P E O P L E
Big Screen Dreams
TV producer Casey Kasprzyk found success in the world of soap operas By Kamala Kirk rom a young age, Casey Kasprzyk knew that he wanted to work in the entertainment industry. He attended Chapman University for the school’s film and television production program, where he helped produce various late night and business shows. “I was inspired by the film ‘Back to the Future’ and wanted to make movies like that one day,” Kasprzyk says. “I aspired to be the next Steven Spielberg or Robert Zemeckis. Then I went to film school and realized there was a difference between film and TV and how they’re produced. Film production is a very different world. I gravitated more towards television, I liked the controlled environment inside a studio with set hours. I knew at a young age what I wanted to do, and I’m fortunate that I went to school for it and have a job in this industry.” In college, Kasprzyk was very involved in student activities and was associated students president. During the last semester of his senior year, he landed an internship with the CBS soap opera “The Bold and the Beautiful” and drove from Orange County to Los Angeles twice a week. “My friend Diane had interned there and I thought it would be fun because I watched the show,” Kasprzyk says. “I really enjoyed the internship.” After graduating from Chapman University in 2001, Kasprzyk enrolled in the graduate television program at Loyola Marymount University. He gained industry work experience through various internships including the Game Show Network and Fox Sports, and was a page at Television City. “I got exposure to television shows like ‘American Idol,’ ‘The Price Is Right’ and ‘Hollywood Squares,’ it was really cool to have that opportunity,” Kasprzyk says. “During my internship at Fox Sports I always had ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’ on TV, but whenever someone would come into my office I changed the channel back to sports. I was always
PHOTOS BY CHRIS MORTENSON
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Casey Kasprzyk is an Emmy Award-winning television producer who has worked for the CBS soap opera “The Bold and the Beautiful” since 2003.
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more interested in what was going on with B&B, which reinforced that it was where I wanted to be.” In 2003 during his final year at LMU, Kasprzyk was hired to work at the front desk for B&B. He started out performing various administrative duties, which included answering phones and making copies of scripts, but quickly worked his way up. “At B&B, everyone starts at the front desk,” Kasprzyk says. “That’s what’s so special about working there, it’s a family-run production company and the Bell family who owns it is amazing. My boss, Brad Bell, really set a tone at the company that creates a family atmosphere and most of the employees have been there a very long time. That’s the secret sauce of the show.” Kasprzyk caught the attention of his boss and the show’s producers after he created entertaining videos for the company’s anniversary and Christmas parties. “After that, I started making videos for our website,” Kasprzyk says. “In 2008 after being with the company for five years, I became associate producer and helped with the creative aspects of the show, quality control, and helped move the show forward transitioning to high definition. I also supervise digital effects, and spend a lot of time in post-production editing montages and sequences. I have also directed several episodes. I always say that I don’t write the show, I look for ways to help enhance it creatively.” Kasprzyk eventually became the show’s location coordinator, scouting and securing places to shoot. “Brad and I started collaborating to make LA more of a character on the show,” Kasprzyk says. “It usually starts with him asking me where we could go that would be fun and different, like if a character is going to propose or there’s going to be a wedding. We’ve filmed in a lot of Westside locations like Malibu and Marina del Rey. On an episode, one of the show’s main characters, Stephanie, had a
