Guest Speaker KFOC 2016 - Eddie Pittman

Eddie Pittman



Eddie Pittman grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, where he taught himself how to draw in the back row of math class. As a kid, he won a 10-speed bicycle from the Kellog's "Stick-Up for Breakfast" Contest, which has given him years of validation in his chosen field as he has since been known as an "award winning" cartoonist. For 25 years he has worked in animation, comics, and illustration.

Eddie began his animation career with Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida, working on MulanTarzanFantasia 2000The Emperor's New Groove and Lilo & Stitch. He made his directing debut with Legends of the Night Sky: Orion, the world's first full dome (360°x 180°) traditionally animated movie, giving planetarium audiences the sensation of being immersed in a cartoon environment.

Most recently, Eddie was a writer and story artist for Disney's hit series, Phineas and Ferb and made the jump into voice acting for Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars. He now has the distinction of being the only cartoonist to play the voice of Darth Vader.

Eddie is also the creator of award winning all-ages webcomic and graphic novel series, Red's Planet, published by Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams Books. He resides in Central Florida with his beautiful wife, his two brilliant daughters and their annoying cat.



Guest Speaker KFOC 2016 - Wiley Miller

Wiley Miller

Wiley Miller has always had one simple goal: "Produce the funniest, best-drawn cartoon possible, regardless of theme, subject matter or setting." Non Sequitur has accomplished that and more: A hit with fans of all ages, the strip is distributed to more than 700 newspapers.

Wiley is the recipient of the Rueben Award, naming him Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year by the National Cartoonists Society in 2014, the most prestigious prize in cartooning. In addition to that, Non Sequitur has won four National Cartoonists Society divisional awards, and Wiley was the first cartoonist to be presented a divisional award after only one year in syndication. He's the only one ever to win in both the comic strip and comic panel categories.

"Innovation" is a constant in Wiley's approach to cartooning, and his ongoing quest to stretch the medium has been integral to Non Sequitur's success. While the strip's sardonic humor and distinctive art have given Non Sequitur an impassioned following among readers, Wiley's technical innovations have earned admiration from newspaper editors and comics connoisseurs. In addition to developing a unique drawing method that allows the cartoon to be used in either a strip or panel format, Wiley also pioneered a cost-effective way to produce the strip using process color, which gives it a depth and richness of color not seen previously on the comics page.

Wiley studied art at Virginia Commonwealth University and worked for several educational film studios in Los Angeles before joining the Greensboro, N.C., News & Record as staff artist/editorial cartoonist in 1976. After a stint at the Santa Rosa Press Democrat in California, he created his first syndicated strip, Fenton, in 1982. He returned to editorial cartooning three years later, joining the staff of the San Francisco Examiner.

In 1988, Wiley was named Best Editorial Cartoonist by the California Newspaper Publishers Association. He won the prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for editorial cartooning in 1991.

A native of California, Wiley and his family now live in Georgia.