Sac-Con December 2010: Interviews with Laura Bailey and Jason Dube

I had the chance to interview both Laura Bailey and Jason Dube over at Sac-Con today, and it was a great experience.

I asked Laura what it was like working on both Persona 4 as Rise and Persona 3 Portable as the Female Protagonist also known as Minako - the same person Zanney is cosplaying. She said that it was really cool to work on such an awesome franchise. She mentioned that her work on Persona 4 got her the role in Persona 3 Portable, and after meeting the producers behind the games they felt that she fit the role as the character. It was noted later in her Q&A session that it was interesting to do Rise and that she was reprising her role as Lust from Full Metal Alchemist. I told her that Vic Mignogna was also in Persona 3 Portable as Junpei and that added to her list of games that he didn't know he was in that she's voiced in, the other being Disgaea 3. I told her that if Travis Willingham was in Persona 3 Portable that we'd have a Full Metal Alchemist reunion, and we both shared a laugh.

As for Jason, it's been a year and a half since I talked to him at Sac-Anime Summer 2009. A lot has changed as he has established a number of milestones. He has completed the Caffeine Poisoned series, and he established the Sacramento Comicbook Creators Group, or SCCG for short. As of now there are 150 members within SCCG, and they meet once a week. The members come from all walks of life to the point when art teachers are joining the group. Originally it was three people at his house meeting once a week, and after a Craigslist ad the group attendance doubled it all went North from there. All of these people have a common goal: to succeed in the industry and to give back to the community. Twice a year they have a comic book jam, which is a collaboration between all the members of SCCG. They are also raising money and toys for Toys for Tots by holding an art charity auction and toy drive at Empire's Comics Vault on December 18th from 11am to 8pm. People who cannot make it to the event can go to the Livestream feed that day and bid as if they where at the event. I mentioned some of the charity that cosplayers has done such as NYC Hetalia group and UNICEF, and he told me that they are cosplayers in the group who draw comics and want to give back to their communities.

I would like to thank Laura Bailey and Jason Dube for taking their time out during the con today to answer my questions, and I hope to do more interviews in the near future.