Freemark Abbey: A Study in Style

Posted on May 22, 2024May 29, 2024 by Slow Clap

Background

Freemark Abbey is to California wine what Tiffany is to jewelry: timeless, classic, and synonymous with quality.

With roots dating back to the 1880s, Freemark Abbey is a storied Napa Valley winery with a storied history. It was founded by Josephine Tychson, the second woman in Napa Valley history to construct and operate a winery. It was also the only California winery to showcase two wines at the Judgment of Paris, the famous wine competition pitting California wines against French wines in 1976. Both of Freemark Abbey’s submissions placed in the top 10, catapulting the small vineyard onto the world winemaker stage.

In 2020, Freemark Abbey came full circle by hiring Kristy Melton as their winemaker, the first female winemaker since Josephine Tychson crushed her first grapes in the fall of 1886.

In an effort to honor its history while celebrating its future, Freemark Abbey’s parent company, Jackson Family Wines, reached out to Slow Clap, to produce a series of short documentaries highlighting the winery’s rich heritage and continued commitment to creating exceptional wines. Slow Clap had previously produced a brand story video for La Crema, another member of Jackson Family Wines’ impressive portfolio of wineries, and the team was excited for an opportunity to get out of San Francisco and engage in video production in Napa Valley.

“[Working with Slow Clap] was great – they were very professional, responsive, and open to ideas.”

– Nikita Kubiak, Digital Marketing Director at Jackson Family Wines

Approach

One of Freemark Abbey’s vineyards in Napa Valley.

Freemark Abbey wanted to focus on a number of topics spanning the entire history of the winery. In order to accomplish this without overwhelming their audience, they decided that five short videos would be the ideal approach. Slow Clap worked with the Freemark Abbey team to determine the five chapters of the story, starting with the founding of Freemark Abbey in 1886, to the fateful Judgment of Paris 100 years later, ending with present-day and female winemaker Kristy Melton at the helm.

Challenges

Freemark Abbey has a distinctive style for its interior brand photography: dramatic, elegant, and cinematic. It is achieved with a soft, large light source that dramatically falls off the background, resulting in a high-contrast look and a background that fades to black.

Freemark Abbey’s Distinctive Look

It was important that Slow Clap’s interior shots matched the distinct look and feel that had been carefully crafted by the Freemark Abbey team.

This visual style is challenging to pull off in a documentary-style video production because it requires precision and control in a filming environment that is often more spontaneous, scrappy, and tends to utilize the available light in a subject’s natural surroundings.

“With a scripted piece, you have the full control and ability to do whatever you want. Maybe you’re working with actors on a stage; you can bring in as many lights as you want, you can take the time you need to get the shots you need. With a doc-style piece, controlling it with that much nuance can stifle the creatives and the story itself. You risk the authenticity of the footage. So you want to walk a fine line between getting that heightened visual feel, getting the right lights in there while using as few lights as possible and keeping the crew as small as possible in order to capture authentic, uninterrupted moments and performances.”

– Dan Lichtenberg, Creative Director, Slow Clap

In order to achieve this nuanced lighting style with a small footprint of equipment and crew members, Slow Clap began by designing a detailed lighting plan that outlined the equipment, how it would be used, and its precise placement on set.

A page from Slow Clap’s lighting plan detailing the lighting setup for one of the interview setups.

The view from behind the camera

Slow Clap’s production team determined the ideal lighting scheme for the interview shots would entail a large, 600-watt light to illuminate the subject, a 200-watt rim light to cast light on the back of the subject and create separation from the background, and a 200-watt light to illuminate the wine barrels incorporated into the background.

The resulting interview setup.

In addition to the lights, the production team utilized a variety of modifiers such as grids, snoots and flags to control and block the light, creating what is known as “negative fill.”

“Negative Fill is removing light or creating shadow in an image. When you light something, it’s important to think about what you want to light and how you want to shape it. You won’t be able to shape light in a pleasing way without negative fill.”

– Jake Richard, Camera Operator, Slow Clap

The fill side of the subject’s face is a dramatic falloff from bright to dark, which compliments Freemark Abbey’s visual brand identity – historic, elevated, and refined.

