If you were to open my family album you would see photos of little girls with toothless grins, vacations at the beach, and endless pages of family holidays. But if you open the photograph album in the home of Oz and V. J. Roberts you will view a virtual who’s-who of national and international dignitaries, athletes and entertainers.

There’s a photo of Oz with former President Gerald Ford; Oz with Crystal Gayle; Oz with Yogi Berra; Oz with Olympian Dan Jansen and the list goes on and on. As director of corporate photography and meeting production coordinator for AFLAC, Inc.’s worldwide headquarters in Columbus, Ga., it’s been Oz’s job for 20 years to photograph the company’s famous guests.

As I turn page after page, Oz has a story for each celebrity. “We built a stage for Little Richard,” he recalls when I flip to the picture of the legendary rock ‘n’ roll performer. “What we didn’t realize was that he was going to invite the audience to join him on-stage while he sang. About 300 people were on that stage and we were worried it wouldn’t hold all the weight.”

But, it did.

Oz’s ability to create a special touch for each guest has brought praise and appreciation from his subjects. “Jean Kirkpatrick is always photographed standing. I convinced her to sit for her photograph and she liked the result,” Oz said. Orchestrating appropriate backdrops challenges his creative eye. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was photographed standing in front of a maple leaf coupled with the Union Jack at an AFLAC event in Canada. “Prime Minister Thatcher really liked that backdrop,” Oz said.

Oz’s production experiences for AFLAC opened the door for an opportunity to work with the Miss Georgia pageant in 1995. “A friend that was on the board of the pageant needed some help back stage,” Oz explained. “The next year the producer... asked me to work with him because he appreciated my production skills. I accepted because the producing aspects were similar to what I was doing at AFLAC. The following year he wanted to retire and turn the pageant production over to me. I’ve been producer/director for the past nine years.”

The Miss Georgia contestants appreciate his professionalism and dedication to the pageant. The sister of Tiffany Johns, president of All Terrain Group entertainment marking in Nashville, has competed in the Miss Georgia pageant twice and sings Oz’s praises.

“He’s fabulous!” Tiffany said. “He does a great job with the Miss Georgia pageant. He makes every one of those girls feel like they belong there. The contestants come with varying experiences, varying talents and Oz instills enough confidence in them to put on the performance of their lifetime by the end of the week.” Oz’s work has not only been appreciated by contestants, but the television industry as well. Oz received an Emmy award for his production of the 1997 Miss Georgia pageant.

Oz began his career in production and direction when he worked at Student Activities while attending UGA in the early 1980's. Tommy Altmann, assistant director of student affairs at UGA, remembers Oz as being very involved, energetic and creative during his days as a student in Athens.

“He was a character!” Tommy said. “He was a bit of a perfectionist, but in a good way. He was one of those students you know will do well. I just wonder how he’s sustained his energy all these years.”

That energy turned up all over campus while Oz was a student. As a member of the Redcoat Band, he became known for turning back flips when the band spelled out U-G-A during halftime.

“I’d do a back flip in a different letter each week. Everyone wondered where I’d be from week to week.” It became his trademark. Fellow UGA alumni Deborah Roberts of ABC’s 20/20 is a long-time friend.

“I remember before we met that I was taken by the guy who always did the back flips on the field during half time.” Deborah recalls. “It turns out that it was Oz. That's his personality exactly. He flips over the joys in life and has a zest for the beauty of it all. He's a dear, dear friend.”

Flipping “over the joys in life” couldn’t be more true. After his name was announced as the winner of the ‘97 Emmy for the Miss Georgia Pageant, he did a back flip on his way to accept his award. “I was excited,” he explained.

But Oz is not the only star in the Roberts family. Vanessa Jane “V. J.” Weeks Roberts is an actress who began her career in New York after graduation from UGA’s drama department. The Big Apple in 1983 was a wonderful place to begin a career for a 23-year-old from Gainesville, Ga.

“I had so much fun,” V. J. said with a reminiscing twinkle in her eyes. “I bought a round trip ticket for New York on AMTRAC. I remember standing in the middle of New York and feeling like ‘this is where I am supposed to be’.”

V. J. stayed in New York for 10 years working in children’s theater and in off Broadway productions. She decided to moved to Los Angeles where there would be more opportunities to work in films. That’s when she shortened her name to V. J., “Very Joyous,” she says with a smile. And opportunities began opening themselves for her.

She appeared in the film Bonfire of the Vanities with Tom Hanks, Melanie Griffith and Morgan Freeman and in An Inspector Calls with Stacey Keach and Cecily Tyson, as well acting in several sit-coms. Her experiences on both coasts were positive.

“The people who are the biggest stars are the nicest,” she said. “On the whole, people were very generous to me. Very helpful.”

V. J. and Oz knew each other while students at Georgia, but they didn’t begin dating until V. J. was pursuing her acting career in California. She said she first took her real look at Oz on a visit with friends back home in Georgia. Trying to impress the beautiful V. J., Oz announced, “I can do back flips,” which he proceeded to demonstrate. Oz called it his attempt at “a mating ritual,” which evidently worked. The two began a long-distance courtship.

Somewhere between V. J.’s visits back to Georgia to see family and Oz’s trips to the west coast on behalf of AFLAC, Oz proposed. V. J., a professed list–maker, showed Oz a pad of paper from her purse upon which she had listed her life’s goals. On it was written “find life mate”- a goal V. J. had scratched off after that back-flip!

V. J.’s move back to Georgia didn’t mean the end of her career in front of the camera or on stage. As the senior technical trainer for TSYS, the second largest credit card processing company in the world, she now makes corporate films in which “I am the star!” she laughs. Her work with the Human Experience Theater in Columbus, which she describes as “avant-garde theater at its best” allows her to help local actors sharpen their craft as well as keep her own talents honed. Among their involvement with many community organizations in Columbus, V. J. and Oz are active in the Springer opera house as well as Georgia’s Historic State Theater.

V. J. and Oz look back at their days at UGA with great enthusiasm. “I had a good time!” Oz said. “I’m still friends with the people I knew at UGA. We still get together.” V. J. agrees:
“ UGA was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. It was just wonderful. You couldn’t buy the connections we made at the University.”

From heads of state to Olympic champions, the collection of pictures in the Robert’s album is pretty impressive. But both Oz and V. J. agree that the most important photographs in their family album have only just been added. The couple’s first child, Jessica Nicole, was born last spring.

“Everyone was so excited that we had a child,” Oz beams. “As a friend said to me once about the birth of his son, I can also relate to having our daughter. ‘Prior to having Jessica, my life was in black and white. Now it’s in color.’ She’s changed our lives for the better. We only want to look at her and spend a great deal of time watching her grow.”

And what about those back flips from his days at UGA - does Oz still do them? “Only for money,” he laughs.