GUESTS OF HONOR
John Anderson is an actor, comedian, and self-proclaimed professional "Trick Talking Meat" who hails from Birmingham, Alabama. John was given his first speaking role by Oprah Winfrey in her production of the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. He landed his first major motion picture role as a Ravager in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. John also appeared in Jumanji: The Next Level, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Tag, Black Panther, Stranger Things, Sleepy Hollow, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Discovery Channel's Manhunt: Unabomber, Logan Lucky, Pitch Perfect 3, I, Tonya, Jumanji, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Case for Christ, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, MacGyver, The Front Runner, The Leisure Seeker, Hell Fest, Being Mary Jane, and Tyler Perry's Too Close to Home. He also appeared in Make-up Artist Magazine, displaying his alien movie make-up as a Hurctarian Ravager. He recently appeared in Variety and Rolling Stone's review of the movie Tag.
Army Veteran, Actor, Author, Producer, and Entertainment Entrepreneur, Santiago Cirilo has been featured in many hit films and tv shows, including AMC’s The Walking Dead, Hallmark movie JL Family Ranch, Lifetime movie Princes Diana, TNT’s Memphis Beat, USA Network’s Wild Card, ABC/CMT’s Nashville. He also has starred in amazing streaming popular movies on Netflix, YouTube Hulu, Tubi, Amazon, Apple, and Investigation Discovery, such as Devil's Hollow, Rosa Leigh, Beast of the Water, Paranormal Chasers, Your Worst Nightmare, Howard's Mill and more. Santiago's ambition is to promote antibullying and suicide awareness through all areas of entertainment. He has written and cowritten three successful books with more on the way. His books, A Veteran's Homecoming and Zombified book series The Head Hunter and Resurrection, are now climbing the charts on Amazon. His video and radio Podcast HiYah Nation Motivation has helped motivate and save people's lives.
John Hornor Jacobs is an award-winning author of genre bending adult and YA fiction, a screenwriter, and co-creator of the (forthcoming) narrative podcast, The Listening Station. His first novel, Southern Gods, was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award for Excellence in a First Novel and the winner the Darrel Award. The Onion AV said of the book, “A sumptuous Southern Gothic thriller steeped in the distinct American mythologies of Cthulhu and the blues . . . Southern Gods beautifully probes the eerie, horror-infested underbelly of the South.” His second novel, This Dark Earth, Brian Keene described as “…quite simply, the best zombie novel I’ve read in years” and was published by Simon & Schuster’s Gallery imprint. Jacobs’s acclaimed series of novels for young adults beginning with The Twelve-Fingered Boy, continuing with The Shibboleth, and ending with The Conformity has been hailed by Cory Doctorow on BoingBoing as “amazing” and “mesmerizing.” He was recently shortlisted for the Shirley Jackson Award and the World Fantasy Award for his collection, A Lush and Seething Hell which has been optioned for television.
True crime author and award-winning investigative journalist George Jared has covered murder cases and other types of news stories for nearly two decades. He wrote 100 news stories about the infamous West Memphis Three case which included a Death Row interview with Damien Echols. He profiled those experiences in his book "Witches in West Memphis." A Lyon College graduate, he began his journalism career in 2004. Months into that job he started covering the Rebekah Gould murder case in Melbourne. He wrote about her case in two other books "The Creek Side Bones" and "Whispers in the Willows." Those books included his coverage of multiple death row executions, and the infamous 1998 murders of the Elliott family by Billy and Chad Green. Mr. Jared has been interviewed by numerous podcasts, newspapers, documentary filmmakers, and other media outlets through the years. Those include "The Murder Squad," "Hell and Gone," Discovery ID's "Still a Mystery," "The Truth and Justice" podcast, the BBC's television series "Life and Death Row" among others. He currently hosts a true crime podcast "Diamond State: Murder Board," produced by Andrew Brown. His latest book "Silent Silhouette ... Who killed Deborah Sue Williamson?" co-written by Jennifer Bucholtz was released in late 2022. He has won numerous first place awards with the Associated Press Managing Editors and the Arkansas Press Association. Through the years he’s written award winning stories about true crime, business, politics, agriculture, entertainment, history, and others.
Ginger Oh Snap has been cosplaying and costuming for most of her life, thanks to a background in musical theatre, dance, and renaissance faires. Ginger dedicates her days to creating costumes, performing, promoting geek culture, and pushing for a more inclusive and welcoming cosplay community. Ginger loves sharing her passions and knowledge with the community. When not traveling around the world to conventions and events as a guest and entertainer, she can be found streaming on Twitch. Ginger is also an award-winning burlesque performer and producer, sharing her special brand of shapeshifting nerdlesque at theatres, conventions, and festivals across the U.S. She is best known for her cosplays as the Nuka Cola Girl from Fallout, Sarah from Labyrinth, and as Mary Jane Watson (riding alongside Stan Lee himself), in the 2017 DragonCon parade.
Cory Phillips has done voice work for Funimation Entertainment and Crunchyroll., including characters such as Yona in Fire Force, Orochi Head in Fairy Tail, and many more. Cory has been acting in film and media since 2010, starting in improv. He has trained at Second City and performed in well over 1000 shows. Cory has had the lead role in a 400 plus episode kids show and two Lionsgate films (“Ghoster” and “The Fantastic Pet”). He had his first SAG role in the hit series “The Chosen”, and since then has had the pleasure of voicing over 100 anime titles. Cory loves acting and all things nerd. He has made guest appearances at hundreds of conventions across the nation and loves interacting with fans.
White River Fan Con has established the RISING STAR GUEST OF HONOR as a part of not only its first Convention, but for all future Conventions. The RISING STAR will be a guest under the age of 18 involved in fandom as a professional in some way.
Gabriella Graves is a Texas born actor who discovered her deep love of acting at a young age. At 9 years old, she and her family moved to Hollywood and Gabi quickly began working, playing characters both in live action and animated shows. A few of the animated characters she has voiced are twins Mary Pat and Bianca on the hit Netflix animated show Spirit Riding Free, Wren, the loudmouth boss on Amazon's Costume Quest, as well as Sweetie in Disney Jr's The Chicken Squad, and Maddy Yea in season 4 of Lego City Adventures. Gabriella also played the recurring role of Delaware, the quirky best friend, on Disney Channel's Coop and Cami Ask the World, along with numerous other roles on FOX, ABC, and Netflix. When she's not working, some of Gabi's other interests are creating art, music, and reading any book she can get her hands on. She also is very involved in her family's non-profit I Am Courageous which creates uplifting entertainment to encourage seriously ill children. Through her acting, Gabriella uses her platform to be a positive influence, inspire others, and share the words she lives by, 'Dream Big~Be Kind~Love Always' to encourage everyone to spread kindness and chase their dreams.