MICHAEL WITWER is the author of the critically acclaimed
Empire of Imagination: Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons & Dragons, a GeekDad Best Book of 2015. Michael is widely considered an expert on
D&D history and has spoken on the topic at Google as part of its
Google Talks series, on NPR's
All Things Considered, as well as at major book and gaming conventions such as the Boston Book Festival, Gen Con, and Origins.
KYLE NEWMAN is a writer/director whose directorial work includes Fanboys written by Ernie Cline, starring Kristen Bell and Seth Rogen; Barely Lethal, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Hailee Steinfeld, and Jessica Alba; and music video for artists including Lana Del Rey and Taylor Swift. Newman also produced the critically acclaimed documentary Raiders: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made. His clients include Microsoft, Interscope Records, Starz, Coca Cola, Entertainment Weekly, and Lucasfilm.
JON PETERSON is a widely recognized authority on the history of games. His book Playing at the World was called "the first serious history of the development of Dungeons & Dragons" by The Village Voice. He has contributed to academic anthologies on games including Zones of Control and the forthcoming Role-playing Game Studies: Transmedia Foundations. Jon also writes for gaming and geek culture websites including BoingBoing, the Escapist, and GamaSutra, as well as his popular RPG history blog, playingattheworld.blogspot.com.
SAM WITWER is an actor best known for his lead role in the SyFy series Being Human, for which he was nominated for a Gemini Award. He also voiced protagonist Galen Marek/Starkiller in the successful multimedia project Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, as well as the Son and Darth Maul in Cartoon Network's Star Wars: The Clone Wars, for which he was nominated for an Emmy. He continues his work in the Star Wars universe voicing the roles of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Maul in Star Wars Rebels, as well as assorted voices for the video games and film franchise. His other on-camera work includes featured roles in Once Upon a Time, Smallville, Battlestar Galactica, and Dexter.