CON-ventional Wisdom: Conventions as an Income Stream | The Business | SAG-AFTRA Foundation

Thank you everybody for joining us tonight. I'm so excited to be sitting with you. Um I thought it would be easiest um because this is probably something that potentially a lot of people are unaware of. Um how you got your start um doing convention appearances. Um so I thought maybe we'd just kind of go down the line. Do you um do you want to start Debbie and then we'll just go all the way down to Isaac? - Sure. Um my first convention that I remember was um 25 years ago in Australia and they flew me out and um I just signed for free. They gave me a lot of cards and I thought I got a free trip. So that was my first one. - And they reached out to you and were like, "Hey Debbie, you want to fly to Australia and do this?" Yeah. I mean, when someone offers you a free trip to Australia, - I'm in. - Bonus. - All right, Phil. What about you? - Well, as growing up as a huge comic book fan, I never thought about Comic-Cons. Actually, I never even thought about going to one until it was suggested by a cast member. Well, a couple years after we had been doing Futurama, the great actor Billy West said, "Guys, you should be going to ComicCon's." So, he was the one who turned you on to it. - Yeah. What about you, David? - I mean, I have a similar story to that. I mean, I had several co-stars that were out doing Comic-Cons, and I just kind of always was fearful of doing it because of a stigma around it. Uh my first one was in 2010 and just previous to that uh there was a movie that came out called the wrestler and uh you know the lead actor and that was doing wrestling cons in a hotel you know like lobby and I was like oh my god is that what it's going to be like if I go out and do comic cons. So but anyways my my one co-star talked me into going and I did one and uh much like Debbie I was just there doing stuff for free. I had no idea what I I didn't know I supposed to bring head shots. Uh, I didn't know what I was supposed to have with me. So, it was a a rapid learning experience out of the gate and I had to go to I had somebody go to like a Staples or uh FedEx and print off a bunch of head shot for me and you know, that way I didn't look like a fool. But, uh, you know, you live and learn and uh, so I've been doing it for I guess 16 years now. It's been pretty - pretty exciting. Wow. - Were you imagining mud wrestling too? - Yes. at the Tropicana in Hollywood. If if you're if you're old enough to remember the Tropicana, that's what they used to do. - Right on. Uh well, you know, back when I first started doing voiceovers um a long time ago, uh with X-Men, for instance, in the '9s, we didn't really know anything about of Comic-Cons, and they weren't really a big thing back then. Um, so we never did any I and the first Comic-Con that we were invited to was only about was in 2019 and we were invited most of us were in Toronto and we were invited to go to New Bronfell, Texas and um, you know, most of us had never been to Texas before so we were like, "Yeah, hell yeah. This sounds like fun." Right? So, we all went, we had like a um a reunion, basically a 25- year reunion in New Brunfell, Texas. And we didn't know what to expect. And they had things there for us to sign and stuff. And we really went for the experience, too. But we were so surprised that there were so many fans that had grown up on our show, and we had no idea the effect that it had had on on children. And so then we got we got invited to Los Angeles to the LA ComicCon right after like a couple months later and oh my god we we were waiting to go out on for a panel and we were off stage and we heard our voices our names being called and there were all this roar from the crowd and we all looked at each other went are we in the right place? It's like are they here for us? You know and that was the second time and and then the the pandemic happened. So, we've only just started doing them really the last few years. - Yeah. - Uh, well, I grew up in Sacramento and so I went to Comic- Cons as a kid back before it was before Sack Anime existed and before Sacramento Comic- Con was a huge thing. I was It's like this tiny little multi-purpose room in downtown Sacramento. That's where the Comic- Cons are going on. And I was just I loved it. The toys and the collectibles and being with other nerds was great as a teenager and a kid. And so to be with them now has been a really amazing experience. And so the first one for real though for me was I think it was Wonder Con in 2024 when X-Men 97 season 1 was right around the corner. That was my first foray into all of it. - Yeah. I hear Wonder Con's a good one. - It is. Yeah. - Yeah. It's a really excited fans there. Yeah. Like for reference. Yeah. My first experience um I'm sure you all have an agent that represents you for this to some extent, right? Um I had an agent. Um, I I reached out to an agency because someone said, "Hey, maybe you should consider doing this." And then I reached out and like you uh David, like I had to figure out how to do all of this stuff in like two weeks. There's a big huge business side to this that um you really have to do um especially if you are um doing outreach on your own. Um I'm just curious. Um I'm sure all of you have agents. Do you guys ever reach out on your own for conventions? because I have friends who have like have multiple agents and they still will outreach on their own. Um like if they're planning a trip for instance, they might reach out, we'll see if any cons are in the area and then use that and make it a work trip and they'll do an appearance and sign some autographs and then see the area. - The only thing too is that sometimes if you want to go somewhere like Austria or somewhere or Italy or even Brazil or somewhere like that, they dub the voices into the other languages. So they're not hearing us anyway. So then they're not so interested in having us there. - True. Yeah. - I I I have run into that a little bit. I mean, with my show, I'm the face, so they they know me. But when they meet me, like I've gone to Brazil a couple times, and when they meet me, they're like, "That's not your voice." So I have we have to explain to them, "No, you know, it's dubbed." And then you you meet the actor that does you and they look way totally different. like, yeah, - it's like a a 70-year-old man. Like, it's crazy. - So, um, yeah, it's cool. I I will say in terms of agencies, I have one agent. You guys are lucky if you can have I don't I don't understand the