about sam pond & pond creative

On Pond Creative

We write, produce and direct extremely wonderful and funny stuff – creating vibrant characters and hilarious stories for advertising and entertainment.

On Sam Pond

Sam is a nationally and internationally recognized writer and director in the media of radio and television. As a past member at some of the best advertising agencies in the country – Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, Hal Riney & Partners, Chiat/Day – Sam was also founder and creative director of Blazing Paradigm, a thirty-person strategic entertainment company, which developed advertising and branded content for a variety of clients, including The North Face’s award-winning documentary series, Expeditions. (By the way, Sam coined the tagline, “Never Stop Exploring” for The North Face.)

Sam teaches comedic acting and writing at his own studio as well as VoiceTrax, VoiceOne and Pixar Studios. Recently, Sam created Pond Voice Casting, celebrating 30 years of collecting the most unique and original voices imaginable.

Before advertising, Sam was an Equity actor and director, working in repertory theaters and off-Broadway. Most notably, he was a principal actor at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland (when it won the Tony Award for Best Regional Theater.)

Sam is also a public speaker in high demand on the topics of radio, comedy and advertising,  a popular stand-up comic on the San Francisco scene and playwright. (For more on his latest work, visit www.pantsonfireplay.com.)

Awards
Golds and Silvers in the following: Clios, National Addies, CA (5 inclusions), Cannes Lion, One Show (including Best of Show), San Francisco Show (including Best of Show) the Howard Gossage Award for Copywriting, London International Awards, Obies, National Radio Mercury Awards, $1,000,000 EAR Awards Best of Show.

Juries
D&AD (and keynote speaker)
Clio Awards
One  Show Awards (and presenter)
London International Awards
National Radio Mercury Awards (and presenter)

In The News
New York Times
San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Examinier
Ad Age

Pond Creative
Our mission is to create the most lively, entertaining and engaging stuff on the planet via character, story and comedy.

Celebrities
Dave Chappelle
Morgan Freeman
Sting
Siegfried & Roy
Lorenzo Music
Mike Tyson
Lynn Hill
Conrad Anker
John Elway
Dennis Farina
Mary Gross

Clients

What People Say

“When the great Sam Pond has a pet project and asks if you’ll contribute…you don’t ask what the project is, you don’t ask how much time you have to do it, you don’t ask ANYthing other than “where’s the script”… you start talking into the mic… and pray that you end up somewhere in the ballpark of doing his words justice.”
–Adam Harrington, Voice Actor

“Sam Pond has a wonderful way of solving communications issues with full creativity. He brings radio scripts to life in a way that produces positive sales results. He is highly collaborative, he underpromises and overdelivers at every opportunity and can find humor in any radio script.”
–Kelly Kaplan, President, Revive Personal Products, New York

“Sam Pond is simply the best. I worked with him at Hoffman/Lewis and recently with Duluth Trading. In every case Sam’s radio hit home runs.”
–Roger Lewis, President, Data Mining CRL, Florida

“Sam Pond is terrific to work with and terrific at what he does. If you’re even thinking about using radio, you need to speak with him. He’s that good.”
–Terry De Voto, President, Northern California Broadcasters Association, San Francisco

“When it comes to creativity, Sam Pond is king. Not only does he create some of the best ads in the world, he is incredible to work with. As a voice talent, I have worked with many, many, many producers. I have never worked with a producer who is better than Sam Pond.”
–Max McGill, Voice Actor and Educator at MaxVox, Ohio

“If there’s comedy involved, hire Sam Pond to direct it. I have never worked with anyone who has such an immediate understanding of what makes us laugh. The time and detail that Sam puts into ‘handcrafting’ the dialog, and the exploration of the characters brings about the best performances. Sam is also the most collaborative director I have ever worked with. He will always include the actors in the creative process. There is no ego involved with Sam. Sam wants a great finished project, and does not care where the inspiration comes from. You don’t work FOR Sam, you work WITH him. Honestly, I think Sam Pond could get a great performance out of just about anyone.”
–Brian Sommer, Voice Actor, San Francisco

“It has been my honor to have Sam Pond use me as voice talent on several of his commercials, including a TV spot that won ADDY Gold. I also had an opportunity to view Sam’s work in a competitive atmosphere when I was Bay Area ADDY Awards Chair. I can safely say that in my opinion, he is the best radio writer/ producer in the Bay Area.”
–J.S. Gilbert, Voice Actor, San Francisco

“Sam Pond is a natural-born story teller. He can weave a compelling narrative from any communications objective, strategy statement, or messaging goal, and infuse it with humor, wit and color. His work is original, persuasive and darn funny. His characters and scenarios, exceptional performances by talent he casts and directs, and exceedingly high standards for production coalesce to yield highly appealing, and often hilarious, results. Sam is collaborative, professional, and simply loads of fun to work with. Do so. I highly recommend it.”
–Cathy Campbell, Art Director/Creative Director, San Francisco