Forecasting the Oscars ® since 2003

"It's not about who we want to win,

It's about who will"

ABOUT US

The Oscar® Igloo is an Academy Awards®-related website focused on providing our visitors with an all-year, professional and (primary) unbiased look at the highs and lows of the Oscar® race.

Founded in December of 2003 by Portuguese-born Johnny Alba, The Oscar® Igloo was originally an Alaska-based website until spring of 2005 when operations were transferred to the city of Los Angeles, California.

In more than four years of online presence, we have been quoted and featured in mass media as the Associated Press, The New York Times, NYLA Magazine, The Minneapolis Star Tribune and most recently, by ABC News. We have also established a year-long partnership with the entertainment website N: ZONE.

We are strong believers of our motto: “It’s not about who we want to win, it’s about who will” and we are proud of being the only website in our category that fully commits to this statement.

Our Team:

Editor

Johnny Alba

"It is important for me that our site is both informative and entertaining, and that it is not run as a personal blog as so many other Oscar websites unfortunately are," says Johnny Alba, Editor/Founder of "The Oscar Igloo," (an unbiased website devoted to the Academy Awards). Alba created the site 4 years ago in 2003, The Oscar Igloo has already received 5 million unique clicks since then. A native of Portugal, Johnny has admired American Cinema since he was a child. A self-proclaimed Oscar-lover, he was first bewitched by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences' Oscar telecast in 1995. Little did he know (11) years later, he would become the proprietor of a very popular website that informs and entertains a high number of Oscar enthusiasts all over the world.  His favorite contemporary Oscar winner is The Silence of the Lambs, while Casablanca remains as his favorite film of all time.

Johnny studied the cinema and the mass media as an undergraduate, and is currently earning a Master's Degree in Business Administration for Film/TV Production in Los Angeles. He has also become fluent in three languages including, English, Spanish and Chinese. He enjoys the film business as both hobby and profession. In addition to the 5-10 hours he spends updating the site weekly, Johnny is also enjoying life as a 23-year-old guy who loves going to bars with friends and meeting new people. Johnny welcomes comments and suggestions for his site. Feel free to email him here if you have comments or concerns.

Writers

Daniel West

Oscar Igloo critic, Daniel Wyatt West, 21, of Aheville, North Carolina, is a film enthusiast with particular interests in screenwriting and film criticism. A current undergraduate majoring in English, Daniel began writing film reviews and screenplays when he grew tired of academic and professional writing. "I started to find literary theory and standardized writing tedious," says Daniel, who knew he wanted to write for "The Oscar Igloo" and no other website. "I knew the igloo would be my choice," he says, adding "because it is the perfect dichotomy of Oscar coverage that is serious and playful." Since joining The Oscar Igloo six (6) months ago, Daniel has been pleased with his new job as a film critic. "I feel like I am part of an elite group of writers and editors who are both talented and reverent... Though some weeks I spend zero hours writing for the site, others I spend more than fifteen fun ones," he says.

Daniel also says he enjoys receiving feedback from readers and always takes their comments or suggestions into consideration. "Readers of this site are very polite and insightful, and they have helped me become more attentive to their needs," he says. Of course, Daniel admits, the rare occasion where he receives negative feedback is difficult. "It is tough to get bad feedback when you do. It happens to all writers, but when someone says "you suck," it can be hurtful."

Anyone who has read Daniel's reviews knows that he loves unique films that are interesting and honest. "Some of my favorite films include, "Mulholland Drive" "Requiem for a Dream," and "Amelie," he says. Daniel's future plans include studying literature, film and writing extensively. Some of his hobbies include, playing Bass in "Spacious Jones" (Charlotte, NC) and writing "all the time." The first Oscar telecast Daniel saw was the year that "Silence of the Lambs" dominated the awards. Since then, Daniel has tuned into the big dance every year.

Clayton A. Davis Jr.

22-year-old Clayton A. Davis Jr.,. has been fascinated by the Oscars since he was a child growing up in the Bronx, NY. "I would watch a movie and think, "Wow, this is good. It should get some kind of recognition...The Oscars recognize good art. They are a celebration of Hollywood and I've always wanted to be a part of it," he says.

Indeed, movies are always on Clayton's mind, as he says the job of a film critic doesn't begin or end with the manual labor aspect of the job. "Being a film critic is a 24-hour a day job. I am always thinking, developing my opinion, and finding new ways to articulate my thoughts," he says. Asked what kinds of films he enjoys most, Clayton replied, "Dramatic, independent features that are attention getting," adding, "I also enjoy comedies and summer action flicks. Clayton's says working on the site has taught him a great deal about film's complexity and the accuracy of criticism. "I've learned you can't know if you like a film or a performance after one viewing ," he says. Though he studied Communications and American Studies as an undergraduate at Saint Peter's College, Clayton's dream is to become an actor or write entertainment stories. His current job is as a secondary education teacher in NJ. A huge Yankee fan, he also watches soccer and college basketball.

