Ucap @ Usc • Talking With a Nerdy Jock, Osahon Tongo

7/27/2019 Ucap @ Usc • Talking With a Nerdy Jock, Osahon Tongo

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Talking with the Nerdy Jock Osahon Tongo

Osahon, the Nerdy Jock, is into the cinematic arts, social mediaand sports (he had a full scholarship to play football at Georgia

Tech). He’s currently pursuing his MFA at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

You call yourself a nerdy jock. 2 things that are typically antithetical of eachother. Can you elaborate on what makes you a nerdy jock?

I think all of us are eclectic mixes of our backgrounds and our passions. I’ve played sports my whole life. That was my social plug in to American culture as a first-generation American. My parents always pushed education so I was doing Odyssey of the Mind creative projects and chessclub tournaments on the weekends and at the same time mastering the perfect kickballtrajectory at recess. I’m very passionate and dedicated about everything I do. It’s a hackermentality, I guess. I use that nerdy fascination and the urge to solve problems mixed with theathletic work-ethic and finesse and that forms to my identity.

Getting a four-year athletic scholarship for division 1 football must be

exciting , especially at an athletically notable school like Georgia Tech, can

you talk a little bit about that experience, the highs and the lows?

I had a great experience at Georgia Tech. I was around a lot of amazing people everyday in Atlanta. I learned a lot about how to solve problems and a lot about myself when put intodifficult situations. I love my teammates and the camaraderie of a football team. My senior year

we ended up pulling everything together and winning the ACC Championship and going to theOrange Bowl; I wouldn’t trade that experience for the world. You learn a lot about teamwork

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and mental toughness playing at that level and I think a lot of that translates into film. You start with a dream and you turn it into a reality by pulling the best out of everyone involved. I wasalso involved with the National College Players Association and I still am involved and we are

working to help reform some of the laws that the NCAA has in place that systematically oppresspeople. You may have heard of concussion cases and amateurism being contested but that really

just scratches the surface when it comes to the social issues that plague college athletics. OverallI have so much love and respect for my experience and the people that helped shape me alongthe way and I have been blessed with a wealth of opportunities and capitalizing on those

opportunities brought me to the best film school in the country here at USC so I’m very gratefuland I can’t see my life’s journey any other way.

A few years ago, you were a digital marketing coordinator for CNN at one

point, managing their Facebook and twitter profiles. Between then and now,

what has changed in the online and social media marketing landscape and

what do you see in the future for how brands interact with consumers?

I have a lot of thoughts…I think the fact that there is so much attention and money pouring

through social media and tech startups is amazing. I just read that San Francisco has the highestpopulation of millionaires in the country, 1,600 of them because of Twitter’s IPO. That’sextremely inspiring to see that young people have the potential to find avenues outside of thetraditional work structure and be wildly successful. I saw how social media also changed thesocial consciousness of the world by helping in the Arab Spring and I have some friends inTunisia that I met through AIESEC and I learned how important social media was in organizingthat social movement to overthrow a government. College students overthrew a government, letthat sit in for a minute. I think storytelling is the future. With consumers getting smarter andalso consuming so much more content that a Facebook banner is not doing it anymore. Youreally have to organize and galvanize a sub-culture with storytelling. Hip-hop has been doing it

for years, Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y have been giving their “followers” names and tags thatempowers them and gives them a sub-culture to connect to and share with. If a company canfoster an environment for people to be themselves then they will win online. But they can only do that by creative and artful storytelling.

You are pursuing a Masters in Fine Arts at USC in cinema and directing,

what are some projects you can talk about that you’re currently working on,

either on your own time or for school?

I’ve finished a couple projects in school. One with Elijah Steen from the Trojan Football teamcalled “Beast” and I also finished “I’m Good” last semester. I am working on a Nigerian culturalcoming of age story called “African Stew” and I am doing sound on a short film in CTPR 546called “Drone”. Drone is starring Daniel Sharman and Michael Trucco and it takes a look at theUS Drone pilot program and that comes out May10th at Norris Theater. You can find some of my work on www.vimeo.com/osahontongo.

The Creative Coup is a collective of artists starting from USC and I’ll keep you updated on whatis going on with that, but it’s pretty exciting.



Learn More about Osahon Tongo

Instagram: @nerdyjoqTumblr: nerdyjoq.tumblr.com Website: osahontongo.com

#osahon tongo#nerdy jock#usc#USC cinema#interviews

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Ucap @ Usc • Talking With a Nerdy Jock, Osahon Tongo