Andy Brandy Casagrande IV, born on 21 October 1977 in New York City, USA, is a wildlife cinematographer, best known for his work of filming sharks for some the world’s top production companies, the National Geographic and Discovery Channel.
So just how wealthy is Andy Casagrande, as of late 2017? According to sources, Casagrande has acquired a net worth of over $4 million, accumulated during his career in cinematography which now spans over 20 years.
Andy Casagrande Net Worth $4 million
Casagrande’s passion for sharks started at an early age. Propelled by this fascination, he went on to pursue an education in marine biology, enrolling at the Florida Institute of Technology in 1996. However, he soon realized that getting a degree in marine biology didn’t necessarily guarantee that he would be spending time with sharks, so he transferred to the University of Pittsburgh, graduating with a degree in biology. He then attended California State University–Long Beach, obtaining a degree in psychology, and a BA in biopsychology.
After completing his education, Casagrande found a job as a tech support engineer in a software company in Silicon Valley, using his spare time to research sharks. On one occasion, he wrote a song about sharks and sent it as an MP3 file with a job application to three shark research teams, one in the USA, one in Australia, and one in South Africa. The latter team, a research and conservation group in South Africa that has been studying Great Whites and known as the White Shark Trust, was impressed with his application and hired him as its underwater still photographer in 2003. He moved to Cape Town and went on to learn more about his favorite creatures, constantly filming their behavior, and eventually swapping his still camera for a video camera. After some time shooting with the company’s research team from inside a shark cage, he eventually ditched the cage, filming safely in Shark Alley, off South Africa’s Western Cape province. His net worth began to grow.
By the time his shooting skills were perfected, a crew from National Geographic came to film with his research team. Impressed by Casagrande’s work, they offered him a job in Washington, D.C., as a field producer and cameraman. His work for such a major producing giant soon led him to travel around the world, filming everything, from wildlife to the Antarctic, capturing the behavior of some of the world’s most fascinating creatures. It has enabled him to be provided with GoPro’s equipment all the time, and paved his way to recognition and fame. Casagrande’s wealth grew larger.
Throughout his career at National Geographic, he has been featured in numerous programs and series of the network, including “Untamed Americas”, ” Africa’s Lost Eden”, “Great Migrations”, “Superpride” and “Serpent King”, to name a few, which have made him famous in the animal world in general, and greatly contributed to his fortune.
His involvement in such a major company opened his way to working for other major names in the industry too, such as filming for Discovery Channel’s annual programming extravaganza “Shark Week”, featuring shows such as “Into the Shark Bite” and “Impossible Shot”. He has also filmed for the BBC and Animal Planet, further increasing his wealth.
Casagrande’s talent for capturing extraordinary footage earned him several awards and honors, among them two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Cinematography—Nature, and has made him a celebrity and one of the world’s most influential wildlife cinematographers, and concurrently brought him a sizable net worth.
Aside from his work for the world’s major production giants, Casagrande owns his own production company called ABC4Films, specializing in wildlife documentaries, television commercials as well as collaborating on films. This has been another source of his fortune.
Speaking about his private life, Casagrande has been married to Swedish-born Emma Walfridsson since 2010. The couple has one child together and the family resides in Naples, Florida. Along with his wife, he has promoted the sharks’ cause, serving as an ambassador for the shark conservation organization called Shark Angels.