three agents. My agents are like, you're loyal to me, and if you're not going to be that way, I don't want to represent you. So, I I come up across that a lot. Um, but I do have an agent, but there's there's been times where I had an agent, I fired my agent, I booked on my own, uh, which is a lot of work. I don't like doing that because when you're booking on your own and you show up to a show, there's a lot of financial things that go into it like making sure that your plane ticket is paid for. Uh when you show up, they're supposed to pay you a pdeium. Uh I get travel reimbursement uh to and from Los Angeles, LAX, whatever. And so, you know, I have to beg the promoter to pay me. And I feel like it puts me in a weird position because you don't want to burn your bridges with a promoter in terms of money. So, there's just little things like that that it's it's much better to have a booking agent getting you, I think, into Comic-Cons. - Yeah. I don't reach out to Comic-Cons. Well, I wonder if we have the same three con agencies. - I know one of them's the same for sure. - Celebrity Talent Booking. - Yeah, that's that's a con agency. There's also two more Novaria Management and - Heroes for Hire. - Yep. - And that's one thing that's changed a lot there. These were originally niche agencies that did this only this. That's all they did were appearances. And now especially I've noticed because I'm primarily a voice actor, many voiceover agencies have a department now - uh that handles appearances. That's true because the agency I'm with, SBV, has just begun a burgeoning convention department that they just started to develop and so they are now one of the uh conduits that I use to, you know, find out about things or they invite me to things or tell me about events that are going on. So, it's cool. They're kind of like evolving with different things that are happening. - Yeah. - And I think they kind of have to because the the industry has changed a lot and there's a lot of folks who are really kind of suffering right now and not really working. And so when they find out that well there's an opportunity to go for con conventions and make some money that way then that just opens up a whole new avenue for them. - I want to I want to bring let bring up the discussion of getting prepared for these things cuz - it is um it's not like your agent calls you and just tells you some stuff and everything's taken care of. At least that wasn't my experience. This was through an agent. When I uh first got this opportunity to appear at a a signing, I had to figure out, and this is probably not an exhaustive list, getting a banner designed and printed so they knew who I was. Getting prints designed and printed so I had something to sign. Getting a point of sales set up and a processing payment platform set up. Deciding on a price that I could sell my autograph for, making a price sign so I didn't have to tell people how much autographs were. uh figuring out what supplies to use uh that were good markers to use to sign things on and then I had to create social media posts promoting the event because contractually I am obligated to do that. - You have to have a bank - and you have to have a bank. Um so that and that's I'm sure there's even more like in terms of your first appearance or did you learn any lessons? I feel like the best lessons are the ones we have to learn the hard way. Um, so I was curious, uh, if you had any things that you noticed in terms of getting prepared that you wish you had known about. - I'll say, uh, I was doing Salt Lake Comic-Con, I don't know, a few years ago, uh, pre-COVID, and, uh, the lesson that I learned the hard way was I had all my photos. I usually have about eight to 10 photos out on my table that people can choose from for me to sign, whatever. And, uh, at certain comic cons, they serve alcohol. Um, very few in Salt Lake City. This is this is the clincher, you know, big Mormon town. I'm Mormon, so I can talk about it. But, uh, - anyway, uh, somebody had come to my table and just spilled their wine on all my all my photos. Basically ruined everything on my table. And I was like, - okay. - So, you know, that was a panic mode. So, what I did learn is that they sell these things called top loaders, but I just call them protect picture protect picture protectors. 8 by10s. Yeah. And then you uh you know, you just keep the pictures in it. So, I keep just one photo basically in a picture protector on my table. - Uh that way if somebody were to spill their drink, even it was a soda or whatever they're drinking uh on my table, I'll I'll never have to live through that again. But that was a learning experience since you want to know about learning experience. - I think I learned that from your table - now. You know, and I will say uh I had to give up on the standup banners just cuz they got broken so much from the airlines. So I - I put mine in the suitcase. - Wow. - I had to buy - I don't know how I was going to say how does it fit. - I bought a massive trunk on wheels. I have two of them. - I couldn't do that. - I have a lot of gear. - I guess so. I feel like I do too. But what I did was I I made a big they they sell cloth banners now which really look really good and uh they fold up so easy and you can just crunch them up and throw them in your suitcase. And I just made a huge one that's like a 6 by six I think. - So it just takes up basically all behind me and people are like wow you have a huge banner. I'm like yeah that way it also helps you stand out in a crowd. So but uh the cloth banner I would say is a good way to go. I think everybody here has at least one Funko Pop after a character they've performed or voiced. Those are often in demand. I had someone bring three at my first appearance to sign and I was like I I was like, "Okay." Yeah. So, - Funko Pops. So, a Funko Pop is sort of a - It's like a vinyl collectible doll in a square box with a - enlarged head. Yeah. It's like a really big bobble head. M - um - and we voice actors pride ourselves on how many of our characters get Funko. - Yeah, - that's funny to have Funko Pops cuz that's at a Comic- Con when you don't just sign a picture of a character, you sign a box that the character is in. - Yeah. And and even the Blue Ranger, there's Funko Pops at the Blue Ranger. Doesn't anyone bring you - Oh, yeah. I have seven seven or eight different Funko Pops, which is great. And uh Yeah. I mean, there's people that come in with 15 at a time and have me sign that. So, - and one thing I've learned from other