Slow Clap also worked with Freemark Abbey to acquire the wine cellar as a filming location; a large space with a dearth of natural light. This location made it much easier for the team to control the surroundings and successfully pull off the lighting plan.

The Freemark Abbey Wine Cellar

Just as a bottle of wine is only as good as the grapes used in its production, a series of wine videos aren’t complete without showcasing the bucolic vineyards where the grapes are produced. Instead of trying to replicate the dramatic interior lighting, Slow Clap took a page out of the book of Missy Elliott: they flipped it and reversed it:

“The visual style we came up with was sort of the inverse of what our interiors were. Our subjects were backlit, sort of silhouetted, whereas the interior is where the subjects were basically the only thing that was fully exposed and the background falls away. With the exteriors, the background was the main thing that was properly exposed and the subjects almost fall away into silhouette.”

– Dan Lichtenberg, Creative Director, Slow Clap

In order to achieve this look, Slow Clap filmed all of the outdoor scenes during golden hour, the last hour before sunset and the hour after sunrise, which ensured the sun was close to the horizon. The subjects were then placed with their backs to the sun to achieve the semi-silhouetted look.

Filming on the grounds of Freemark Abbey

The result was an elegant contrasting image to complement the interior scenes.

An outdoor shoot featuring the well-lit background and semi-silhouetted subject

Result

Thanks to careful planning and vision, Slow Clap was able to successfully deliver five docustyle vignettes that were visually and stylistically on brand for Freemark Abbey. The videos won Double Gold in the 2022 Barleycorn Award video category and a Gold Telly Award in the Short Documentary Branded Content category.

In addition to video accolades, the John Barleycorn Awards, which honor innovative work in the wine and spirits industry, tapped Slow Clap as the 2022 marketer of the year!

“The videos were well received. They were very informative and high-quality, and they told the Freemark Abbey story well. We have the videos across our website and run paid ad campaigns utilizing cut-downs of the long-form video. These helped drive brand awareness and engagement.”

– Nikita Kubiak, Digital Marketing Director at Jackson Family Wines

Venturing into Virtual Production with Mindful

Posted on March 29, 2024July 24, 2024 by Darissa Hicks

Partnering with a niche B2B software company to make corporate video content that’s creative and fun can be a challenge, but it’s also incredibly rewarding to produce. These lighthearted descriptors, rarely used in the same ecosystem as call centers and boardrooms, were top of mind for Mindful, a company specializing in contact center callback technology, as they set out to produce a livestream event highlighting the latest updates in their software. In order to bring some cheer to callbacks, Mindful knew they needed expert guidance. And as a product trusted by many Fortune 500 companies to provide top customer experience, they needed to be intentional about which agency they partnered with to help them launch the new look for their software user interface (UI).

After seeing our work with Ironclad, which blends creativity and entertainment with high-production value, Mindful knew that they wanted to partner with Slow Clap to communicate to a B2B audience about specialized software.

Behind-the-scenes with the Slow Clap camera team and talent interacting with our real-life prop

Approach

As Mindful planned to launch its new UI, they wanted this event video to reflect the same values and characteristics that their brand embodied: “kind by design.” With a thoughtful aesthetic and more robust software, Mindful’s new UI includes soft colors and a light airy feeling, evoking a sense of levity, fun, approachableness, lightness, and airiness. Mindful centers around the philosophy that customer service prioritizes a people-first attitude, and they hoped to bring kindness and compassion to their software.

Slow Clap was faced with figuring out how to walk through the technical features and improvements of Mindful’s software in a fun, creative way that put kind by design center stage.

The first decision that needed to be made was location; where would this magical, airy, kind-by-design video take place? Mindful’s suggestion for a sky filled with puffy, white clouds would hit the marks on the brand’s vibe, but the setting would be too abstract. Slow Clap advised that a more concrete location could be a better connective tissue to Mindful’s UI updates. After lots of brainstorming with Mindful, Slow Clap proposed a factory in the vein of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory but instead of creating chocolate confections, Mindful’s factory would manufacture kindness through their new UI updates. The factory setting served as a more tangible concept that would likely yield better results for the video.

A page of Slow Clap’s moodboard that guided us to align with Mindful’s brand

Slow Clap was able to deliver a clever, cost-effective solution to create Mindful’s kindness factory thanks to a cutting-edge technology: Virtual Production.

