Matt Yang King

From a sky bison to a video-game legend, Matt Yang King has built unforgettable characters using nothing but his voice. In this engaging, often hilarious talk, he pulls back the curtain on the craft of voice performance and animation, how he finds a character, builds a world in the recording booth, and brings emotion to everything from prestige animation to blockbuster games. A rare, entertaining look inside an art form most audiences have never seen up close.

The creative industries never stop changing, and thriving in them means constantly reinventing yourself. Drawing on a career that has spanned stage, television, animation, games, and writing, and a personal path that took him from violin and Aikido to Wall Street to Broadway to Hollywood, King shares candid, hard-won lessons on adaptability, resilience, and building a sustainable creative life in unfamiliar and shifting terrain.

As an Asian American actor and creator who has voiced and portrayed a wide range of characters, King speaks powerfully about representation, why whose stories get told, and who gets to tell them, matters. He shares his own experiences navigating the industry, the progress and the work still to be done, and how creators and organizations can help bring authentic voice and visibility to communities that have long been overlooked.

When King wanted to bring his original steampunk series The World of Steam to life, he built it himself, rallying a community to fund it. In this practical, inspiring talk, he demystifies crowdfunding creative projects: how to tell a story that makes people want to invest, build and sustain a community around your work, and turn a bold independent vision into something real. Essential for any artist or creator building something from nothing.