voice actors, it's like, oh, if you're charging for a Funko Pop and they're giving you them in bulk, you generally charge them more after the first few signatures because most likely they are going to just resell these on eBay. - So, you need to be aware of that. - Well, there are other things too like comic books. Um, I'm trying to think of is there anything else? Trading cards. - Yeah, cards has been an interesting one. That was a recent thing that came through my uh agent was that you know the TOPS trading cards. They'll send me like um uh e either done it in at conventions or or at home. They'll send me just like the sheets of the stickers and you sign your name a bunch of times and they put them on the stickers and then get sold to other places. Um, but it's kind of cool all the different things that are there because then it sort of changes the dynamic of the table you're at because it's not just like we're talking about the flat photos or the 8 by10s. Like if something 3D or something else that's a little different, then it kind of draws people's eyes to that cuz like, oh, what's that thing I haven't seen before on another table, you know? - People want their DVDs signed and CDs and body parts, tattoos. - They'll have tattoos of my character that they want signed and then they'll go and get the signature tattoo. It's kind of a big compliment. - Does that stress you out when you're signing on someone's arm that's going to be uh - tattooed? Like I know when I had to sign these Funko Pops that weren't mine and he gave me the paint pens and he had ex, you know, he told me exactly what he wanted me to write - and I was never so stressed out about my penmanship uh ever cuz I because it was like it was his thing. It wasn't like I could if I messed up a print, I could just throw it over my shoulder and grab a new one. - Um - especially if they're talking to you at the same time that you're signing cuz then you can kind of lose track. And then like one time it was happening and I I realized, oh I wrote my name twice. - That's why those you know those little alcohol wipes they give you on United, they take it off the paint marker and you can start again. - Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah. I use I used hand sanitizer sanitiz hand sanitizer works really good. - Oh, okay. - Um, do you guys hire any graphic artists or artists to customize - prints for you to sign so you have something unique and original? - Sometimes. Yeah. - I always go to this company on the west side called Prince Charming. - I use them too. Lana and order prints for for characters. They're amazing. - Yeah, they're probably the industry standard comic - get you good-looking images of your characters and make you a bunch. - I think that's one of the values of learning from people while you're there at conventions is because I've used a couple of different artists for some prints that I have and it's because of other people I've been at cons with. I'm like, who who drew that one? Like, who? and then they tell me the name and then I look them up and I'm able to commission them for the art and so I can um showcase them and tell them who they are and it's great and it's fun because sometimes there are not just the characters that people love but they like remember a specific moment from the show that's like become famous for whatever reason and then when they can see a visual thing they can take home that like it's like yes it's my favorite part now I have physical you know memory of that it can make every everything really fun. H - I have one where there's Rogue. She's lying there. She's lying there with her bum sticking towards the camera and Apocalypse is kind of like leaning over her. - And well, I've had to sign a few of those. But but but the funny thing is when you watch the scene, it's so quick. Like I wouldn't have even noticed it, but somebody did. It became like a meme. - What's that? - That's a still from the show. - Yeah. Oh, I thought you had art commissioned. - No, - I didn't. People bring it to me. - Um, I want to talk a little bit about how this can sort of synergize with social media and other things. So, like how do you approach uh promoting your appearances on social media? Is it is it something you embrace? Is it something that's kind of awkward for you? Well, it's interesting that some many times the Comic Con will post about you - on social media before the con. Although, yeah, I will put that in my stories on Instagram. Although most of the social media stuff I post after a con is one either pictures I take with somebody cosplaying a character or sometimes people will come up to the table with an image of a character that they made - that they drew. Yeah. Yeah. And Yeah. So that's why sometimes I'll post on fan art Friday. - Right. Right. And they love that, don't they? Because it's like, "Oh my gosh, look, they posted my painting or picture or something. It's so cute." - U I I will agree with Debbie that it's really imperative that you uh promote yourself. Um it is part of the job. I I post well in advance. Sometimes I'll start three months in advance and then just kind of keep going at least once a month moving up to the show. um just to give the widest audience that I can get to come see me, you know. So, I've I've always found it really uh really important. Sometimes a Comic-Con doesn't have as big of a following as I have. So, um like on some smaller shows, so you know, I'll get like 53 likes from the Comic-Con when they post about me, but if I post it on my my social media, it'll be like 1500 to 2,000 likes. So, you know, that's that's a critical thing, too. So, um just really and I I will say kind of backtracking a little bit about um hiring people to to make things for you. Um sometimes comic cons just pull pictures that I wish they wouldn't pull off the internet to promote me. And I'm like, of all the pictures you could have chosen, why is that the one? Uh and I don't even know what it comes down to. So, I scream at my agent. I'm like, we have a group of like approved photos. Why don't they use that? So, I will hire somebody to remake one for that con that I will use specifically for my uh social media so I feel better about myself. So, - smart and my promotion. - I think it's allowed though. I think if you're a voice actor especially, you're allowed to like have sort of the photo of Dorian Gray where it's uh - quite a bit. - If you're a man, it's okay, but if you're a woman, they give you a hard time. - Really, - they're not so big. Um, what I learned about