A native of Oregon, Kirk Thornton worked his way into anime taking the traditional path: classical actor training (U of Washington) – Oregon Shakespearean Festival – New York off broadway and regional theatre – Los Angeles film and television – dry cleaners where he met an anime director he had worked with in theatre. Over 20 years in the trenches and some of the roles he has to show for it are Jin (Samurai Champloo), Don Patch (Bobobo),Tazuna (Naruto), Saidoh (Bleach), Gabumon and Mummymon (Digimon), Kuze (The Ghost In the Shell), Blackjack (Blackjack) Monsuno, (Beyal, One Eyed Jack & Hargrave, among others). Other credits include Gungrave (Brandon Heat), Kikaider (Hattori), Planates as Hachirota, IGPX as Mark, Duel (Dr. Sanada), Duel Masters, Last Exile, Stellvia, Vandred, Heat Guy J, Love Hina, Stelvia, Wolf’s Rain, Akira, The Mysterious Play, and Kenshin.

His voice has also appeared in video games, such as Skyrim, Resident Evil: Revelation, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Final Fantasy XIII-2, Saints Row: The Third, Kingdom Hearts, Batman Arkham Asylum, Kane & Lynch 2, Guild Wars 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Dragonage 2, Resident Evil Outbreak, Mission Impossible, Catherine and Monsters Vs Aliens among others.

Kirk has directed the English dubs of S-CRY-ED, Gad Guard, Cosmo Warrior Zero, Tsukihime, Mars Daybreak, Otogizoshi, and Destiny of Shrine Maiden all of which he was the lead script adapter and story editor.

Some of the video games that he has directed are Dirt 2, Operation Flashpoint, Tom Clancy’s Hawx, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, The Tale of Despereau, Enchanted Arms, Rogue Galaxy, Samurai Champloo, Time Crisis 4 & WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 & 2012 plus several soon to be released that he’s not at liberty to mention.

Mary Elizabeth McGlynn is a voice over actress, writer, singer and director.

As an actress, she portrayed Major Motoko Kusanagi in Ghost In The Shell Innocence, Solid State Society and Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex for which she won the American Anime Award for Best Actress. You can also hear her as the Female Crusader in Diablo III: Reaper of Souls, Kurutsu in Ghost in the Shell Arise, Sei in Alpha Protocol and Nora in Final Fantasy XIII.

Some of her other popular roles are Cornelia in Code Geas. Kurenai from Naruto, Julia from Cowboy Bebop, Zanpakuto from Bleach, Helba and Bordeau from .hack, Jagura from Wolf's Rain, Nuriko in Fushigi Yuugi and Caroline from Vampire Hunter D.

Mary is directing Naruto: Shippuden which just reached its 500th episode! She has directed the 6 Naruto Movies as well as Naruto and Naruto Shippuden the series for which she received the 2008 SPJA award for best director. She is also voice directing Penn Zero: Part Time Hero for Disney XD, premiering this fall.

Among her many other directing credits are Cowboy Bebop the series, Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, Tenkai Knights, Digimon Fusion, Wolf’s Rain, Digimon Tamers, the movie Appleseed and was a co-writer for the American adaptation of Metropolis. She also directed the original animated series Boing and Gormiti: Lords of Nature .

Mary Elizabeth has had the great honor of singing the music of Akira Yamaoka for the movies Julia X and Silent Hill as well as the games: Silent Hill 3, The Room, Origins, Shadows of the Damned and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories and Book of Memories which she also voice directed.