Honing the Skills: Jake’s First Edit

I’ve been an assistant editor since almost the beginning of my career at Slow Clap, five years ago. As soon as I expressed an interest in post production (and hammering Dan, our Creative Director, with emails), I was finally given the chance to get into the edit bay. A chance I leapt at as soon as it was offered!

My first full video edit happened pretty recently in the spring of 2019. We produced a rush video for the Asian Law Caucus—a community-based non-profit in San Francisco that fights for the rights of Asian Americans—to celebrate the life of Jeff Adachi, the former San Francisco Public Defender who had just passed away. This was the first editing project that I cut together without a paper edit. So, with just a bit of direction from Dan and a lot of help from Nicole, Slow Clap’s Associate Producer, who acted as my assistant editor and creative collaborator, I jumped in to piece together the story.

At first, I didn’t know much about Jeff Adachi and didn’t think much of it when I was offered the edit. But as I went along and did my research, I learned about who he was and the crazy amount of things he accomplished in his life. It was pretty clear early on that it would be next to impossible to keep the video at the 2 minute mark the client initially wanted, because there was just so much that we could talk about; the amount of corruption he exposed in the San Francisco Police Department, the many people he personally represented in court that were facing serious punishment over false accusation, and the list goes on. The final video rests at about 5 minutes, and it was well worth the added length.

One of the things I struggled with the most was the ending. I couldn’t figure out how to end this video in a way that truly hit home, mainly because I didn’t want to end on one of Jeff’s friends or colleagues talking about him; I wanted to leave our audience with some words directly from him. So, after hours of searching, I finally found the perfect ending: a very powerful soundbite from the man himself, describing what he thought the role a public defender has in the world, which is to serve the under-represented, and not the system that hurts them.

I am really proud of how this video turned out. It is (in my totally unbiased opinion) one of the best videos we have produced for the Asian Law Caucus. Watch it below.

Jake Richard

Junior Editor & Camera Operator

Platinum at the Muse Creative Awards 2019

Out of more than 3,180 submissions from 46 countries, Slow Clap has won Platinum recognition in the 2019 Muse Creative Awards competition. Our video, Building the Future, produced for GitHub, has taken home the platinum award for the corporate identity category in video production. Slow Clap is one of a handful of Bay Area video production companies to win on the platinum level, an award level that less than 5% of entrants received.

Our collaboration with GitHub in 2018 was one of the most challenging, and rewarding, in our company history. We’re really proud of the amazing creative team behind the concept, scripting, production, cinematography, robotics, editing, 3D animations, VFX, and so much more that went into this video.

The Muse Creative and Muse Design Awards are international competitions for creative and design professionals from all disciplines, who help push the evolution of their industry in a positive direction. “We recognize the breakthrough achievements of these true innovators, who live by the words, ‘make the world a better place for all’” said Kenjo Ong, CEO of both competitions. “They have earned this recognition.”

Both the Muse Creative and Muse Design Awards are administered and judged by International Awards Associates (IAA), and stellar panels of internationally-recognized professionals from both fields. IAA oversees awards and recognition programs, assembles judging panels, and sets rigorous standards for both competitions.

Grand Jury Panel:

This year’s Jury Panel includes 42 renowned, experienced, and brand-new Judges from 22 countries worldwide. Judges hail from leading companies in the creative and digital industry from all corners of the globe and include professionals from such power brands as Grayling, DMG, McCann Worldgroup, Stewards of Wildlife, United Nations Children’s Fund, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, etc.

Entries in all categories were ranked according to industry-best standards. During blind judging, panelists evaluated the effectiveness of creative and design concepts, selecting winners from a deep pool of international submissions.

The 2019 competition included entries from United States, Canada, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Republic of China, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Honduras, Hungary, India, Italy, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Macau, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States and Yemen.

Slow Clap Wins BBB 2018 Torch Award for Ethics

In 2018, Slow Clap entered the race for the Better Business Bureau’s Torch Awards for Ethics and won, beating out all of the applicants in the San Francisco Bay Area. The criteria for this award is no joke; the judge’s panel looks at each entry’s commitment to ethically operating a business, as well as its dedication to community leadership.



“Torch Awards winners demonstrate the highest ethical standards of trust toward customers, employees and the communities in which they do business,” said Lori Wilson, President and CEO of BBB serving the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern Coastal California. “We are proud to present this prestigious award to Slow Clap Productions and grateful to them for their part in creating a marketplace where people can trust each other.”



“When I first saw this award I thought that it could be on our roadmap to accomplish. The reason I put it on our road map, was because one of the big reasons I started this company was to do the type of work and work with the type of people I wasn’t able to at the last company I worked at. I want to make an impact with the work that I do and I thought starting my own business could be a vehicle for that.”



-Daniel Lichtenberg, Creative Director


BBB 2018 Torch Awards for Ethics Winner Slow Clap Productions