Sonar founder & Owner Sam Renkin was inspired to pursue a career in Radio, TV and film production by his grandfather Morton Blender, an accomplished broadcast journalist, award-winning documentary filmmaker and radio personality. He started with Super-8 film in his teens, creating live action adventures and experimenting with visual effects. By the time he graduated from the School of Journalism at University of Georgia, he had produced video content for the Georgia Botanical Gardens, The Little White House in Warm Springs, GA and a handful of music videos.
Sam worked on a variety of television commercials and corporate video projects before joining a small production company that produced videos as well as events. "I was surprised to discover that events combined most of the skills we learned for my degree - scriptwriting, stage set design, theatrical lighting techniques, and studio production."
Sam began to spend less time on video and focus more on event strategy & design. He became a Creative Director and enjoyed working on a wide variety of sales meetings, user conferences, franchise events, product launches and grand openings. He was growing as a creative, but moving further from production, which he still loved.
After 14 years of work at three agencies and hundreds of projects, he was determined to to create a flat organization that shortens the distance between creative inspiration and production, removes layers of cost, and delivers a better experience for clients and team members.
Sam and Parissa Renkin created Sonar in 2004. Since then, our team has guided the successful outcome of events across healthcare, technology, transportation, finance, education, consumer brands, and franchise industry verticals. Our productions range in size from just a few hundred attendees to several thousand in cities across North America and online. Our work has influenced thousands of employees and customers to deepen relationships, change behaviors and achieve financial objectives.
Our mission: We partner with our clients to design & execute flawless events that inspire, motivate, and reward performance while creating value. Our methodology is a bespoke, value-based approach to building events; we leverage our lean structure and trusted partner network with a flat management fee to make every dollar work for you.
So what makes Sonar truly different?
Sam worked on a variety of television commercials and corporate video projects before joining a small production company that produced videos as well as events. "I was surprised to discover that events combined most of the skills we learned for my degree - scriptwriting, stage set design, theatrical lighting techniques, and studio production."
Sam began to spend less time on video and focus more on event strategy & design. He became a Creative Director and enjoyed working on a wide variety of sales meetings, user conferences, franchise events, product launches and grand openings. He was growing as a creative, but moving further from production, which he still loved.
After 14 years of work at three agencies and hundreds of projects, he was determined to to create a flat organization that shortens the distance between creative inspiration and production, removes layers of cost, and delivers a better experience for clients and team members.
Sam and Parissa Renkin created Sonar in 2004. Since then, our team has guided the successful outcome of events across healthcare, technology, transportation, finance, education, consumer brands, and franchise industry verticals. Our productions range in size from just a few hundred attendees to several thousand in cities across North America and online. Our work has influenced thousands of employees and customers to deepen relationships, change behaviors and achieve financial objectives.
Our mission: We partner with our clients to design & execute flawless events that inspire, motivate, and reward performance while creating value. Our methodology is a bespoke, value-based approach to building events; we leverage our lean structure and trusted partner network with a flat management fee to make every dollar work for you.
So what makes Sonar truly different?
- We are a tool-agnostic company. "If your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail." Some production companies are limited by a single discipline or an inventory of equipment. We can access any technology or technique to create one-of-a-kind solutions for your project.
- Our structure minimizes overhead and administrative costs. We have few employees and leverage regional partnerships to source the equipment & talent that best supports the needs of your project.
- Our pricing is transparent. There are no hidden margins; we negotiate significant discounts with our trusted supplier partners and employ a flat management fee on all outside services.
- We are wise stewards of your budget. This is our most important job. Every dollar should have a purpose, and every dollar should make an impact.