social media was obviously we all know that reals have more traction than carousel images, that kind of stuff. And my first post announcing convention was really hard. And I realized that social media post and reels is sort of like making pancakes. The first one's going to be terrible. And then the more you do them, the easier it gets and the easier it is to make it look better and it's a little more entertaining and engaging. So, I like the advice for someone I would give starting out is like embrace that that first post is going to be cringey and then just understand that the more you do it, the easier it's going to get. - Ask a teenager. Like today for instance, I had to do one for an event that I'm doing this weekend and there were a lot of words they wanted me to use and a lot of names that were kind of tongue twisters and you know and you have to try and remember what it all is and the dates and get the dates right, get the names right and all that stuff. So I spent like an hour getting it right and I posted it on Instagram and about 20 minutes later I got this message from the person who had asked me to do it and he was like I'm so sorry but I said it was Sunday but it's really Saturday. - So I was like oh no I got to go and remember all those words again but you know what I mean and get them right. But I did it and then we came here. - But that happens, you know. - Um Oh, no. Sorry. I was I was gonna say it's something that I've done to kind of relieve the pressure a little bit for post because I know it can feel awkward and weird to just be like, "Here's me and where I'm going to be." And I know that was difficult the first few times I did it, but sometimes I use the schedule feature on Instagram, which I then put it out and then just schedule it like a couple posts ahead so that I kind of can forget about it and let it take care of itself and then it's out there and sort of created a format that I can sort of tweak to be this is the convention, but I don't have to like retool it every single time to make it a little easier. - Yeah, that's a nice - the scheduling feature. Yeah. - Yeah. I The first time I tried to use the scheduling feature, I felt like my grandma in terms of like my reliability with technology. Um, how without getting into too many specifics, I want to kind of talk about the business side of this because all these people are coming to engage with us and we're there to sell them an autograph. I'm curious, um, one, like were you advised on a pricing structure or did you just come up with it yourself and do you use someone to help you with transactions so you don't have to talk about how much things cost? It's always better to have a handler because nobody ever has to pay money to watch your show. - Yeah. - And usually the cons provide one. If you don't have someone going with you, then they'll provide one. - Um and then that way you can just focus on talking to the fans and and doing the writing. And you know, and I find personally I love hearing their stories. So, I'd almost I'd rather hear them tell me about what the show meant to them and what the character means to them and how it changed their life or whatever, - rather than even, you know, me have to - answer a bunch of questions and tell them about myself, you know, which you get kind of tired of after a while. - That's my favorite part, too, is just hearing from them. Yeah. - Yeah. Because we don't get that in the booth, you know, right? - You get it in real life with everybody out there. Yeah. - Exactly. It is pretty lonely being a voice actor, right? when we're stuck in our booth all day by ourselves and we get to go to a convention and see people - and each other. - Yeah. It's the only time we get to see each other because there's no more group records for the most part. - Yeah. - One thing I I I noticed I want to share because I thought it was really cool. We're talking about pricing and things like this. The the actor next to me was a big gamer. He played a lot of role playing games and he streamed. So, we had like a special where you paid like a lower price and you rolled a d20 and if you got a natural 20, you would get um the autograph for free. - So, I was like, "Oh, that's really smart." So, a lot of people would just do that and roll the d20 and hope that they would get a print for free. So, I was like, "That's something." That's where you learn these things from other people at conventions. You're like, "Oh, that's a good idea. I might take that." - That's really interesting. Um, I do want to share a story like I remember when I first I was on a panel before I ever did like an autograph signing. I was on a panel at Stanley Comic-Con. So, this was a while ago and um, but there were some actors there who um, rented a table on the floor and just were there for the the time to sign autographs. And I remember there was one actor who he was just in like one game and he was like, I'm the lead in this game. And I know like this actor had uh made it a point to like do these conventions and engage with fans. And as a result of the networking, he w up getting like a lead part in uh an anime series like several years later. So I wanted to see talk about like any additional things we may do with these appearances. Like do you do you panels or do you do I know Debbie you're also a teacher. Have you done any workshops at a convention or anything like that in addition to just doing an autograph signing? - Absolutely. And you know, just I've always said work begets work. So the more people see you, the more that you're out there, um it puts you in their mind, you know, whereas if you're just staying home and you're not really going anywhere and you're not doing anything, you're not meeting anyone, you know, things aren't necessarily going to happen. Like the phone isn't just going to ring. Um, so I was really lucky twice in the last couple of years because one of my first ComicCons that I went to after the pandemic, I flew myself to the San Diego one and because they don't usually they don't usually pay for your flight for that one, but I flew myself in and I was given a table by a friend which was great and um so it but and I had to pay for my hotel which can be very expensive but so I thought well it's worth it because I'm, you know, the show is coming out. I'm coming back to Hollywood. I've been gone for a long time. Um time, you know, like why not put some money into my own career? Like it's an investment. Um and so I did that and then this guy came to my table and he was like, "Oh, I