“It would have been crazy to find a location in the real world or build a location from scratch that was a Willa Wonka’s kindness factory. It would have been nearly impossible and prohibitively expensive, so what we were exploring instead was building a virtual set. We partnered with animation house Deep Sky alongside the clients and had several live, collaborative sessions to make sure the physical set pieces were feeling consistent and fitting together with the virtual aspects. It was an interesting learning experience, and there were a lot of hurdles that we had to get over to rig the 3D world correctly, but we did it in a tight turnaround.”

– Daniel Lichtenberg, Creative Director, Slow Clap

Execution/Challenges

Dan Lichtenberg, our creative director, alongside the Unreal operator and Disguise operator

As Slow Clap began pre-production, it became clear that a full-scale, 3D factory set was not in the cards because of budget constraints. Filming in multiple locations to achieve the ideal look was also off the table because of the tight filming schedule, which allotted two shoot days. Instead of viewing these as challenges, Slow Clap saw these parameters as the perfect opportunity to venture into the world of virtual production technology.

For those who don’t know, virtual production is a new technique of producing video content that was first developed by Industrial Light and Magic for The Mandalorian that combines virtual and physical worlds.

The first step of Mindful’s virtual production was to build a bespoke, 3D world, aka the Kindness Factory. Since this was our first foray into virtual production, we brought in the experts at animation studio Deep Sky, to help us create a computer-generated world (CGI) in Unreal Engine.

“I love working with Dan. I thought how he chose the film and the shots were very classy. That’s the one thing I enjoy most is working with other creatives that understand the process a little bit, so it was really nice to be able to collaborate.”

– Barret Thomson, Creative Director at Deep Sky

Once the kindness factory design was complete, the next step was to bring it to life. We packed our bags and traveled from the San Francisco Bay Area to Nashville, Tennessee to use the brand-new, state-of-the-art, virtual production stage at ARC Studios.

Once we arrived in Music City, we rigged the virtual kindness factory in a physical space: a large volume, LED wall designed to handle virtual production. This was achieved using, Disguise, a software that brings virtual design into the real world. And just like that, the kindness factory was ready for its closeup of our talent.

You may be wondering, what’s the big deal with virtual production? How is designing a 3D background that projects on an LED screen all that different from a traditional backdrop? The answer is active camera tracking. The large volume LED wall is comprised of many, interconnected screens, which allowed Disguise to simultaneously track the 3D space with camera movements. That meant that when the camera moved, the kindness factory would also move relative to the camera. When the camera pushes in, the 3D world also moves, making the viewer feel as if the talent is really inside the kindness factory.

The virtual production stage with the Slow Clap crew at ARC Studios in Nashville, Tennessee

To add further depth and texture to the set, Slow Clap called in our production designer Emile Rosewater to create real-life art props for the funny moments in our script, such as a vintage 1960’s telephone popping into the scene, a peephole tube, and the control panel that our talent, Devon, used to launch colorful confetti.

Mindful’s Devon sending a burst of confetti with both perspectives of behind-the-scenes and on-screen

This additional layer of real-life props added an extra dose of magic and playfulness to the project and blurred the lines between what was real and fake.

Emile Rosewater, our production designer, leading the art department on-set

After some late nights and tremendous collaboration, the beauty of virtual production merged the 3D world, our real-life set pieces, and our on-screen talent together. It was our first time executing a fully virtual production from start to finish and our clients were thrilled with the results.

Results

The final video took Mindful’s UI launch to new creative heights. Not only did it achieve the goal of rolling out new software features and enhancements, but it leveraged new technology to make it lively and intriguing. Slow Clap was able to successfully communicate Mindful’s three core pillars of security, speed, and accessibility through exciting visuals.

As a Bay Area video production company, we were delighted to win two Bronze ADDY SF Awards in the categories of Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) and Art Direction.

Slow Clap’s Bronze ADDY SF Awards (American Advertising Awards)

In addition to awards, Becky Chastain, our close collaborator from Mindful, shared with us that the video had a successful launch during their product webinar on LinkedIn and YouTube. The video boasted high views and engagement on both platforms and Mindful reported a great attendance at their conference.

