GUESTS

Michael Bell has been a professional actor for more than 40 years. During that time, he has voiced hundreds of characters in animation, including the likes of Lance and Sven in Voltron, Prowl, Sideswipe, Swoop and Bombshell in The Transformers, and Duke, Xamot and Major Bludd in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. He has also contributed his voice acting talents to Scooby Doo, Challenge of the Super Friends, Spider-man, The Incredible Hulk, Plastic Man, The Inhumanoids, Smurfs, Snorks, Rugrats, Alvin & the Chipmunks, The Hound Cats, Spiral Zone, and even Tom & Jerry. 

Michael has guest-starred in dozens of television shows, such as Charlie’s Angels, Mash, Three’s Company, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Get Smart, Mission: Impossible, Ironsides, Ghost Story, Streets of San Francisco, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. 

His video game credits include Warcraft 3, Star Wars, Rachet and Clank, Legacy of Kain, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, Alpha Protocol, Condemned, Madagascar, Advent Rising, Doom, Shark Tale, Enter the Matrix, Darkwatch, Eternal Darkness, Medal Gear Solid, and Call of Duty. 

His radio and television credits number over 1,000, with awards for both documentary narration and commercials, as voice director for Kidd Video and Peter Pan and the Pirates, the Emmy award-winning Fox animated series starring Tim Curry and Jason Marsden. Bell has been a voice animation teacher and private coach for over 35 years. 

Franklin Cofod was a director and producer of Voltron: Defender of the Universe (1984), overseeing the writing and editing process for the original series. He directed Voltron: Fleet of Doom (1986) and served as producer on such classic titles as Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs (1987) and Denver the Last Dinosaur (1989), as well as editor on Battle of the Planets (1978). 

Greg Tyler is co-host of Let’s Voltron: The Official Podcast. He has interviewed many of the people involved with Voltron productions old and new. Greg is the author of unofficial Voltron site LionsAndPilotsAndBots as well as Trekplace, a Star Trek website with original interviews and articles. He has created his own "conlang" (constructed language) and has made a short sci-fi film, entitled Astronuts. Greg is a lifelong enthusiast of science-fiction animation, television and feature films, toys, science, technology, 3D printing, and space. For some reason, he’s proud to know the names of all 15 pilots of the Voltron Vehicle Team, and which vehicle each pilot operates. 

Best known to the Voltron fandom for WEP's use of her fan-created star map in Voltron: The Third Dimension as well as her frequent appearances on the Let's Voltron Podcast, Shannon was inspired by Voltron to become an animation production professional on shows such as Jumanji (1996), Extreme Ghostbusters (1997), Invader Zim (2001), and Japanese series Midnight Horror School (2003). She wrote the textbook Gardner's Guide to Writing and Producing Animation and fiction titles, such as Charles Boeckman Presents Doc and Sally in "The Death of Buddy Turner." Shannon is working on her masters degree in Library Science at San Jose State University, where she emphasizes emerging technology and has spoken at American Library Association panels on virtual and augmented reality. 

The Shake Ups are an award-winning rock band that combines infectious tunes with cosplay and a multimedia presentation for a pop culture-fueled concert experience like no other! Their full-length album Legendary Defenders (2018) was a tribute to Voltron, and they followed it up by penning an official theme song for the convention itself in 2020, entitled "(I'll Meet You at) VoltCon!" The new Ignore City project is a sci-fi musical podcast series created by Ed Cho with original music and voice work by The Shake Ups. The band's repertoire includes songs from and inspired by a variety of cartoons. The Shake Ups are professional crowd pleasers - and the galaxy's most animated band!