Welcome to Team Awesome Oscar Blog, a blog dedicated to my obsessions with movies and the Academy Awards! And let me be very clear and reiterate that this blog is about the ‘entertainment business’, as in the process and work that goes into making great (or not so great) products that audiences enjoy (or not enjoy) and celebrate their achievements (or short comings). This is not, and I repeat, NOT a blog about celebrity gossip.
About Me - Jp
Besides being a complete drooling mad entertainment junkie, I am a husband to a beautiful former Peace Corp Volunteer, father of two amazing boys, a United States Foreign Service Specialist, and at times, grammatically challenged.
That said, believe it or not, I never aspirated to be a diplomat. An opportunity came my way and it just kind of happened. In reality I am an old school BBSer who excelled at computers, but found them too boring to make a life of it, so, to the complete dismay of my parents, I opted for a life in the Theatre.
As a result, I have my undergraduate degree in Theatre Performance and Direction from the College of Charleston and I have worked professionally as a performer, director, and producer in over 50 stage productions and short films.
And while I worked professionally as an actor, I stumbled into a variety of other careers:
1. Staff accountant for Putumayo Fashions.
2. Acting-assistant manager of a Hollywood Video.
3. Producer at Cartoon Network, although I was laid-off before I even started due to the AOL/Time Warner merger in 2000.
4. Staff accountant for CNN, the Atlanta Hawks, and RaceTrac Petroleum.
5. Freelance website designer.
6. High School Theatre Teacher.
Finally, in 2001 I landed a job with the Cobb County Division of Cultural Affairs, where I stayed for seven years serving in a variety of roles, including host of a local television programs profiling the best of the arts in and around Cobb County.
It was during my time at Cobb County that I decided to go back to school and received my Masters of Public Administration, which lead to my joining the United States Foreign Service… without actually having any overseas experience.
And although my career has taken numerous U-Turns, to this day, I still have very close friends who work regularly in film, television, and theatre… probably folks you’ve seen before… but this blog isn’t about me name dropping either, so I’ll move on.
Beyond my eclectic work history, I am an avid reader, home electronics nut, obsessed Atlanta Falcons fan and fantasy football addict, lover of music (although I am rusty, I play a variety of brass instruments and the piano), and a sponge when it comes to trivia… especially pointless pop culture trivia.
About Team Awesome Oscar Blog
Back in 2008 when I joined the US Foreign Service I started a blog called SchutzHappens, as an easy way for me and Serena to stay in touch with friends and family. And originally, the plan was for both of us to post our thoughts and experiences in tandem, chronicling our day by day lives in the Foreign Service. From our first tour in Belgrade, Serbia; to our temporary duty assignment in London, England for the birth of our second child; to our year apart while I served in Islamabad, Pakistan; and now our reunited tour in Paramaribo, Suriname.
And that said, while the primary focus of the blog was always our misadventures as the Schutz Family living abroad… after ten posts Serena opted out and left me to spearhead the SchutzHappens experiment… which I have… and over the last three years SchutzHappens has over 600 posts.
However, with me at the helm, SchutzHappens was no longer just a place for me to share funny stories and videos about our family adventures, or the quirks of working in the Foreign Service. Over time, my obsession with movies and television started becoming more and more prevalent. I started dedicating whole months at a time to talk about the Oscars and Emmy awards… and frankly, SchutzHappens, as a whole, lost a lot of focus.
And when I finally saw that this lack of focus existed, I realized the only way to maintain the integrity of SchutzHappens, as a blog about my family, was to create a second blog completely dedicated to my perverse interest in movies and the entertainment business, thus Team Awesome Oscar Blog was born! And I am sure... at some point, I'll also spin off into a television blog as well... but for now. Team Awesome is 100% movies!
I hope you enjoy and come back often!
About Me - Jp
Besides being a complete drooling mad entertainment junkie, I am a husband to a beautiful former Peace Corp Volunteer, father of two amazing boys, a United States Foreign Service Specialist, and at times, grammatically challenged.
That said, believe it or not, I never aspirated to be a diplomat. An opportunity came my way and it just kind of happened. In reality I am an old school BBSer who excelled at computers, but found them too boring to make a life of it, so, to the complete dismay of my parents, I opted for a life in the Theatre.
As a result, I have my undergraduate degree in Theatre Performance and Direction from the College of Charleston and I have worked professionally as a performer, director, and producer in over 50 stage productions and short films.
And while I worked professionally as an actor, I stumbled into a variety of other careers:
1. Staff accountant for Putumayo Fashions.
2. Acting-assistant manager of a Hollywood Video.
3. Producer at Cartoon Network, although I was laid-off before I even started due to the AOL/Time Warner merger in 2000.
4. Staff accountant for CNN, the Atlanta Hawks, and RaceTrac Petroleum.
5. Freelance website designer.
6. High School Theatre Teacher.
Finally, in 2001 I landed a job with the Cobb County Division of Cultural Affairs, where I stayed for seven years serving in a variety of roles, including host of a local television programs profiling the best of the arts in and around Cobb County.
It was during my time at Cobb County that I decided to go back to school and received my Masters of Public Administration, which lead to my joining the United States Foreign Service… without actually having any overseas experience.
And although my career has taken numerous U-Turns, to this day, I still have very close friends who work regularly in film, television, and theatre… probably folks you’ve seen before… but this blog isn’t about me name dropping either, so I’ll move on.
Beyond my eclectic work history, I am an avid reader, home electronics nut, obsessed Atlanta Falcons fan and fantasy football addict, lover of music (although I am rusty, I play a variety of brass instruments and the piano), and a sponge when it comes to trivia… especially pointless pop culture trivia.
About Team Awesome Oscar Blog
Back in 2008 when I joined the US Foreign Service I started a blog called SchutzHappens, as an easy way for me and Serena to stay in touch with friends and family. And originally, the plan was for both of us to post our thoughts and experiences in tandem, chronicling our day by day lives in the Foreign Service. From our first tour in Belgrade, Serbia; to our temporary duty assignment in London, England for the birth of our second child; to our year apart while I served in Islamabad, Pakistan; and now our reunited tour in Paramaribo, Suriname.
And that said, while the primary focus of the blog was always our misadventures as the Schutz Family living abroad… after ten posts Serena opted out and left me to spearhead the SchutzHappens experiment… which I have… and over the last three years SchutzHappens has over 600 posts.
However, with me at the helm, SchutzHappens was no longer just a place for me to share funny stories and videos about our family adventures, or the quirks of working in the Foreign Service. Over time, my obsession with movies and television started becoming more and more prevalent. I started dedicating whole months at a time to talk about the Oscars and Emmy awards… and frankly, SchutzHappens, as a whole, lost a lot of focus.
And when I finally saw that this lack of focus existed, I realized the only way to maintain the integrity of SchutzHappens, as a blog about my family, was to create a second blog completely dedicated to my perverse interest in movies and the entertainment business, thus Team Awesome Oscar Blog was born! And I am sure... at some point, I'll also spin off into a television blog as well... but for now. Team Awesome is 100% movies!
I hope you enjoy and come back often!