“So happy we got to work with an agency that understood and got excited about our brand. I can’t say enough great things here. We were heard and understood throughout the entire process. Everything and everyone stayed really tight, and I think the proof is in the video itself – it was a very tight timeline with an ambitious set, and we probably won’t be using any other agency for this type of work. Dan and his team not only are great partners, but I think our teams complement one another really well.“

– Becky Chastain, Creative Director at Mindful

To see how everything came to work in harmony, see the behind-the-scenes of our virtual production here.

Take a look at the full video below.

Meet Slow Clap’s Senior Producer: Michele Dennis

Posted on March 20, 2024May 29, 2024 by Darissa Hicks

Get to know Michele a bit better with our quick Q&A interview.

Introduce yourself! What’s your role?

Hi, I’m Michele Dennis and I am so happy to be Slow Clap’s ‘Senior Producer’, meaning I have been a producer longer than most! I’m a native Californian with a love for this earth and all its people and creatures.

What I love about the work I do as a producer with Slow Clap is the goal and mission to find the heart and the truth of our subjects within the context of their story and to utilize the amazing talents of our team to do it. We work together as a finely tuned machine to make this happen. We all love what we do.

As the ‘senior’ in the group, I often have opportunities to be a mentor and to introduce new ideas that are outside the original scope of the project, finding magical locations, using thoughtful casting, guiding the art team, planning the shoots for the best light and circumstances to give us the very best ingredients for delivering a show that surpasses any expectation on budget. I love the pre-planning stage, learning new technologies and the puzzle of procuring all of the pieces for great success.

What made you gravitate towards this craft?

As a kid growing up in LA, I was always writing humorous little scripts that my friends & I would rehearse and then perform for the parents and whoever else would watch. I always had a high awareness of commercials and the little story they told successfully in such a short time frame, so often these scripts and performances were marketing household products and foods like sunflower seeds and Ajax cleanser.

Later, when I saw “Born Free” a docu-drama about a couple in Africa who raises a lion cub, to later be released, it changed my outlook. I wanted the world as my office, and to make movies that told genuine stories.

What’s your prior experience?

From my first job in this biz in my early 20’s as a scheduler and manager for a small production studio video editing and duplication business to my work in creative boutiques as a producer and later as a freelance producer, I have produced everything from multiple day large-scale union shoots with actors, animals, and big crews to small intimate docu-style testimonials, documentaries, feature and short narrative films, and dazzling marketing pieces for dozens of major players including Google, Apple, Cisco, and Salesforce.

What made you interested in joining Slow Clap?

This mighty little company can do anything. This team can do anything. Working with teams who think outside the box, using imagination and experience to stretch budgets and abilities to get amazing results beyond anyone’s initial expectations, is my joy. That’s who Slow Clap is.

Favorite Film? What am I watching?

Too many films to name, but they are all films that affect me emotionally. Recently the 2022 Foreign Films nominee “EO” stole my heart, but I do tend to gravitate towards dark humor and indy films. Always love the Cohen Brothers and anything about carnivals! Guilty pleasure watch: Yellow Jackets.

Any Hobbies?

I’m always up for a hike in nature, desert, sea, mountains… I joined a community garden this past year and have loved it!

Lastly, favorite project you’ve worked on?

I am such a fan of history and chronicling the human story. One of my first Slow Clap productions was the new California Jury video for the Judicial Council of California (JCC), which tied into this passion. Everything I have done with Slow Clap has been a great and fun challenge.

2023 – Justice for All: Orientation to Jury Service

Meet the rest of the Slow Clap team, if you haven’t already!

Dan Lichtenberg, Founder & Creative Director

Sarah Nathan, Producer

Katy Bailes, Producer

Beijo Lee Wang, Associate Producer

Jake Richard, Post-Production and Camera Manager

Alexander Flores, Junior Editor

Darissa Hicks, Production Coordinator

Kiante Marron, Camera & Post Production Assistant

Slow Clap’s Selects: Our Top 5 Filming Locations in the San Francisco Bay Area for Corporate and Commercial Videos

Posted on February 20, 2024May 29, 2024 by Slow Clap

Here at Slow Clap Productions, we are blessed with the opportunity to film in some amazing places with our corporate and commercial clients who like to think outside the box and venture forth from the office. Being in the San Francisco Bay Area, we are spoiled for choice! But there are some places so special that it’s worth giving them a shout out and, dare we say, a slow clap, for being over-the-top fantastic.

