About The Speaker
Mary Franklin
Mary Franklin is the Head of Events for Crunchyroll, the world’s most popular anime brand with more than 70 million registered users and over three million subscribers. In this role, Franklin is responsible for driving the overall events strategy for the platform, including the execution and operation of more than 20 domestic events and Crunchyroll’s yearly flagship convention Crunchyroll Expo. A veteran in the fan event space, Franklin joins Crunchyroll from ReedPOP, where she led Comic Con teams outside North America, as well as the team that produces Star Wars Celebration in cooperation with Lucasfilm. In the global arena, Franklin led Comic Con launches in Vienna, Jakarta, Beijing, Shanghai, Paris, South Africa, and Seoul. Prior to ReedPOP, Franklin spent fourteen years at Lucasfilm, where she was Head of Events & Fan Relations, and the Lucasfilm lead on Celebration. Referring to the fan festival as Lucasfilm’s “Love letter to Star Wars fans,” Franklin cares passionately about creating events that are milestones for attendees. Lucasfilm recruited her from the fan community after following her leadership in one of the first Star Wars online fan-run organizations. In addition to events and fan relations, Franklin has enjoyed careers as a professional cowhand, commercial fishing boat deckhand, bartender, and weight training instructor, as well as a stint in Antarctica working with penguins.