love you. I've been watching you for years and everything and well, you know, I've got this animated movie that my dad and I wrote and you know, there's a character you'd be really great for." And I was like, "Oh, yeah, great. Yeah, absolutely." you know, here's my thing. He said, "Do you sing?" I said, "Here's a CD." Yes, I sing. I sing. Yeah, I do. Because it's a musical. I'm like, "Great." He said, "And it's about like saving the planet." I'm like, "Great, cuz I care about that." Anyway, I kind of forgot about it. And then about a year later, I got an email from him saying, "Okay, we're going to do that that movie now." And they brought me to the LA and we recorded it and it's coming out like next year. - Wow. you know, which so you just never know, right? You never know who you're going to meet. So, put yourself out there. - Yep. - I wanted to save plenty of time because I think this is the most important part is engaging with uh the people who are fans of us. Um that is I think where the real reward comes in. Um so, one um engaging with people all day requires a lot of energy. I learned I learned that my voice was shot at the end of the day trying to talk over like the den of everybody else talking. Um, so it's from a hygiene and health perspective. Do you is there anything you do when you're traveling or doing these appearances to protect your voice and protect your health? - Oh, - um, well, I wear a mask on the plane and in the airport, um, even when nobody else is. And uh I after working all day in the con, I go back to my room and go to sleep and do it all again. I usually don't go out after the con because I my voice would be shot then. Um is that the question? - Yeah. How do you protect your health? protect our health at the cons cuz it does require a ton of energy, but it doesn't feel like a lot of energy because it's super fun and before I know it, the day is over and it's time to go pass out in my room. - And you have to keep your your yourself liquidated, too. So, that's really important, having water and keeping yourself, you know, your throat moisturized and stuff like that. But there comes a time in the afternoon around 2 or 3:00 where I really need a latte. - Yes, - I really need a coffee. You know what I mean? Just to help you get through that last few hours. - Yeah. When it's slow, then you can get really tired. But if it stays busy, then you're excited and hyped. - But I still need a coffee around 2 or 3:00. I just need one by then. - I always forget to eat. So, I need to remind myself like bring snacks with me because like all of you know, oh, this great breakfast at like 9:00 and I'm ready for the day and then five hours have gone by. I'm like, why am I angry? My head hurts. I'm like, oh yeah, I haven't eaten all day. So, luckily I I'm so thankful to be part of a team most of the time with the X-Men crew when we go around because I'm like, oh, they're we're all looking out for each other in that way, which I think is very helpful um to help keep us all sustained and energized and everything, but eating very important. - Oh, and a lot of hand sanitizer at the table. - Yeah. cuz everybody wants to touch you - and um shake your hand and hug you and um you know touch your head and then touch your hands and so yeah a lot of sanitizer - and then I know Isaac you mentioned you or we were talking beforehand you have a booth that you travel with. - Yes. - So you can still record auditions. Yes. That or even record sessions when you're traveling. - Yeah. And that's that also adds to the um difficulty of packing for the plane because it's just another thing. But yeah, there's this great uh product from this guy named George Whidam who's this genius with audio um in the voiceover world. Um knows everything about everything with audio and microphones. And he's got this thing called the tri booth which fits into a suitcase that is able to go on the plane. It's less than 50 lbs. So I have, you know, the main structure of it in there. It's basically like a threefold structure that's made out of PVC with blankets that are around and on top. And uh then I have my mic and my electronics in another suitcase, like a little carry-on I take. But I take that with me wherever I go cuz I never know when I'm going to need to do a gig or an audition. I mean, I was in Paris last year and I did a session for Disney from that booth from my hotel room just in this little corner, you know, set it up and put a blanket on the ground so there was no reflection on the uh floor. But yeah, that's also something to prep just so that I'm always ready to record if I need to. Mhm. - I used this pull out sofa bed a lot - and you take the cushions and you put them around the desk - and then you make top, you know, like the forts you made when you were a kid. - Yeah, - they work really good for booths, too. But I travel with, you know, my gear as well. I found out the hard way because my agents didn't like some of the stuff I was doing on the road with for auditions, you know, because I'd go in the little closet where they have the um the safe - and I do it in there thinking, "Oh, you know, the door closes, but the safe is metal and it kind of like reverberates or something." So, it didn't sound very good. So, I had to do the pillow thing, too. Yeah. I found out about that. I have one friend who actually he's the big person, so he can pick up the mattress and put it up against the wall and make a triangle that way. - I couldn't do that. - And as far as like if you have auditions to record after - an appearance, - um, - is that how is that do you find that challenging? Is their voice sometimes or are you too tired or - Yeah, you're tired, but you kind of have to do it. Yeah, just find find a schedule to Yeah. Or like sometimes I'll just find time in the morning before I go so my voice isn't blown out, you know. But you find you find the time to get it done - because they don't start early. - No, - they start like at 11 10 or 11. So, you know, usually if you're traveling from California, it's like 3 hours later. So, really I'm way up, way awake by the time that happens. - I think - I've got to do them when I've been like overseas, too, you know. So, but you just you just time it out so that you know it's going to get there at the time that the agents want it to be there because oftenimes they're going to send you stuff saying um urgent. It needs to be here right away or by 5:00 or at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow and you're like, "Okay, what time is that where I