Clayton says the first Oscar show that got him hooked on the Oscars was the 1998 Academy Awards. "Titanic won Best Picture and I watched the show in its whole," he says. Asked why he thinks people love this website, Clayton responded, "Because they get their fifteen minutes of fame. Being an Oscar fan is often a lonely road and it's hard to find people who share one's interest. Here at the igloo, you have your buddies and it feels great!," he says. To date, Clayton's reviews draw the largest fan base of any critic on the site.

Lee Emil Hernandez

At Saint Peter's College, (The Jesuit College of New Jersey), Lee Emil Hernandez, 22, of West New York, NJ, is a Senior Communications major with minor concentrations in Film Criticism, Philosophy on Film, Advanced Screenwriting and Journalism. In addition to his work as a critic for "The Oscar Igloo," Lee is also a published reporter and national correspondent with several publications, including, Gateway Guide and Jersey City Magazines; Teen People Magazine's "Ask US," section, The Daily Jersey Journal, The Hudson Reporter Newspaper Group, and The Newark Star-Ledger. He is a "Journalism Scholar," having graduated from the Freedom Forum's prestigious Allen H. Neuharth Free Spirit Journalism Conference in Washington, D.C., on First Amendmant Issues; and national correspondent for Sex Etc., at Rutgers University (sxetc.org). Twice, Lee has won First Place in News Writing and Reporting from The New Jersey Press Association's Better College Newspaper Contest, and once, he won an award from the New Jersey Press Women's Annual Contest for a review of the Method Man/Red Man film "How High," entitled, "How High, How Low?"

Though most of his knowledge, experience and opportunity has been in straight-forward objective journalism and news writing, Lee says he enjoys writing film reviews and entertainment articles more than anything else. "I love writing about the entertainment industry; about a field that brings happiness to so many, that educates, that informs, and is uplifting!, he says. Lee admits his limited education in film theory and criticism hinders him from being perceived as a critic for the masses, at least for the time being. "I do not consider myself a professional critic... Suffice it to say I haven't had the necessary training for such a field. However, I will. In the next year, I look forward to attending a good graduate dramatic writing program to further my study of film criticism and writing for media." Until then, Lee says, he will work hard and do his best to provide Igloo readers with informative and entertaining material. Some of Lee's favorite films as a child included comedies starring Hollywood's biggest names, including, "The First Wives Club," "Look Who's Talking and Look Who's Talking Now," "Dumb and Dumber," and "My Best Friend's Wedding, and "Naked Gun 33 and a third." Since becoming educated in the art of film and criticism, Lee has not lost interest in films like the ones he saw as a child. In fact, he still ranks them among the best films he has ever seen! Still, in light of greater education that has led to a better understanding of what constitutes a good film, an enduringly good film, Lee has also grown to love many other, more honed pictures, including, "Shattered Glass," "Schindler's List," "Finding Neverland," "Sideways," "The Squid and the Whale," and "American Beauty." His favorite film of all time, however, is Kenneth Lonergan's 2001 drama, "You Can Count On Me." Lee's favorite film critics include, Susan Sontag, Pauline Kael, Richard Roeper and Ben Samara (of this very site!) Lee's reviews tend to illicit greater response and interest from readers interested in the philosophical foundations and aspects of film.

Tom Houseman

The first time Tom Houseman watched the Oscars from start to finish was in 2000 at the age of thirteen, when he cheered for American Beauty and would tell anyone who would listen that the Academy’s bias against child actors kept them from awarding the deserving Haley Joel Osment. Since then he has been addicted, watching every Oscar contender despite consistently being disappointed by the Academy’s picks. Tom is currently an undergraduate student at Bard College, where he is majoring in film; he hopes to become a writer/director and pick up a couple of Oscars himself. He is also the Arts & Entertainment editor of the Bard Observer (observer.bard.edu), for which he also writes movie reviews.

Tom started visiting The Oscar Igloo on a regular basis in April, when he started competing in the Bait an Oscar contest. After winning the July contest with his bait The Great Fitzgerald, Tom decided that he wanted to write for The Oscar Igloo, and is happy to be a part of this great team. For those curious, Tom’s favorite movies include Memento, The Princess Bride, The Shawshank Redemption, Empire Records, and Harvey. However, he believes that the best movie he has ever seen is The Godfather, with Citizen Kane as a close second. Most importantly, Tom loves people telling him what they think of his writing, and while he enjoys positive feedback, he equally enjoys criticism (after all, he is a critic himself) as he feels it will help him be a better writer.

