PROMINENT NYC STUDIOS GIVE FANS A CHANCE TO LIVE A DREAM

Norwalk, CT, September 17, 2008: The New York Anime Festival (NYAF) today announced Who Wants To Be A Voice Actor?, a voice acting contest produced by leading New York City recording studios NYAV Post and TripWire Productions, will return to the convention for its second year. Who Wants To Be A Voice Actor?, hosted by NYAV Post founder Michael Sinterniklaas and TripWire Productions founder Tom Wayland, will put attendees through a series of contests, testing their vocal skills and range, narrowing voice actor hopefuls down until only one remains. The winner will get the chance of a lifetime to be cast in an upcoming animated series.

The New York Anime Festival, an anime, manga, and Japanese pop culture convention from the creators of New York Comic Con, takes place September 26th through the 28th at the Jacob Javits Center in New York, NY. Who Wants To Be A Voice Actor? runs from 11:15 AM to 1:15 PM on Sunday, September 28th. Contestants wishing to enter can download an application now from newyorkanimefestival.com.

"We're very pleased to be working with Tom and Mike again this year," NYAF Show Manager Lance Fensterman said. "Not only are they giving anime fans an amazing opportunity, but they're both from New York City, and it's very important to us to foster and celebrate the professional anime community right here in NYC."

ABOUT MICHAEL SINTERNIKLAAS:
Michael Sinterniklaas is a voice actor, dubbing director, and the founder of NYAV Post, a dubbing studio based in New York City. He was born in the Netherlands and moved to the United States at the age of 10. Sinterniklaas graduated from the High School of the Performing Arts in New York City and attended college in North Carolina where he did work at both Southwynde and Coastal Carolina Studios. He's currently the voice of Dean Venture in Adult Swim's The Venture Bros. and Leonardo in the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Mike's also the voice of Leo in Fullmetal Alchemist, Mikey Simon in Kappa Mikey, and Mahad in Yu-Gi-Oh! In the past, Sinterniklaas has dubbed shows including Twin Signal, Weiss Kreuz, Magic User's Club, and Berserk.

ABOUT TOM WAYLAND:
Tom Wayland graduated from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts with a degree in acting and performed in theatrical productions ranging from Hamlet to Stomp to Jesus Christ Superstar. He then spent some time as a rock star roaming the East Coast until his money ran out. Instead of getting a real job, Tom started work at NYC-based anime company Central Park Media and then founded his own dubbing studio, TripWire Productions. To date, Tom has produced and directed more than 200 shows including Alien Nine, The World of Narue, Animation Runner Kuromi, and Kakurenbo. Also a voice actor, Tom can be heard as Jammerjaw in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Stormshadow in GI Joe: Sigma 6, Reggie in Pokemon, Sena in Weiss Kreuz, Daiki in Genshiken, and Ryuichi in Joe vs. Joe. Tom's current projects include voicing and directing several audio books for Audible.com as well as directing and audio post production on Joe vs. Joe.

ABOUT THE NEW YORK ANIME FESTIVAL:
The New York Anime Festival takes place September 26-28, 2008 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in Midtown Manhattan and is organized by Reed Exhibitions, the creators of New York Comic Con. The New York Anime Festival showcases the best of anime pop culture, including the latest anime, manga, Japanese cinema, music, and games, and anime-influenced comics, animation, and films from around the world. The festival features exclusive and extensive screenings, a gala cosplay masquerade, sessions with the some of the biggest names in anime from Japan, Asia, and America, and explores the Japanese cultural experience with displays of both traditional and cutting-edge Japanese life. NYAF's partners include Anime News Network, Bandai Entertainment, BookExpo America, Del Rey Manga, DigitalLife, Free Arts NYC, Japan Society, Karaterice, Kinokuniya Bookstore, New York Comic Con, Samurai Beat Radio, Subway Cinema, TheOtaku.com, TOKYOPOP, VIZ Pictures, and the World Cosplay Summit. Further information can be found at newyorkanimefestival.com.

ABOUT REED EXHIBITIONS:
The New York Anime Festival is operated by Reed Exhibitions, the world's leading events organizer. In 2007, Reed brought together over six million industry professionals from around the world generating billions of dollars in business. Today, Reed events are held in 38 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia and organized by 39 fully staffed offices. Reed Exhibitions is part of Reed Elsevier Group plc, a FTSE-100 company and world-leading publisher and information provider. In 2006, Reed Elsevier made adjusted profit before taxation of £1,052 million on turnover of £5,398 million.