am?" You know, but you just you do what you have to do. - As far as engaging with fans, I learned a couple things from my experience. One, a lot of times people wait in line and the way mine was set up, it was sort of like a receiving line. So maybe similar to like what you guys for X-Men where they're you're all lined up and they would not want to look at you sometimes. And I didn't and at first I thought maybe they're just waiting to talk to someone else. No, they're actually shy - like they've waited in line for all this time and yet they're nervous to talk to you. Um, so I had to overcome my nervousness of talking to strangers so that I could initiate conversation with these people. How did you how do you guys deal with that in terms of - Well, I think the best way to interact with people at your autograph table at a comic is from what I saw early at Comic Cons, the great voice actor Rob Pollson. Mhm. - The best thing he would do is be at his table, meet somebody, hear their name, and then speak their name in the voice of the character that they were fans of, which was, I think, really wonderful for people because then it sounds like you're in the world of that show you grew up loving. - That's a brilliant That's a brilliant suggestion. Yeah, - I usually start off with, "Hey, Sugara," and then they're okay after that. - I think a lot of um people uh in line uh who come to see you have a pre-order, they have an idea of how it's going to go when they go and meet that actor that they have loved what they've done for so long and in their head it's well rehearsed. So I have to, you know, I say hello to them and then I let them do the part they've rehearsed and they have rehearsed it - and it's it's really important to let them get this all out and um you know they'll reach an ending point and then they'll say what they want but sometimes um it's a very emotional thing for people. I do this character of Draculaura and you know like when you smell something that reminds you of grandma's house, you think of grandma's house. It brings this emotional reaction when I speak to them. Like I I know they're Draculaura fans because they have pink and black hair or they have, you know, that sort of costume on. And um I will talk to them in Draculaura's voice - and they start shaking and crying and breaking down. and I get up and I hug them and they cry and shake on my shoulder. I carry Kleenex with me because they're fully made up and it and it's and the makeup's all over the place, but it it happens every con more than once. - So, I know it's a real thing and people really want to meet the voice behind this character that they've loved for so long. And when they hear the voice, - it just it just sets them off. - Yeah. And you can't control it when you cry. You know, when you when something strikes you emotionally, sometimes your eyes just start bursting with tears and you don't know why. - It's it's very uh heartwarming and it's kind of a - I feel responsible. I feel like I have to do good by them. - I agree. And you know, a lot of times too, we have people who are on the autism spectrum - and you know, and it sometimes it's it's hard for them to talk to people or whatever. And it's I always take extra time. I always take extra time because I know it means so much to them and you know it might take them a while to get their story out or whatever, but it's just so nice to be able to have that contact because to be honest, I think most humans, we all want to connect. We want to connect with others. And so a lot of these folks that love these shows that we're in, they're they're a little bit lonely maybe and you know, they want to connect. So that's why I think it's so important that we're out there doing that and connecting with them and making them feel good about themselves. - 100%. - Yeah. I'm gonna uh I thought we maybe I'll share a moment because I think that's that sort of engagement that connection that we have with people is what really makes this the most rewarding part about this uh job. I remember, you know, when I was there, like I said, I was very, it was my first time and I was not expecting people to come and see me, but then like some people drove out from San Diego - to, you know, and and I remember like they came specifically to see me and I like my eyes welled up with tears, you know, like I was getting emotional about it just cuz these people would then engage about how something was so meaningful to them. And um and I remember I had my emotional support friend next to me um and he was like, "Are you okay?" And I was like, "Don't talk to me." I like I needed like a few minutes to like reset after that experience because it was it was uh so nice that it was so meaningful and I think we all have those experiences. So I didn't know if anything came to mind when I was sharing my story but if it does I'd like to hear about it. - I kind of already answered that question Draculaura people but I do hear when people come to the table and they say you were my childhood - and I know it's very true for them. - Yeah. But I hear it 400 times a day and every single person means it. And every time I hear it, I want to be able to connect with that person and know that that's a real truth for them. - Yeah. It's it's their first time saying it, you know, even though you hear Yeah. - Um - and someday they'll be saying it to you, too, that you've been you're new joining X-Men. Yeah. You were talking about memories of of things that had - meaningful interactions with fans. Yeah. - My favorite one I think so I mean there's so many that I've been really lucky and privileged to have. I think one that sticks out though is um last year um I have a wonderful publicist named Paul who every year connects with the Makea-Wish Foundation at San Diego Comic- Con. their these kids wish is to go to Comic-Con. And so it's like Christmas morning because it's at the one of the top the levels of one of the hotels nearby and there's like 10 kids that are all like, you know, 15 and under and they have like every collectible and every toy from the whole convention already there for them to like play with and they get to go to the explore things and talk to SARS and everything. but they invite a a group of us to come and talk with them and hang out and talk to them about what we do and what they enjoy. And it was just so cool to see the the depth of their connection to what we do. And you know, you don't get to see it super often at that level. And so that I'll never forget that. And I want to do it every