Adam Lisagor
Adam David Lisagor (born February 25, 1978)[1] is an American commercial director and the founder of Sandwich Video, an Internet and television commercial production company. He has also made on-camera appearances as a pitchman for various tech companies and products.
Adam Lisagor | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | New York University (BFA, 2000) |
Occupation | Founder, Sandwich Video (2010 – present) |
Years active | 2000-present |
Known for | Sandwich Video |
Children | 2 |
Website | Official website |
Early life and education
Lisagor was born and raised in Camarillo, California.[2][3] He graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 2000 with a BFA in film production.[1][4]
Career
Visual effects
After editing for a commercial production company in New York, in 2002 Lisagor returned to Los Angeles,[3] where he began working in visual effects on films.[2][4] He worked for the visual effects company Hydraulx from 2003 to 2008[5] as a visual effects coordinator and compositor on films such as The Day After Tomorrow, Æon Flux and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem.[6]
Sandwich Video
Lisagor shot his first web commercial in 2009 for Birdhouse, an iPhone app he developed with his collaborator Cameron Hunt, for drafting and publishing writing on Twitter.[1][7] To promote the app, Lisagor created and starred in a two-minute commercial, shot in the backyard of his Los Angeles apartment.[4][8] The commercial generated interest from other tech companies looking to promote their apps in a similar fashion, and Lisagor began making commercials for these companies, with the biotechnology firm Genentech and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey's startup Square his first two major clients.[4][7]
In 2010, Lisagor founded the Los Angeles-based video advertising company Sandwich Video.[1][9] The firm specializes in helping startups and apps get noticed with short, entertaining, informative videos,[7] and has earned notice for frequently accepting a combination of cash, equity and revenue sharing from a client in lieu of full payment.[1][10] Their videos are typically one-and-a-half to two minutes long.[10] They also work with larger clients and ad agencies,[9][11] and produce television commercials in addition to online video ads.[1]
Sandwich's clients include Square, Airbnb, Warby Parker, Groupon, Slack, TrueCar, eBay, CenturyLink, Yahoo!, Lyft and Jawbone.[1][2][7][9][12][13] The firm's 2014 ad for Coin, which Lisagor appeared in, earned over 7 million views in its first month on YouTube,[1] had 9.7 million views by the end of the year.[9]
As of December 2014, Lisagor has appeared in over 25 of Sandwich Video's 160 branded videos,[9] including those for Square and Flipboard,[3][7] as an accessible, deadpan Everyman type.[2][3] Inc. magazine called him "the Martin Scorsese of online video advertising"[12] and Bloomberg Businessweek noted that he is "the director of choice among Silicon Valley startups looking to gain visibility."[1] Sandwich spots have been praised for their minimalist style and charming, passionate tone.[4] Fast Company called the firm "the premier producer of online product videos for web services and tech gadgets."[4]
Podcast and web series
From 2008 to 2013 and again in 2020, Lisagor co-hosted and produced the comedic podcast You Look Nice Today with Merlin Mann and Scott Simpson.[2][3][4] He also produced the men's fashion web series Put This On with public radio show host Jesse Thorn from 2009 to 2011.[2]
In October 2015, Lisagor co-created and directed the 1980s-inspired technology comedy series Computer Show[14].
Personal life
Lisagor lives in Los Angeles, California,[1] with his partner, Roxana Altamirano, and their two children.[5][15] He is Jewish.[16]
References
- Adam Satariano, “Adam Lisagor, Silicon Valley Startups’ Favorite Video Director,” Bloomberg Businessweek, December 5, 2013.
- Alissa Walker, “Adam Lisagor: The Video Guru,” LA Weekly, May 18, 2012.
- Dan Frommer, “Remember This Face, This Guy’s Going To Be Huge,” Business Insider, May 14, 2010.
- Bill Barol, “Adam Lisagor is Advertising’s Quietest Pitchman,” Fast Company, August 11, 2011.
- Beth Marchant, “Director Adam Lisagor on the Art of the Soft Sell,” Studio Daily, April 1, 2013.
- Adam Lisagor filmography, The New York Times. Accessed February 17, 2015.
- Murad Hemmadi, “How Sandwich Video founder Adam Lisagor became tech’s go-to video guy,” Canadian Business, October 28, 2014.
- Ryan & Tina Essmaker, “Adam Lisagor: Director/Filmmaker,” The Great Discontent, February 26, 2013.
- T.L. Stanley, “Who is Adam Lisagor and why is he in every tech ad right now?” Mashable, December 25, 2014.
- Ben Popper, “Small Empires: meet the startup that makes your startup look cool,” The Verge, December 2, 2014.
- “Video Is Nothing Without Good Product: Sandwich CEO,” Bloomberg TV, December 5, 2013.
- Doug Cantor, “5 Tips for Making an Effective Video Ad,” Inc., January 2, 2014.
- E.D.W. Lynch, “A Delightful Demonstration Video for the Slack Communication Platform by Sandwich Video,” Laughing Squid, August 13, 2014.
- "Computer Show". computer.show. Retrieved 2015-10-17.
- “An Interview With Adam Lisagor,” Digital Faun, April 4, 2013.
- Adam Lisagor Tweet. Lisagor, Adam. www.twitter.com Published December 8, 2014. Accessed August 2, 2016.