Interview: Rick Riordan and John Rocco (Percy Jackson)

Author Rick Riordan returns to SIDEWALKS. This time, he brings along his longtime illustrator John Rocco to talk about the new illustrated edition of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.”

Video Content: Rick Riordan and John Rocco (2018)
SIDEWALKS host Lori Rosales talks to author Rick Riordan and illustrator John Rocco about working together, Riordan’s take on the two “Percy Jackson” feature films, and their combined efforts on the illustrated edition of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.”

Mini-Biography:
Dubbed “Storyteller of the Gods” by Publishers Weekly, Rick Riordan is the author of five #1 New York Times best-selling, mythology-based series of novels that have sold 86 million copies in print in the US alone and published in 37 countries worldwide. His collection of work includes several series of novels, like “Tres Navarre,” “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” “The Kane Chronicles,” “The Heroes of Olympus,” and “The Trials of Apollo.” Collaborated with illustrator John Rocco, Riordan has two best-selling collections, “Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods” and “Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes.” Riordan also worked with Scholastic Press develop “The 39 Clues” series and its spinoffs.

Raised in Barrington, Rhode Island, John Rocco is a writer and illustrator of book covers and children’s books. He is known for known for his artwork on the covers of books in the “Percy Jackson & the Olympians” series. Previously, Rocco was an international art director and a pre-production art director at Dreamworks for “Shrek,” as well an attraction designer at Disney’s Epcot and served as art director for DisneyQuest. Some of the children books he wrote include “Wolf! Wolf!,” “Moonpowder,” “Fu Finds the Way,” “Blackout,” “Super Hair-o and the Barber of Doom,” “Blizzard,” and “Swim that Rock.”

Interview Credits:
Recorded: August 14, 2018
Host / Producer: Lori Rosales
Editor: Richard R. Lee
Special Thanks To: Disney Hyperion