year. Every year I get a chance to I always want to be there for that. So cool. Mhm. - Well, I always think it's sweet when somebody an adult comes up and talks about how they like to watch that show when they were a child. - Yeah, - I know. - Although, well, I don't know. I get weird. - Usually, I will say something like, "Oh, wait. You're in your 30s and you used to watch it as a child? Well, then you've got to get back to the past. like the samurai. - I've had uh quite a few really cool um experiences with fans. Uh probably one of the most memorable is I did a show called C2E2, which is Chicago's big uh um Comic-Con. And I had two uh twin girls, 15 years old, travel all the way from India with their father uh just to meet me and one of my co-stars. And I just uh you know to think that people would travel that distance. And what was really amazing about it is they made these amazing uh I don't know design things out of paper uh and put it in a glass frame and they traveled with those on their laps all the way from India and gave them to me and my co-star. Uh which is so sweet. And so someone when somebody brings you gifts like that it's like part of you is like okay how am I going to get this home? Uh so now I got to now I got to sit on my airplane with this in my lap. Uh so you know but it's you know when it's when it's that uh critical and that important obviously I do everything in my power to take it with me. Um somebody gave me a skateboard once that was all ducked out as my character and Power Rangers. So I had to carry a skateboard home once and just this past weekend I was at a show in Texas and this guy gave me a sword and I was like - this one I can't do - take that on the plane. - Yeah. I was like, "This is so kind. Uh, I appreciate it, but I wouldn't even know how to get it home, you know, without putting it in a safe box that I have to check and I don't have that." So, you know, they they have gone out of their way to do things and um, you know, everybody does, I think probably for all of us, come up and say, you know, you were part of my childhood. Uh, thank you so much. Uh, which is such a humbling uh, thing to to experience. And much like Debbie, I always feel like now I have to really be a good person. Like I don't get to be bad. I don't get to go out and drink and I can't drink. I can't smoke. Not that I want to do those things anyways, but uh you know, I just feel like I really want to live up to what they they think uh I am or my character was. Uh, and since I played the nerd or the smart person on my television series, uh, I hear a lot of cool stories, but probably one of the coolest is that, uh, some guy came up to me and said, "I became a paleontologist because of you." - So, I just think, wow, a paleontologist. That's pretty exciting. So, um, that's pretty cool. - I have, did you already do your story and I should shut up? - I think so. I I think you want to do yours first. - I have another story. - Go for it. There was this girl who came to my table and she was um on the spectrum and she was with her uh mom and uh I guess her sister was on the other side of the um floor and um she she wanted to meet Draculaura's voice and she didn't talk much but I started talking to her and then she was listening to me and gradually she started talking and then tears started coming down her face and her mom looked at her and her mom ran off and then her mom comes back with the sister and she says she's never cried in her life. - Wow. - She was in her late teens. She'd never cried in her life. And - that happened. I mean, - it was very emotional. I was crying then. It was very - I'm crying now hearing the story. So, - you know, it it's interesting. Um, I was really lucky that I got to go to Dublin to a Comic-Con. I'm not sure if any of you guys have done that one before. It's great, right? - So, um, they flew us over to Dublin, which was fantastic. And it was interesting because, you know, I had no idea how popular the X-Men had been in Europe. Um, and I went to Liverpool, England a couple of months ago, and same thing. There was like packed full of X-Men fans. I I was surpris and they all said you made my childhood the same thing. I'm like like wow. So this the last time in Dublin, this young woman came up to me. She said, "You know, we used to play you in the fields in Ireland and we when we were like little, we would be out there playing. We were X-Men and we were in the fields." And she said, "And I was one of 10 children and I just want you to know we were out there running around in the fields in Ireland playing X-Men and becoming you." And it was like so moving, you know. And then in in the states here, uh, a lot of Latinos come up and say, you know, they were children of like fruit growers or grape pickers or whatever, and they say, you know, when we were little, we we learned how to speak English by watching your show. And you know, and we felt like it was okay to be different because people would make fun of them or people would bully them because they were from Mexico or whatever and they were poor. And one guy I remember came and said, "Yeah, I had like 10 brothers or sist brothers and sisters and we lived in a trailer and every Saturday morning we would get up with our little blankets and sit around this tiny little television and we would watch your show and it made us feel like it's okay to be different." And like things like that, you just it melts you, you know? You just you just melt. And I feel so, as Debbie was saying, like grateful that we're in this place that we can connect with people in that way and make them feel like they are part of something bigger. - Yeah. And I think those memories too as a performer when you have those interactions, they can carry you through any slow periods you're having. - Yep. you know, in terms of that, in terms of you knowing that you've had an impact on someone because a lot of times you - you know, you act in a show either on camera or in a booth and you don't really know about the impact it has, right? - Because you never engage with these people. - Yeah. - Um I wanted to say one one thing. Everyone here pretty much you have a character that obviously you're known for. Um, some people have asked questions like, "How do you know if there is a character that you performed that you should begin exploring this with?" I was curious if maybe you had any thoughts on that. Like, it's funny, the series that I went and I I signed for, like I didn't know it was that popular until they asked me. So, I mean, my