In no particular order, here are some favorite filming locations in our stomping grounds.

Samuel P. Taylor Redwood Forest

2,700 acres of Redwood trees. What’s not to love? This state park is located in Marin County and offers a quieter chance to commune with nature’s tallest trees than the more touristy Muir Woods. Also, you can camp there!

In 2022, we filmed Chris Young, General Counsel for Ironclad in these woods, which he calls his “happy place,” when things in the world get a little too crazy. This shoot may appear peaceful and zen-like, but we pulled out all the stops including a 12-foot jib, to capture the majesty of these woods.

Take a look at the full project and the BTS below.

Ironclad State of Digital Contracting Spring 2022

Behind The Scenes

Salesforce Tower

This tower is one of the newest additions to make the list of iconic structures in San Francisco. The six-year-old tower is the tallest in the city and the 12th tallest in the United States. It’s also home to the highest public art installation in the country!

You can catch sight of some of the interiors of the tower in this video we produced for the Asian Law Caucus. Gotta love those gorgeous windows and the view from the Covington and Burling office sees all of downtown San Francisco!

Asian Law Caucus: Covington and Burling

The San Francisco Waterfront via Heron’s Head Park

You can’t talk about the Bay Area without talking about the waterfront. It is the defining feature of the region, both geographically and in the name! While there are many breathtaking views to be had from all angles of the San Francisco Bay, one of our favorites is Heron’s Head Park. It’s a 22-acre, wetland park just south of Pier 96 that’s ideal for bird watching. It also features The EcoCenter, a 100-percent, off-the-grid, living classroom and visitor center. It’s a great place for kids and family to unplug from the hustle and bustle within the city limits.

You can catch views of the park alongside other iconic waterfront spots in this video we produced for The Port of San Francisco, which manages the waterfront:

The History of San Francisco Waterfront

San Lorenzo High School (SLZHS)

This high school is the perfect place to channel your inner Molly Ringwald or Judd Nelson ala The Breakfast Club. This school was built in the 1950s and just oozes vintage vibes with wood paneling and green chalkboards.

We filmed a 1980’s high school themed virtual event for Ironclad at SLZHS. We had an absolute blast getting our clients into character. Mary O’Carroll, Chief Community Officer for Ironclad, even got dropped off for “school” in a 1980s Porsche 911 and sported permed hair, a black leather jacket, and her Ironclad Academy “yearbook.”

Ironclad State of Digital Contracting Summer 2022

Bernal Heights

Lea Loeb/ Golden Gate Xpress

360, breathtaking views of San Francisco and the Bay? Check.
Wildflowers and wildlife (including coyotes)? Check.
Hidden staircases and a scenic tree swing for selfies and IG reels? Check.

If you’re looking for a picturesque spot that’s a little off-the-beaten path, check out Bernal Heights, a residential neighborhood on a hill in the southeast portion of San Francisco. We love the spectacular views that aren’t typically seen in videos.

You can see what we mean in this video we made to showcase the San Francisco Treasury Kindergarten to College Program.

A Future Worth Saving For

In the Bay Area, there’s always more to explore. Here are a few spots on our filming wishlist.

Hiller Aviation Museum

This collection specializing in Northern California aircraft and helicopter history will delight children and adults alike. Located at the San Carlos airport, the Hiller Aviation Museum features more than 50 aircrafts, many of which you can climb inside. It also boasts a replica of the first privately-financed commercial spacecraft; and no, it wasn’t manufactured by SpaceX! This museum is chock-full of visual delights that would be a dream to film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlbAW7o0t7

Mama Dog Studios

Mama Dog Studios is to Bay Area filmmakers what Carnegie Hall is to musicians: a second-to-none venue to showcase your craft. This 5,000 square foot production space features a drool-worthy, 35’ x 55’ cyclorama soundstage that we would love to play in. We hope 2024 will be the year that we have the opportunity to collaborate with one of our clients in this special space. Also, did we mention that they are a locally-owned, dog-loving business in the heart of Oakland? Clearly, we have a lot in common!

