonald and Sinclair, who both have roles in “Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt” join voice actresses Jamie Marchi (Panty) and Monica Rial (Stocking) as part of an extensive program from FUNimation at AX. FUNimation will offer a special peek into the world of “Mass Effect: Paragon Lost," just outside the Exhibit Hall. AX attendees will get a first look at some of the beautiful concept art and landscape design to be featured in the feature-length film, coming out late Fall 2012. In addition, brand-new series from FUNimation will also be screened.

Since the age of seven Joel McDonald has had a passion for performance, acting in school plays and community theatre while growing up. McDonald went on to earn a BFA in Acting and Directing from Sam Houston State University. He got his start in animation as a voice actor and soon began working as an ADR director and adaptive screenwriter. Today, he has credits in some capacity in over 80 titles.

His acting credits include “Panty & Stocking” (Brief), “Sekirei” (Minato), “Big Windup!” (Hanai), “Baccano!” (Jacuzzi Splot), “Nabari No Ou” (Yoite) and “Initial D” (Takumi) to name a few. As a director, McDonald has worked on properties such as “Deadman Wonderland,” “Tsubasa” (season 2), “Initial D,” “Heroic Age,” “Kenichi,” “Spice and Wolf,” and “Big Windup!.” He has also written on shows such as “Claymore,” “Big Windup!,” “Ga-Rei: Zero,” “STRAIN, DBZ: Kai,” and “Linebarrels of Iron.”

As a college student Ian Sinclair was asked to do the voice of Vegeta. Recently announced as Chuck in “Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt,” a few of Ian's most popular roles are Ryner Lute in “Legend of the Legendary Heroes,” Bardroy in “Black Butler,” Romano in “Hetalia,” and Shu in “Princess Jellyfish.” Previously, his voice had a talent for showing up as characters in three categories: The Good, The Bad, and The Buddy.

The Goodies are Toraji in “Bamboo Blade” and Liam in “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.” The Baddies include roles such as Dallas in “Baccano,” Bora in “Fairy Tail,” Ian in “One Piece” and Shogo in “Rin,” while the Buddies range from Daisuke Matsuo in “Yamada's First Time” to Marc in “Spice and Wolf II” and Seo in “Sekirei." Additionally, Sinclair can be heard as the voice of Baron Flynt in the video game “Borderlands” and as the "Cool" custom hero voice in “Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi.” He has also worked as a director on “Initial D,” “Spice and Wolf II,” both seasons of “Black Butler,” and a few others.

FUNimation® Entertainment now has more than 300 active titles and has established itself at the leading company for home video sales of Japanese animation in the United States. FUNimation manages a full spectrum of rights with its brands including broadcasting, licensing, production, Internet, and home video sales and distribution. FUNimation.com is the online destination for the latest and best Anime titles. Visitors can interact with their favorite shows, share cosplay, watch video, chat in forums, or get latest news, or read reviews.

Joel McDonald and Ian Sinclair join the previously announced Anime Expo 2012 line-up that includes composer Yuki Kajiura/”FictionJunction;” anime-inspired heavy metal band ANIMETAL USA; Culture Japan's Danny Choo; Fate/Zero” creative team Hikaru Konda, Ei Aoki and Rikiya Koyama; Madhouse creative team Morio Asaka, Kunihiko Hamada and Takuya Tsunoki;, animation director Tatsuo Sato; voice actors Ryo Horikawa, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Jamie Marchi, Monica Rial, and Steve Blum; Japanese pop star LiSA, Lolita fashion designer Cyril Lumboy, Lolita model Misako Aoki; Tokyo-based Gallery of Fantastic Art and popular cosplayer Jessica Nigri.

About Anime Expo

Now in its 21st year, Anime Expo is North America's larges celebration of anime, manga and Japanese pop culture. AX 2012 will feature and exciting schedule of exclusive screenings; artists' panels; live concerts; cosplay; dance parties, karaoke, and video competitions; non-stop video gaming and unsurpassed shopping from more than 3,000 vendors. AX 2012 takes www.anime-expo.org. Connect with Anime Expo on Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube.

About the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation
The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to popularize and educate the America public about anime and manga, as well as provide a forum to facilitate communication between professionals and fans. This organization is more popularly known by its entertainment property, Anime Expo®. For more information, please visit www.spja.org