Kathleen Lojkovic knew that she wanted to work in television from a young age. It was the summer before her sophomore year of high school, and she had the opportunity to attend a taping of local Chicago show Kennedy at Night as part of the audience. “As soon as I walked into the studio, I was hooked,” she recalls.
Now, Lojkovic is bringing that love for the television industry to a new, independent venture: her own production company, Back 2 Originals. While the company may be fairly new, Lojkovic’s experience in production is not. In fact, it would seem that Back 2 Originals has been years in the making.
Lojkovic was born in Chicago. Her family moved to Michigan during her childhood before moving back to her birthplace, where she discovered the world of television. She attended nearby Northwestern University where she majored in Radio-TV-Film. It was around this time that she also scored valuable internships working for CBS and WGN. Her first job was at the local ABC station in Chicago as a production assistant for The Friday Night Show.
Over the next three years, Lojkovic continued to work for ABC. She worked on both late night and morning talk shows, conducting interviews herself and preparing show hosts to do the same while also taking on other tasks like researching and booking. This variety was part of what made the job a dream come true for Lojkovic. “Each had unique challenges,” she says of the time. “Every day was different, which made it fun.”
Although Lojkovic loved her job, it wasn’t the right fit for her to continue at the time. After starting a family, she turned her creative talents to interior design for thirty years. This allowed her to spend more time with her children and be an active part of raising them. But she never forgot her first love. Now, she is ready to return to television with Back 2 Originals.
Lojkovic understands she is re-entering a different industry than the one she left. However, she doesn’t see this as a disadvantage. Instead, it’s an obstacle she’s eager to conquer. “I’m most proud of the fact that after all these years, I still want to be creative and be involved with new opportunities to meet people and tell their stories. The industry has changed. I’m still willing to adapt and use my background to enrich a project that I’m working on,” she says.
Back 2 Originals gives Lojkovic the chance to work on projects she is passionate about. So far, she has worked with Jamie Lee Curtis and Tika Sumpter on the film An Acceptable Loss, as well as Ice-T on The Mediator. Currently, the company is working on Mr. Livingstone, I Presume?, a show that follows interior designer Barrie Livingstone as he visits hotels around the world, learning about their culture and design. Lojkovic’s own experience in interior design lends itself nicely to the project.
Lojkovic hopes that others enjoy her work, which will give her a reason to continue it. “I would be so happy if others wanted to work with me in five years because they’re impressed with what I’ve created and they want to collaborate on some fabulous, fun project,” she says. With a slate of credits and upcoming projects as impressive as hers, it’s hard to imagine this not happening.