You can check out Mama Dog’s fabulous studio in this walkthrough video:

Mama Dog Studios Tour 2022

Point Bonita Lighthouse

Al Greening/ National Park Service

This historic lighthouse at the mouth of the San Francisco Bay is a beaut. At 306 feet above the sea, this picturesque watchtower in the middle of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area can only be accessed via a suspension bridge during fair weather. The half-mile trail to the lighthouse is also chock-full of spectacular sights, including views of the Golden Gate Bridge, paths through hand-carved tunnels, and observation points to spy marine life such as harbor seals, whales, and porpoises.

It may not be as famous as that lighthouse in Forrest Gump, but you can achieve a similar look at Point Bonita. We think it’s still a beautiful (bonita means beautiful in Spanish!) place to film.

Here’s a brief travel blog detailing the hike to Point Bonita:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRYgpvRVCbY

Got any spots we’ve missed? Or, are you dreaming of a video in a fabulous locale? We’d love to hear from you! We’re available to help you achieve your next project at hello@slowclap.com.

Blogs to check out:

Tips for Great Video Production at any Budget

Why Your Company Needs Branded Content

How to Maximize Views for Your Video Content

These Five Case-Study Videos Earn Brand Recognition

Five Great Explainer Videos

The Best Video Production Companies in the San Francisco Bay Area 2024

Posted on January 28, 2024May 29, 2024 by Daniel Lichtenberg

I often receive emails from marketers wanting to work with us on their video marketing project. Sometimes, those marketers have a video production company they want to work with, and are just looking for competitive bids to make sure the price is in the right ballpark. Sometimes, the marketers really like the work on our site, and want to produce a video project that falls into some of our strengths (authenticity, documentary-style, big emphasis on storytelling and the human angle over visual polish). And sometimes, they just knew somebody who has worked with us successfully in the past.

Whatever the circumstance is, we’re happy to develop a proposal for our potential clients’ project, or even brainstorm some creative ideas together. In a proposal, we include an overview of the project, some ideas on creative approaches, a budget (or several budgets), a detailed timeline for the project, and info about our company and our team. But the one thing I always tell marketers who have asked for a proposal is, make sure you consider other options. After all, we may not be the best fit for your video project, and there are a few other video production companies in the San Francisco Bay Area that do really great work.

Here’s a list of my favorite production companies in the Bay Area and, based on my observations, the type of work I think they’re best at:

Alchemy Creative

These guys make really brilliant, cinematic branded content and customer testimonials. They have an amazing knack for creating something that feels more like an advertisement, or a film in the movie theater, but is actually a documentary-style story for a brand. This is something Slow Clap is also quite good at, however, our approach is a lot more focused on authenticity in storytelling and capturing authentic moments, whereas their approach is heavily curated and clearly storyboarded frame-by-frame. I especially admire their series for BMW and E-surance about motorcycle lovers:

Avocados and Coconuts

This video production firm has something that most others in the Bay Area don’t: a true voice. Their work is unique, different, and feels very much like it is part of the same body of work, similar to how all of a director’s films might share similar traits, themes, or motifs. While Avocados and Coconuts’ quirky, edgy, and hip aesthetics and storytelling might not be the right fit for every company, when there is a proper fit, the results are lovely:

Corduroy Media

Corduroy’s visuals are excellent, but they also have strong storytelling skills. They’re a great firm to go to if you want help with both creative storytelling and a high level of visual polish. The work that I’ve seen them really excel at has been scripted and storyboarded. They’re almost more of a creative agency than a production company, in the sense that they do everything top-to-bottom and put a huge emphasis on creative. If you’re looking for someone to produce a scripted project and have a big budget, I recommend considering Corduroy. Carl, the founder, is warm, smart, and creative. Here’s a video of theirs that I love:

Heist

This team of high-end filmmakers make some of the most polished, highly produced visual stories in the Bay Area. They partner with a lot of advertising agencies on big budget stuff, but also work directly with brands to tell stories that look as slick as a traditional broadcast spot. If your budget has no upward limit, I suggest reaching out to Jordan and the folks at Heist. This is my favorite video from their portfolio:

Did I miss any great video production companies in the San Francisco Bay Area? Let me know, as I’m always interested in connecting with peers, and watching some great work.

