Social media class led this UO alum to his dream job

Alex Horwitch wearing a green University of Oregon polo shirt, with a statue of Shrek out of focus in the background
Alex Horwitch ’12 has worked for corporations like NBC, Disney and DreamWorks. All photos courtesy of Alex Horwitch.

Alex Horwitch ’12 had no idea that his college acapella group would teach him how to build a successful digital marketing career. The UO School of Journalism and Communication (SOJC) alum also didn’t foresee the rise of social media impacting the rest of his life. Yet these two happenings, combined with other personal and professional opportunities, led the public relations major to the MLB, to Disney and eventually to where he is today: director of digital marketing at DreamWorks.

Alex Horwitch and other students dance while singing outdoors
Alex Horwitch ’12 performs with the UO acapella group “On the Rocks.” Being part of the all-male group earned him a gig at NBC after a video of the group went viral and they were cast on the show “The Sing-Off.”

As a sophomore, Horwitch joined the UO all-male acapella group On the Rocks to explore his passion for singing and entertainment. But what started as a fun hobby quickly turned into a hands-on learning experience for his future career.

“My first year in the group, we had a viral video where we were singing ‘Bad Romance’ by Lady Gaga, and it collected a couple million views on YouTube and landed us on a TV show on NBC called ‘The Sing-Off,’” Horwitch explained.

Horwitch credits social media strategy class for viral video

It was 2010, so the group didn’t have any branded social media, but they knew they had to capitalize on this viral moment. So they tasked Horwitch, who had just finished Kelli Matthews’ strategic social media course, with setting up a Twitter account and building a new audience.

From Matthews' class, he learned how to develop strategy for social media branding and connect with audiences. Those lessons “continue to be very helpful and something that [he’s] applying and thinking about on a daily basis.”

Horwitch also wanted to explore his other passion: sports. Serving as president of the University of Oregon’s Pit Crew — the official student section for UO Athletics — he made it his mission to incorporate the lessons he’d learned from On the Rocks and the SOJC to boost student engagement across the university’s spectrum of sports teams. Horwitch accomplished that by completely rebranding the Pit Crew using skills he’d picked up from the SOJC.

Alex Horwitch speaks into a microphone from the Oregon basketball court while standing next to the Duck mascot
Alex Horwitch ’12 (center) entertains the crowd at Matthew Knight Arena. During his time at UO, he was president of the Pit Crew, the official student section for all UO sports. He led fan activities and created communication strategies to build the student fan base.

Then, working closely with Nike legends Tinker Hatfield and Todd Van Horne, as well as former UO Assistant Athletic Director Jim Bartko and a group of close friends he knew he could rely on, Horwitch worked on turning current students into lifelong UO fans by making them feel like part of the community. To do this, the team took the “look good, feel good, play good” approach of decking out UO athletes with Nike gear and applied it to the student sections. They created “Pit Crew Jordans” and gave them away along with track jackets and more to incentivize crowds.

Harnessing social media came naturally to Horwitch

Although he graduated from the SOJC without a formal internship experience, Horwitch created his own opportunities through his clubs and classes. By the time he moved back home to LA, his knowledge of social media was a force to be reckoned with. An eager student who understood how to harness the power of this new social media “trend,” Horwitch decided to follow both of his passions — entertainment and sports — to the professional world.

“Job hunting is tough. It’s easy to get discouraged, but you need to keep pressing on,” he said. “For me, it was about finding something that I was going to be really excited and passionate about and not just something that was going to be a means to an end.”

Alex Horwitch sits in a judge's chair from the Voice
Alex Horwitch ’12 poses on the set of the NBC show “The Voice.” He created the concept of “flash casting,” where auditions were announced on social media to increase followers and build excitement.

With this mindset, Horwitch hit a home run in 2013 by not only landing a job with NBC casting for “The Sing-Off,” but also working on fan engagement and events for the LA Dodgers. Eventually, Horwitch took his talents to “The Sing-Off’s” sister show, “The Voice,” where he handled social media strategy for the casting team. There, he implemented his signature engagement and community strategies with a new idea called “flash casting.”

“We would tweet out that we were going to be at Washington Square Park in New York City at a certain time and then have people show up and audition right there,” he said. “We were trying to find those fun and different ways to use social media to connect with the audience and get people involved in the show.”

At that same time, Horwitch was recruited by the Dodgers social media team to step into a new role with Major League Baseball. This role focused on real-time content creation for the social media accounts for both teams playing, as well as MLB, and further helped him create brand presence, voice and audience-building on social media.

After working in these roles for a few years, Horwitch signed on to be part of The Walt Disney Company social strategy and audience engagement team before settling into his favorite career opportunity to date — acting as the director of digital marketing for DreamWorks Animation.

The ultimate goal is to make people happy

At DreamWorks, Horwitch set clear goals to boost the brand’s connections, community and engagement. And after almost three years, Horwitch says he spends his days proudly creating lifelong fans through exciting and meaningful entertainment.

Alex Horwitch posing in front of a sign that says "Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker World Premiere"
Alex Horwitch ’12 at the world premiere of the movie “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” As the social engagement strategist for The Walt Disney Company, Horwitch got to experience some once-in-a-lifetime opportunities like theme park openings, celebrity meetings and movie premieres.

“You’re just trying to make people happy. That's what entertainment is. You want them to buy a ticket or a T-shirt, or go to a theme park. But while they're doing all of those things, you're making them happy,” he said.

“You’re giving them a way to connect with family or friends and create memories,” he said. “When we release a trailer for a new show, you look at the comments and you see, ‘I'm so excited. This is going to be so great. I can't wait to watch this with my (parents/kids/friends/etc.).’ You're making an impact on an individual level.”

From building social strategy for shows like Gabby’s Dollhouse, to dressing his team up in Penguins of Madagascar costumes for the latest TikTok trend, Horwitch’s job incorporates the lessons he’s been learning — and teaching — throughout his career.

And on a personal level for Horwitch, who’s a dad of two young kids, it’s about good family content that he’s proud of supporting through digital marketing, and even happier to share with his own family.

Horwitch has had an incredible career working for some of the biggest brands in the world, but throughout it all, he’s never lost sight of the ideals that matter most to him — connection, engagement and building lifelong fans of the brands he works for. He’s brought those ideas from the UO Pit Crew and On The Rocks, all the way to DreamWorks, and he’s seen incredible success for his ideas and strategy. And in case you were wondering, his favorite DreamWorks films are “Prince of Egypt,” “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” and (of course) “Shrek.”

—By Jillian Gray, class of ’25

Jillian Gray is a public relations major and works as an intern for the SOJC Communication team. She also serves as an executive member of the UO PRSSA chapter. Outside of Allen, she loves to read and explore new places. Connect with her on LinkedIn.