By Tiffany Merlo Phelps
mail@floridanewsline.com
Andrew Shlosser’s career path has come full circle, beginning with a career in the film and television industry in California and, now some 20 years later, back again using videography to preserve the history of St. Johns County. What happened in the middle — becoming an emergency medical technician (EMT), a California Highway Patrol officer, a sheriff’s office deputy and a security guard — is what gave him a great sense of purpose and passion now being channeled into “Finding Saint Johns.” Shlosser’s YouTube channel, started nine months ago, has 280 subscribers and 20 videos to date. Most importantly to Shlosser, he is documenting the oral history of St. Johns County in hopes of it not being lost forever. Shlosser, his wife, Jacqueline Rodman, and 11-year-old daughter Evelyn have lived in St. Johns County for seven years. They randomly picked St. Johns County, looking to be near the ocean, first moving to Fruit Cove and then to Twenty Mile in Nocatee — a place where his very first video was shot.
Q: How did “Finding Saint Johns” get started?
A: I noticed the historical marker in Twenty Mile Village about the Twenty Mile House, and I found the history to be so interesting. I thought to myself I bet people pass by this every day and never read it. So, I did one little video on it, and I ended up receiving a lot of positive feedback. I think I really hit my stride when I did a segment on the Palm Valley Bridge. There was very little documentation on the bridge, but, when my video came out, I received so many photos and stories from locals who wanted to share their memories of the bridge. One gentleman named Bill was really excited about seeing the video, and he started to send me pictures of the old bridge being taken down and the beginning construction of the new one. No one else had pictures like this online. It was great. There were also original pictures I posted of the first bridge that came from a man who used to live in Ponte Vedra and moved to California. He was a photographer and that’s why those pics look so grainy — real film. When I received all those photos, it gave me the idea to do a follow-up to the first story.
Q: What is the most interesting aspect of St. Johns County to you?
A: For me, “The Age of Sail,” the 17th and 18th centuries that ties to St. Augustine and St. Johns County is particularly interesting. I love that the original settlers still have a presence here. It is very rare to have that established culture still here. With St. Johns County changing so quickly, it is easy to leave our history in the dust of the buildings. It is my desire to hopefully help with the preservation of history.
Q: Where did you attend college?
A: I attended Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. I was also accepted into the University of Southern California, but that seemed like too much pressure to become the next George Lucas. Loyola Marymount University, where I earned a film and television degree, seemed like a nice happy medium. I worked on a lot of TV shows in production, as a camera assistant and in lighting.
Q: How did you get interested in emergency management and law enforcement?
A: I didn’t feel like I was making a difference, so I became an EMT on an ambulance in 1993. I fell in love with it. I frequently met law enforcement personnel, and the California Highway Patrol guys convinced me that I should be a peace officer and said the California Highway Patrol was the best. At the time, they were only accepting one out of 1,000 applicants. So, it was one of the most difficult agencies to be accepted into due to the high number of applications. It was in 1997 that I received the letter saying I was accepted into the first California Highway Patrol class of January 1998, also known as CTC I-98. I later became a Sheriff’s Deputy in San Jose, Calif. In my 11 ½ years in law enforcement, I never had one complaint filed against me.
Q: How do you shoot the videos and do you have help?
A: I really don’t have help on location. It’s just me. Sometimes I bring a tripod, other times I set up the camera attached to a rock or branch, like when I placed the camera under my truck as I drove over it on the “Old Brick Road” video. Or I’ll use a gimbal and hold it with a wide-angle lens. On the bridge, I held the camera in the first person, kind of like a selfie.
Author’s note: To reach Shlosser, e-mail Findingsaintjohns@gmail.com or check out “Finding Saint Johns” on YouTube.
Photo courtesy Evelyn Shlosser
Andrew Shlosser