answer would be like, "Well, I guess my agent asked me to do a signing for this event." That was that was my answer for it. I mean, I would also have to say to be honest, it's kind of like the luck of the draw, right? Like you do a million shows, you play a million different characters. I mean, if you've been in the business as long as some of us have, you've done a lot of different voices and characters. Not all of them hit. Like, not all of them are the type of shows that people want to come and wait and get your autograph for, you know. Um, so it's it's I I don't even know what it is exactly that picks that makes certain shows the ones that are the ones that everybody wants to see. And the thing is it you know like sometimes you can do like a show 25 years ago and as Nightcrawler the guy Adrien Huff who plays Nightcrawler in our series says he said one time he was supposed to he wanted to audition for something and and the he told his agent he said well just tell him I was the Nightcrawler in X-Men in X-Men the animated series and his agent said Adrien nobody cares about a about a show or that you did 25 years ago. go. But that was before X-Men 97. So, we're back, baby. You know, - years ago, - um I can uh I mean, there's been so many characters and sometimes I think, "Oh, this one's going to sell a bunch and I'll make a bunch of head shot." And then nobody even looks at it. Like this one game I was promised, they're like, "Oh, it's going to be big." And I had like 20 hours in the studio recording this video game voice. haven't sold one image, but then sometimes like they're just oneoffs. Like there's this there's this game called Cookie Run Kingdom - and I do one of the cookies - and she sells a lot of them. There's a lot of fans for that one little cookie. And then another game it took me - uh I don't know maybe 15 minutes to do the job, maybe less. And I sell a bunch of those ones, but it was the shortest job ever. Some of them are just so short and then they hit like the um the aliens from Toy Story 1. The the claw picked me just - it was a blip on the screen. - And people come and bring me their pup figures for Alien. Makes me so happy. - You just never know. That's what I mean. It's like the luck of the draw. Really, - the exciting thing about I always like think of every job as sort of like a a a lottery ticket. You know, you won and then you're going to find out how much you won when that show airs, - you know, like I've I've had games too where I met another actor who was in the same game with me. Someone asked approached us cuz we were in a workshop together and another person in the workshop's like, "Can I get your photograph?" And we were like, "We don't know each other. Why?" And he's like, "Well, you're both are in blah blah blah game." And we were like, "Oh, you are." and he said to me, he's like, "Man, I thought that game was going to put me on the map, you know." And I was like, "Yeah, me too." And and then Yes. And then I've done roles where I was in a session for five minutes and then I've had people reach out to me on social media because I was a voice of something that was a five-minute session. So, you never know. - And and for context, right, I know we have a lot of voice actors up here, but there are conventions for everything. But ultimately I I wanted to end it earlier on uh on just the then interaction because I thought that was the most meaningful part. But there was that question and I was like oh I should like entertain that. How do you get started in this or how do you know? And I guess the answer is you don't really know until your show comes out and then people start engaging with you about it. Um or you will be at a convention for a show that you are more likely doing and then people will be like oh you're the voice for this too and then that's another way. But, you know, it takes when you do a video game, uh, it takes a good year for it to come out - and then it takes a good year for the fans to love it. So, you may do a job and you may not know that it's hit till two to three years later because it takes that long - and then you forget you did it. - Unless you're joining a game that's already on and then you know - Yeah. you know, like last summer, not this summer, but the one before, I I went to San Diego Comic- Con this time, I was invited and um and I was invited to go and have dinner with like the Marvel Rivals cast and everything. And I just happened to say, "Yes, sure." You know, why not? And then there was one chair that was empty when I arrived. So, they said, "Oh, yeah, have a seat here." So, I did. and and the guy next to me introduced himself and I said, "Oh, hi. I'm Lenor." So, he went, "Oh my god, Lenor." It turned out he was the creator of the show and he was like, "You've been on my mind. You know, I I'd really love to add Rogue to the show. Would you would you ever think about being on our game Marvel Rivals?" I was like, - I think about it. When I think about it, you had me at hello sugar. I mean, you know, but so you just again, you never know. And that was and that's already a huge game. Like that was I think 340 million people a day were playing that games and still are. So, - and it really just takes one. - Yeah. - Just takes one to hit. Mhm. But here's another interesting thing I think too is that a lot of us like years ago would do some anime stuff where you go in there and you get paid kind of peanuts and you're in there for a long time cuz you got to make the mouth match the flaps and all this stuff. Um, and it's in Japanese and you're you're interpreting it in in English and you don't really get paid much for that as opposed to like animation where you go in and you do the voice for a character and then they animate it afterwards to your to your voice. But now a lot of those anime shows are huge and the actors who are in the anime shows are now finally getting some good money because they're getting money at ComicCon and they say they say, "Well, this is kind of like our residuals, right?" - Yeah. - It's kind of like our residuals that we never got, you know? So, that's kind of nice to see as well. - Yeah. Enemy has a huge fan base. - Yeah. - So, yeah. Well, thank you so much. Um, - thank you. - And thank you for attending. - Thank you guys for coming. - And thank you all - cuz in brightest day and blackest night, no evil shall escape our sight. - There we go. - Green Lantern in the house. - Thank you so much everybody for attending. Uh, hope to see you at another panel. - Thanks for coming everybody.