Daniel Lichtenberg
CEO & Creative Director
Slow Clap Productions

Slow Clap’s 2023 Year in Review: A Year in the Fast Lane

Posted on January 4, 2024May 29, 2024 by Slow Clap

As Slow Clap wraps up its first decade in business (we turned nine this past summer,) we look back and reflect on all the amazing things we’ve learned, and just how much things have changed… and how fast! Take a look at our year condensed into one minute:

2023 by the Numbers

Speaking of AI, we had yet another huge project for AI startup Imbue to announce their $200MM fundraising round, and to help with their hypergrowth hiring spree. You can see the Imbue brand story video we made here. It’s a really interesting blend of documentary storytelling and hand-drawn illustrations, animated to bring the CEO’s anecdotes to life.

August 2023

We had another blowout party for Slow Clap’s ninth birthday party in August. This is our favorite night of the year, as we get to celebrate all the big wins that we rarely have time to celebrate as they’re happening (on to the next deadline!) with our team, clients, and collaborators.

We also welcomed Kiante Marron to the team as a camera and post-production assistant. Kiante’s Gen Z, everything-is-content mindset has been a great refresh to our creaky old Millennial brains!

September 2023

In September, our producer Katy went on maternity leave (more about that next year!), and we welcomed a new producer to the team, Sarah Nathan. Similar to Katy, Sarah brings a documentary and journalist eye to Slow Clap’s body of work, having formerly worked at AJ+, ESPN, as well as Washington State University.

Our team traveled to Orange County to produce this customer story video for a new client, InterPayments, as well as another virtual event video for our longtime client, Ironclad, in Dallas,TX.

October 2023

In October, we were thrilled to receive the Fast 100 award from the San Francisco Business Times, as one of the 100 fastest growing private companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. And on top of that, we were ranked #23.

We also continued our longtime partnership with the nonprofit Asian Law Caucus, producing three videos for their 2023 gala. We’ve produced these stories for ALC every year since our founding.

November 2023

In November, we produced multiple equity training modules for our partners at The National Equity Project (NEP). We’re happy to continuously support this non-profit and to create content that educates and supports DEIB work in the community. The Slow Clap team had a great 4-day shoot at the NEP office in downtown Oakland and the collaboration was seamless.

On a side note, we got another Slow Clap baby on the way! Our founder, Dan, left for paternity leave in mid-November. Wish him congratulations on his baby girl!

December 2023

Wrapping up this year, we were all hands on deck (or all legos on deck) for our Slow Clap holiday card video. We couldn’t resist the opportunity to live our childhood LEGO® dreams. When it came time to decide on a theme for our annual card, we were inspired by 90’s toy commercials. As it was also our first take on stop-motion animation, we were glad to have Kiante lead the way. Check it out here if you haven’t already.

Looking ahead to 2024, we’re excited to take on new adventures with our amazing team and partners.

Cheers,

The Slow Clap Team

59 video projects completed for our clients, from product launches to client success stories to brand stories and branded content
14 clients, including cause-based non-profits like Asian Law Caucus, startups like Imbue and The Yield, and Fortune 500 companies like eBay and Apple
23rd fastest-growing company in the Bay Area, according to the SF Business Times’ Fast 100 list
10+ different cities filmed including New York, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, and (of course) San Francisco & Oakland
100+ videos delivered; from long-form virtual event videos to 15-second social media videos
100% NPS (net promoter score) on Clutch
9 Industry Awards
2 new team members
2 Slow Clap babies
1 virtual production shot on an LED volume

2023 by Month

January 2023

We got 2023 started on a light note, making a series of social media video skits for startup Ironclad. The videos were produced in a DIY style to feel more like organic social content, and featured the lawyer influencer (yes, those exist,) Alex Su making fun of all things business contracts.

February 2023

2023 was year nine of our continuing relationship with healthcare insurance company Blue Shield of California. One highlight was continuing our series of ERG (employee resource group) video profiles. In each mini-documentary, we tell the powerful stories of employees who have gone through their careers facing adversity because of who they are. In February, we filmed interviews for the Black Employee Network, Elevating Women, and the Unidos (Latinx) ERG. All videos have since been released.

