Karl Pontau

Karl Pontau

San Francisco Bay Area
9K followers 500+ connections

About

Health/Med Tech companies and nonprofits have vital - yet difficult - stories to tell…

Services

Articles by Karl

  • Brand Storytelling Tips: How to Chose Your Story Coaching Program

    Brand Storytelling Tips: How to Chose Your Story Coaching Program

    The number of ads people see each day has increased from 500 ads per day in the 1970s to nearly 5,000 ads a day now…

    2 Comments
  • Exploring the Metaverse

    Exploring the Metaverse

    Back in October, Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook's transition to Meta and launched a buzz about the metaverse. While…

    3 Comments
  • Pitching to Gen Z Investors

    Pitching to Gen Z Investors

    Gen Z makeup 30% of the world population and has increasingly gained traction in the venture capital industry. Are you…

    1 Comment
  • Answering These 5 Questions Will Help You Tell Better Stories

    Answering These 5 Questions Will Help You Tell Better Stories

    How do you begin to tell your story? Convincing your audience/target market/investors is a pinnacle point in selling…

    2 Comments

Contributions

Activity

Experience

Education

  • Academy of Art University Graphic

    Academy of Art University

    Activities and Societies: ASIFA-SF

    Planned productions. Learned how to create strong character animation and motion graphics. Collaborated on group productions. Imagined creative stories with engaging messages. Earned an MFA in 3D Character Animation.

  • I completed a course in Project Management offered by UC Irvine Extension, via Coursura.com.

  • Activities and Societies: SIGGRAPH

    I have a Minor in Teledramatic Arts and Technology

Licenses & Certifications

Volunteer Experience

  • Co-Founder

    Brainiacs of SF Bay

    - Present 7 years 4 months

    Health

    Brainiacs of SF Bay is a support/social group for young professionals dealing with brain tumors. We connect the recently diagnosed with somebody who's been through the exact same diagnosis or something similar. That way they can get support from someone who can empathize with what they're experiencing, and guide them through treatment.

    We also meet up around the SF Bay Area every few months to socialize, have fun, and enjoy life. If you know somebody who is dealing with a brain tumor…

    Brainiacs of SF Bay is a support/social group for young professionals dealing with brain tumors. We connect the recently diagnosed with somebody who's been through the exact same diagnosis or something similar. That way they can get support from someone who can empathize with what they're experiencing, and guide them through treatment.

    We also meet up around the SF Bay Area every few months to socialize, have fun, and enjoy life. If you know somebody who is dealing with a brain tumor, we'd love to meet them!

  • Cat Care

    Valley Humane Society

    - Present 10 years 3 months

    Animal Welfare

    I help take care of kittens and cats by cleaning their living areas and feeding them.

  • Camp Okizu Graphic

    Camp Counselor

    Camp Okizu

    - Present 21 years 5 months

    Children

    I served as a counselor for a week at Camp Okizu, helping kids dealing with life threatening illnesses have fun.

  • Volunteer

    GLAS Animation Festival

    - Present 7 years 10 months

    Arts and Culture

    I helped run the Nickelodeon Internship Interviews and Portfolio Reviews event and two screening sessions. I checked in people as they arrived for their scheduled session, maintained accurate records, and helped my two volunteer team members keep the sessions transitioning smoothly. For the screenings, I made sure no recordings were being made, people turned in their surveys, and the audiences exited and entered the theater safely.

  • Motion Graphics Artist

    TEDxYouth@Vail

    - 2 months

    Arts and Culture

    I created an animated GIF to promote their upcoming event in April. They were so pleased with my work I was invited to help on the TEDxVail marketing team.

Courses

  • Advanced Animation

    -

  • Intro to Rigging

    -

  • Lighting and Texturing

    -

  • Preproduction

    -

Projects

  • Project Revive

    -

    La Familia contracted me to create animated content systems for their campaign to reduce Fentanyl overdoses in the SF Bay Area.

    We had to make a major pivot midway through the project in what story we were going to tell.

    Fortunately, because of how I'd set up their content system, we were able to adapt the visuals to the stories you see in the video. The animated elements effectively visualize the stories and concepts the speakers shared, increasing engagement and memorability…

    La Familia contracted me to create animated content systems for their campaign to reduce Fentanyl overdoses in the SF Bay Area.

    We had to make a major pivot midway through the project in what story we were going to tell.

    Fortunately, because of how I'd set up their content system, we were able to adapt the visuals to the stories you see in the video. The animated elements effectively visualize the stories and concepts the speakers shared, increasing engagement and memorability. They also help convey the potentially triggering information in a way that's easier to take in.

    While filming the new video, they witnessed two people overdosing on Fentanyl and administered Narcan. It's a poignant reminder of how important this message is.

    I enjoyed working on this project and am excited to collaborate with La Familia again soon. They have a passionate and committed team that is making a difference in the community.

    Other creators
  • Firefighter Air Coalition Animation

    -

    The Firefighter Air Coalition needed to convince the San Jose, CA City Council to keep the requirement for buildings to have their Firefighter Air Rescue Systems. Developers were pressuring the council to allow other alternatives.

    I recruited and led the team of designers, animators, and voice over artists to create this animation.
    We designed the visual style using a 2.5D option. This allowed us to show the inside of buildings while avoiding the cost and complexity of using 3D…

    The Firefighter Air Coalition needed to convince the San Jose, CA City Council to keep the requirement for buildings to have their Firefighter Air Rescue Systems. Developers were pressuring the council to allow other alternatives.

    I recruited and led the team of designers, animators, and voice over artists to create this animation.
    We designed the visual style using a 2.5D option. This allowed us to show the inside of buildings while avoiding the cost and complexity of using 3D animation.

    Not only did the animation convince the council to keep the requirement, an updated version we made a few months later helped the client get FARS into 19 cities around the USA.

    Then, a few years later, I was asked to rebrand the animation for the company that bought the IP from my client for around $100MM.

    Other creators
  • Enovix Animation

    -

    Enovix hired us to create this animation explaining how their innovation in the mechanical structure of lithium-ion batteries results in higher energy output and longer battery life.

    After we finished, ENOVIX announced a SPAC event and their valuation jump0ed to $1.13B. They following summer they also got a $250MM contract with the US Army to make batteries for all the wearable tech soldiers use.

    Despite having to change the script after a late memo from their legal team, and…

    Enovix hired us to create this animation explaining how their innovation in the mechanical structure of lithium-ion batteries results in higher energy output and longer battery life.

    After we finished, ENOVIX announced a SPAC event and their valuation jump0ed to $1.13B. They following summer they also got a $250MM contract with the US Army to make batteries for all the wearable tech soldiers use.

    Despite having to change the script after a late memo from their legal team, and production spanning the Christmas and New Year's holidays, we got the project done on time and under budget.

  • Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Campaign

    -

    I collaborated with Riley Design Associates (rda) on a campaign for Santa Clara County to increase the awareness of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). It was a great experience working with rda and the county on such an important campaign.

  • KRP Reel 2024

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    My reel!

  • Outside GC Animation

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    I created this animation for Outside GC's booth for a series of events they attended. They wanted something that held people's attention until the booth attendants were free to talk with them.

    It worked exactly as intended!

    Other creators

Languages

  • English

    -

Organizations

  • Toastmasters

    Member

    - Present

    Improving my persuasive public speaking, communication, and leadership skills.

  • National Speaker's Association

    Member

    -
  • Provisors

    Member

    -

    Active referral giver and connector in the San Ramon 3 group.

  • Scrum Alliance

    Certified Scrum Master

    -

Recommendations received

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