Every year JemCon is excited to host special guests and special guest speakers!
We are excited to share with you the special guests for JemCon 2017!
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Keith Tucker is a veteran animation and comics art professional. Keith has worked as a storyboard artist for studios including Warner Brothers, Disney, Universal, and Marvel. Having worked on a host of Emmy-winning shows such as Pinky & the Brain, Looney Tunes, Animaniacs, X-Men and Spiderman to name just a few, Keith has also kept busy working in the comics and movie worlds. As a storyboard director for the Jem and the Holograms™ animated series in the 80s, Keith exclusively drew storyboards for the following song sequences:
Learn more about Keith at his website: tuckertoons.com.
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Jamie Weisberg (nee Murphy) began her professional singing career at the age of 7 when she sang and starred in her first commercial for Lipton Chicken Noodle soup. It was a complete fluke, as she was only supposed to sing the demo, but after that, things surprisingly took off. Jamie sang and starred in another commercial for Lay’s Potato Chips, but after realizing that the on-camera business wasn’t for her, Jamie decided to stay behind the scenes as a voiceover and vocal artist. Jamie sang on over 400 television and radio commercials, movie soundtracks, animated television specials, Playskool children’s albums, and sang with superstars such as Yoko Ono, Roberta Flack, Livingston Taylor, Michael Bacon, Janis Ian, Ron Dante, and her all-time favorite, Duran Duran, just to name a few. Among many of the commercials that Jamie starred in, such as My Little Pony, Hallmark, Toys R Us, Kids R Us, Burger King, and more Hasbro toys than you can fathom, Jamie also had the honor of singing the part of Laura Holloway in the Jem animated episode “Alone Again.” This was a very special project, and Jamie was extremely proud to be a part of it. After Jamie graduated from college with a major in Music, she went on to work in advertising and continue her singing and songwriting endeavors with projects of her own. She came out with a 3-song CD in 1998 called “What You’re Waiting For”, and then formed her pop-rock band, Area 44, where she came out with the album “Fragment” with her then co-artist, Humberto Reboredo. Jamie decided to take Area 44 to a new level, and had Rob Kudyba, Dave Smith and Mark Manczuk join her to perform gigs throughout NYC and the tristate area. After a couple of years the band broke up, and Jamie went on to experiment with new sounds, working with Stacy O’Dell and Tom Morrissey (of Killcode). Jamie also sang with the New York Choral Society at Carnegie Hall with Peter, Paul & Mary, as well as at the Met along with the American Ballet Company, and with an all-female acappella band, The Sirens, for several years, performing all around NYC and recording an album. Although the Area 44 album “Fragment” was released in 2005, and made its way to Rhapsody, iTunes and Spotify (among others), Jamie was extremely excited when two of the album’s songs (“Don’t You See It” and “Sweetest Glow”) made it into the soundtrack of the 2012 feature film “Delivering The Goods”, starring Thomas Ian Nicolas (American Pie movies), Dominic Fumusa , and Andrea Martin. You can also listen to some of Jamie’s other tunes on SoundCloud. In addition to Jamie’s musical career, Jamie also has a successful fulltime job as Associate and Director of Human Resources with an architectural firm, as well as being a 500-hour registered yoga teacher. She currently lives, and loves her life in NYC, and uses her voiceover and singing talents whenever she gets the chance.
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Grammy-nominated vocalist, cabaret artist, composer, arranger, inspirational speaker, and voice-over actor, Désirée Goyette, is best known for her work on the Garfield and Peanuts animated shows. In addition to providing the voice of Danse on the classic animated series Jem and the Holograms, she enjoyed a two-year stint as co-host with Rich Little on an internationally syndicated TV series and has appeared on numerous television specials, and talk-shows. Other memorable voice-over roles include Barbie, Betty Boop, Petunia Pig, Garfield’s nemesis Nermal, and numerous voices for Disney, Fisher-Price, V-Tech, and Leapfrog toys. She is thrilled to return to the heart of JemCon!
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Sir Ari Gold is a fourth generation lower east sider, a Billboard Top 10 Recording Artist, Independent Music Award Winner, 3x Outmusic “Visionary Award” recipient by the LGBT Academy of Recording Arts, USA Songwriting Competition Grand Prize Winner, & was knighted by the Imperial Court of New York. Ari’s music has been heard on hit TV shows Scrubs and Cougar Town. He has been featured on VH-1, MTV, BBC, Top Of The Pops, Bravo and LOGO w/ more #1 Videos than any artist. He’s received critical acclaim in People Magazine, Vibe, W, V, New York Magazine, Perez Hilton, HuffPo, Advocate & OUT100 and has been noted by legends Whoopi Goldberg, Boy George and Clive Davis. Ari has acted in plays by Tony nominated Colman Domingo and in RuPaul's cult film Starrbooty and has headlined concerts in Europe, Canada, and in over 40 states including his hometown NYC at Lincoln Center, Joe’s Pub and Summerstage. As a child vocalist he has sung on over 400 TV and radio jingles, voiced characters for Jem and the Holograms, Cabbage Patch Kids and sang on the Diana Ross record "Swept Away". His 5th studio album Soundtrack To Freedom released under the movement collective GoldNation is OUT NOW with three new music videos. Ari is currently performing and developing an autobiographical musical called POP OUT. You can find out more about Ari Gold at his website, or you can find him on facebook/twitter/instagram/youtube as @SirAriGold. |
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Louise Dorsey's most famous role is as the only daughter to England's own world famous singer Englebert Humperdinck. During the 1980s, sporting "little knickers and big dreams", she pursued an acting career which landed her a role in "The Ratings Game" in 1984, a direct to cable movie directed by and staring Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman. Louise is credited as a member of the H.O.T.B.O.D.S. and even Jerry Seinfeld makes a brief appearance! Louise also had the role of "Michelle" in the 1987 movie "The Last Season". She is best known in the animation world for providing the voice of Jetta in the popular 1980s cartoon series Jem™. Other credits include favorite television shows such as "Murder She Wrote" where she is credited as DeDe in the 1987 episode "A Fashionable Way to Die". Louise also appeared frequently in various music videos. In recent years, Louise took time away from the limelight to marry and begin a family. She is the proud mother of a nine year-old daughter who is, without a doubt, her best friend. In 2012, Louise "emerged from her cocoon" and made her triumphant comeback with a surprise appearance at JemCon 2012. She's excited about her return appearance at JemCon in 2017. Currently, she works as a PR-consultant for her father and in recent years has written a few songs and joins him on tours to sing on stage with him.
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