March 2023

In March, the Slow Clap team learned about the fascinating world of low and moderate income housing development and lending as we produced a video about the Golden State Acquisition Fund (aka GSAF). GSAF is an innovative fund created by the State of California and administered by Low Income Investment Fund (aka LIIF) that, to date, has been responsible for more than 10,000 new units of affordable housing.

April 2023

In April 2023, we got a repeat of April 2022. We love when our clients come back for more, and the San Francisco Treasurer did just that when we produced this video about the Kindergarten to College (K2C) program’s success. It gives us a chance to be part of something bigger, something that affects our community. This video features four students in San Francisco schools that have taken advantage of the program to save for college throughout their entire schooling, starting in Kindergarten.

May 2023

Slow Clap produced a fully-virtual production from start to finish for the first time. For those who don’t know, a “virtual production” is a new technique of producing video content that was first developed by Industrial Light and Magic for The Mandalorian. In May, we wrapped and delivered this product launch video for Mindful.

Mindful was releasing an entirely new UI for their product, with design that was accessible and “kind by design.” And to announce it, they reached out to us to build an entire virtual world from scratch. We built the world in Unreal Engine, rigged it on the large volume LED wall with Disguise, and used active camera tracking to bring the whole thing to life. This is a technology that will become standard industry practice in the near future, and the Slow Clap team is so excited to get to be on the bleeding edge of it. Check out a behind-the-scenes video about the making of this.

June 2023

2023 was the year of AI… from ChatGPT to labor strikes to deep fakes to AI Drake songs. 2023 was the year of AI for Slow Clap as well. We adopted some amazing AI tools like Descript for our workflow, and we got to produce video projects for some leading AI companies, like Sana, a leader in the TechEd space. Here, you can see Sana’s CEO talking with the CEO of Nvidia, which is now the sixth-largest company in the world due to its all-in play on AI hardware.

July 2023

August 2023

We also welcomed Kiante Marron to the team as a camera and post-production assistant. Kiante’s Gen Z, everything-is-content mindset has been a great refresh to our creaky old Millennial brains!

September 2023

Our team traveled to Orange County to produce this customer story video for a new client, InterPayments, as well as another virtual event video for our longtime client, Ironclad, in Dallas,TX.

October 2023

We also continued our longtime partnership with the nonprofit Asian Law Caucus, producing three videos for their 2023 gala. We’ve produced these stories for ALC every year since our founding.

November 2023

On a side note, we got another Slow Clap baby on the way! Our founder, Dan, left for paternity leave in mid-November. Wish him congratulations on his baby girl!

December 2023

Looking ahead to 2024, we’re excited to take on new adventures with our amazing team and partners.

Cheers,

The Slow Clap Team

Meet Slow Clap’s Camera & Post Production Assistant: Kiante Marron

Posted on December 27, 2023May 29, 2024 by Slow Clap

Get to know Kiante a bit better with our quick Q&A interview.

Introduce yourself!

Hi! My name is Kiante. I was born and raised in Oakland. As a kid, I dreamed of being a pro-wrestler, but now I’m a filmmaker. At the age of 12, I started making Pro-Wrestling Stop Motion on Youtube. I wrestled throughout high school and continued my stop-motion animations. I decided to major in cinema at San Francisco State University. I made a short film during my last semester of my sophomore year and that is what inspired me to be a filmmaker today.

What made you interested in joining Slow Clap?

As a new filmmaker, my experience has mainly been short films. The process has been very fun and rewarding but definitely challenging. I’ve been a one-man band, working on a few music videos and weddings for a few friends and family. I’ve also filmed for a fitness competition, an episodic hunting video, and for the real estate industry. These experiences have helped me with producing videos for people. I was interested in Slow Clap because I wanted to join fellow filmmakers and learn the process of production. Slow Clap was a great fit for my goals because of the company’s authentic, docustyle storytelling approach.

What’s your role? What made you gravitate towards this craft?

I am the Camera & Post Production Assistant and right-hand man to Jake Richards! Working with Slow Clap, I’ve learned the importance of transitioning from working solo to a team. I really enjoy interacting with the team as well as the clients. I especially enjoy making clients feel comfortable and at ease during the interview process. Sitting in front of the camera isn’t as easy as it seems!