Josh Kirschenbaum

Josh Kirschenbaum, of Westchester, NY, has been addicted to movies since he was 13. His first major experience with the Oscars was when he saw Network and found out that it had lost best picture to Rocky. He devoted his life to understanding how his favorite movie of all time could lose to a Sylvester Stallone boxing movie and has been watching the Oscars religiously ever since. He doesn’t always agree with their choices but enjoys the ceremonies nonetheless.

Josh started visiting the Oscar Igloo in 2005 when he had $20 riding on the best picture race and needed counsel on who to bet on (he ended up putting his money on Brokeback Mountain). He lost the bet but gained a new hobby: Oscar Prognosticating. He started writing for the Igloo in September, after noticing a “Writers Wanted!” ad on the homepage. He spent the better part of that day typing his resume. He enjoys reading the film reviews of The New York Times, The New Yorker, and New York Magazine. His favorite movies include Barton Fink, Brazil, Amadeus, Badlands, and of course, Network.

Joey Magidson

Joey Magidson is 20 years old and currently a student at Stony Brook University after completing two years at Brooklyn College. He has lived in Brooklyn all his life and is a New Yorker through and through. He has taken some screenwriting courses (and wrote a short script that he plans to film in the next year or two) but at the moment prefers to simply be an Oscar commentator. His love of the Academy Awards began shortly after his parents bought him his first DVD (The Silence of the Lambs). Seeing how the film won so many awards, his interest was piqued. Many telecasts and about 700 DVDs later, Joey came to The Oscar Igloo out of curiosity early in the 2006 Oscar season. He fell in love and now is ready to help contribute to the site in any way that he can.

Joey's 3 favorite movies are The Shawshank Redemption, Chasing Amy, and Pulp Fiction. He loves the writing of Kevin Smith and Charlie Kaufman. He is fascinated by the direction of Darren Aronofsky.

Myles Hughes

18 year-old Bethesda, Maryland resident Myles Hughes can trace his love of movies back to the age of five, when his babysitter took him to see that summer's most popular film: "Independence Day". His interest in the Oscars arose the year that "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" dominated the proceedings. At the time, Myles had no idea what categories like Best Art Direction or Best Editing were for, and he had never heard of Sean Penn or Tim Robbins. He enjoyed the ceremony, but was frustrated because he had never seen most of the films being honored. Thus, he resolved that next year, he would start looking into the movies that were likely to get Oscar nominations, so that when the awards show came around again he would be more well-informed. And so the new yearly ritual began. Myles has lived and traveled all over the world, from Cleveland, New York, Albuquerque, and Las Vegas, to London, Athens, Paris, and Jamaica. He has an intensive theatrical background, and hopes to study film in Chicago next year. He tries to average watching at least three new movies a week (sometimes more in the midst of Oscar season). His all time favorites include "A Beautiful Mind", "American Beauty", "The Godfather", and "The Silence of the Lambs". Over the last few years, he has had a habit of seeking out films that ultimately receive awards attention (his favorite film last year was "The Lives of Others", which went on to win Best Foreign Language Film). Myles is thrilled to be writing for The Oscar Igloo and having the opportunity to express his views on the upcoming race, with his excitement only matched by that of his friends and family, who are glad he now has an outlet to tell people what he thinks about the Oscars so that they don't have to hear him go on nonstop from December to February.

And:

Robert Cameron
Kelly Doucette
Lee Shoquist

If you are interested on becoming a part of The Oscar® Igloo's team of writers, Email Us!

ABOUT THIS SITE

Why Igloo?
This website was founded in Juneau, Alaska back in December of 2003 by Johnny Alba. As homage to the first city he called “home” upon his arrival to America from Portugal, The Oscar® Igloo is a name that shares both a cultural reference and a personal meaning for its creator.

What makes this site different?
Our professionalism and impartiality. We are not a personal website or a blog, we are committed to bring you an unbiased look at the Academy Awards as a fully established online resource.

How can I write for The Oscar® Igloo?
We are always welcoming motivated and talented writers that share our passion for film and the Academy Awards, and that are seeking for a place to grow professionally. To apply for a volunteer position on this website send your personal/academic information to our editor (click here) along with a sample of your work. You will be contacted immediately. *LA/NY writers preferred (over 18 years old).

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