Fred Northup, Jr

Early life

Fred Northup, Jr. was born in Jackson, Mississippi to Fred Northup, Sr., an Episcopal minister, and Julie Northup, an employment lawyer. Northup's family moved frequently during his youth – by the time he'd entered high school, his family had already lived in Memphis, Tennessee, Paris, France, Rye, New York, and Lake Charles, Louisiana. He attended his First year of high school as a boarding student at The McCallie School, and when his family moved to Seattle he completed his three remaining years at Lakeside School.

Northup became interested in both performing and video production at a young age. He starred as Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol while in Lake Charles, and later starred as Motel Kamzoil in Fiddler on the Roof at Lakeside School. It was at Lakeside where Northup also began making short films. After graduating from Lakeside School in 1991, he enrolled at New York University in the Tisch School of the Arts, where he studied Film and Television Production and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1995.

Entertainment writer and producer

While at New York University, Northup was offered an internship at Saturday Night Live in its Film Unit, the unit primarily responsible for creating the fake commercials. During the course of the internship, Northup was offered a paid staff position, and he took a leave of absence from NYU to work full-time at Saturday Night Live. It was also at NYU that Northup met Ryan McFaul, a fellow student who would become an important creative partner with Northup years later.

Northup left Saturday Night Live when the show went on hiatus and re-entered NYU. It was then that he was offered an internship with the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in Los Angeles. Northup moved to Los Angeles to work for Warner Bros. Television as part of this internship, first shadowing Senior Vice President Steve Pearlman, and later working in production on the television show Living Single. Upon the completion of the internship, Northup finished his degree and graduated in 1995. He returned to Warner Bros. Television immediately after his graduation, where he worked in the network research department.

Northup left Warner Bros. Television in 1997 to return home to Seattle. He was hired by Microsoft Game Studios to work as a creative writer and was responsible for the creative scripting, music, story, voice-over, and casting in numerous projects, including Midtown Madess 3, NBA Inside Drive 2002, Project Gotham Racing 2, and Forza Motorsport. While in this capacity, Northup also provided voice-over work for Midtown Madness 3 and Project Gotham Racing.

In 2005, Northup left Microsoft to found his own film and video production company, Southdown Creative. He partnered with film-school friend Ryan McFaul, and the two have co-created a number of award-winning corporate and commercial projects. Additionally, Northup directed and produced two seasons of The Local Music Show, a Seattle Channel television show featuring Seattle-area artists and music videos, hosted by KEXP's John Richards. He also served as the assistant director of Adult Swim's "Fat Guy Stuck in Internet".

Improviser, Emcee, and Fundraising Auctioneer

Northup is a sought after comedy improvisor, emcee, and fundraising auctioneer. From 2001 until 2011, he was a company member of Unexpected Productions and a regular emcee and comedy improviser in its TheatreSports shows. He has acted on multiple episodes of The (206), and he has emceed and performed live comedy improv at major events for Microsoft, Boeing, Starbucks, Expedia, Amazon.com, the University of Washington, and others. Additionally, he has auctioneered at fundraisers around the country for the March of Dimes, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Lakeside School, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the Museum of Flight, and many more. Northup is a graduate of the Western College of Auctioneering in Billings, Montana.

Musician

Northup played with the Seattle-based rock group "Severna Park" in the 1990s, and first crossed paths with Chris Ballew as label-mates on the record label Collective Fruit. Years later, Northup re-connected with Ballew and joined him as a percussion player with his group, Caspar Babypants. Northup appeared as a guest percussionist and vocalist on four Caspar Babypants' CDs, and was a regular performer at most live shows for three years, until 2012. He wrote the lyrics to the song "Litty Ditty", which appears on the 2010 album, "This is Fun!"

Personal life

Northup, his wife Ashley, and their family reside in Seattle, Washington. In addition to the awards won by Southdown Creative, Northup won the 2005 Seattle Works "Volunteer of the Year" award, and the 1998 Seattle Police Department "Good Citizen" award for his work against domestic violence.

Northup's younger brother, Temple, has also left his mark on the entertainment and comedy scene. After graduating from Wake Forest University, Temple followed in Northup's footsteps by taking a job at Warner Bros. Television. During his seven years in Los Angeles, Temple worked on over 180 episodes of produced television, spending the last four years as a writer on UPN's Half & Half, which garnered Temple a BET nomination for "Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series." After receiving his PhD in Mass Communication from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Temple accepted a teaching position with the University of Houston.