Kazimieras G. Prapuolenis

Kazimieras Gediminas Prapuolenis (born 1959), known professionally as Kaz, is an American cartoonist, animator, writer, storyboard artist, and illustrator. In the 1980s, after attending New York City's School of the Visual Arts, he was a frequent contributor to the comic anthologies RAW and Weirdo. Since 1992, he has drawn Underworld, an adult-themed syndicated comic strip that appears in many alternative weeklies. He is also known for his long tenure as a storyboard director and writer for SpongeBob SquarePants and work on shows such as Camp Lazlo and Phineas & Ferb.

Career Kaz's comics and drawings have appeared in many alternative and mainstream publications including Details, The New Yorker, Nickelodeon Magazine, The Village Voice, East Village Eye, Swank, RAW, Eclipse, N.Y. Rocker, New York Press, Screw, and Bridal Guide. He has continued to contribute to comics anthologies such as Zero Zero.

Kaz has also worked on several animated television shows including SpongeBob SquarePants, Camp Lazlo, and Phineas and Ferb. He was the co-executive producer of Get Blake!.

Kaz joined SpongeBob SquarePants as a storyboard director and writer in 2001 during the production of the series' third season and was paired with C. H. Greenblatt. The series went on hiatus after production began on The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. Shortly before production on the fourth season began in 2004, Kaz was invited by his colleague and the series' newly appointed showrunner, Paul Tibbitt, to work on an episode for the fourth season but he was never contacted by Tibbitt again and joined Camp Lazlo after leaving SpongeBob. After Phineas and Ferb ended production, Kaz returned to SpongeBob in 2015 as a writer.

With Derek Drymon, Kaz co-wrote and storyboarded the pilot episode for Diggs Tailwagger, which was ultimately not picked up. In September 2006, Kaz left Camp Lazlo to work on another pilot for a Cartoon Network show, Zoot Rumpus, based on a character from Underworld. With Mr. Lawrence, he wrote the episode SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout and is currently working on the first SpongeBob spinoff, Kamp Koral. He also serves as a writer and outliner on the second spinoff, The Patrick Star Show.

Kaz also co-wrote the screenplay for the Sandy Cheeks spinoff film, Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie, alongside Tom Stern.

Personal life Kaz lives in Hollywood, California, with his wife Linda Marotta. Kaz is of Lithuanian descent, his parents having immigrated from Lithuania.

Filmography

Television Year Title Role 2001–2004, 2015–present SpongeBob SquarePants Writer, storyboard director, story outlines, animation writer 2005–08 Camp Lazlo Writer, storyboard director, story outlines 2006 Zoot Rumpus Creator, writer, storyboard artist (pilot) 2007 Diggs Tailwagger Co-writer & storyboard artist (pilot) 2009–2013, 2015 Phineas and Ferb Writer & storyboard artist 2012 Secret Mountain Fort Awesome Prop and effects designer ("Funstro") 2015 Get Blake! Executive producer 2018 Little Big Awesome Writer (2 episodes) 2021–2024 Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years Developer, head writer, writer, animation writer, theme music composer 2021–present The Patrick Star Show Creator, developer, head writer, writer, animation writer, story outlines

Film Year Title Role 2002 God Hates Cartoons Creator of 2 animated shorts based on Kaz's comic strip Underworld 2004 The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Conception character designer 2005 SpongeBob SquarePants 4-D Ride Writer Corpse Bride Additional storyboard artist 2011 Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension Additional material, additional storyboards, storyboard artist (as KAZ) 2018 Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold Story by 2019 SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout 20th anniversary special, writer 2024 Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie Story by, writer2025 Plankton: The Movie Writer The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Story by