SolarHour is a hybrid video production agency and online school. We look at your video goals and budget, and we’ll either produce videos for you, teach you how to do it yourself, or both.
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Enrolling now for our flagship program:
Lights, Camera, Traction:
A Comprehensive Step-by-Step System for Entrepreneurs to Shine in Their Niche and Create High-Quality Videos
OUR ENTERPRISE SOLUTION
We Help You Become Industry Leaders Using Effective Video Creation.
Video marketing is the leading medium for companies in 2024. Acquire a competitive edge and learn how to make videos to boost your company’s growth.
Chat with a sales representative to explore how SolarHour can serve your team.
Who We Are
SolarHour is a hybrid video production company.
We are here to share our expertise with your team. We produce outstanding videos for you and we can also teach your team how to do it themselves.
We have IMMENSE experience producing customer testimonials, fireside chats, webinars, podcast recordings, commercials, tutorials, online course videos, explainer videos, social media viral videos, and so much more.
Our training helps you save money on video production, supercharge your video marketing, and become an industry leader using video.
From producing videos to enabling your team to do it themselves, we envision a multi-year partnership with your team, growing with you every step of the way.
“76% of internet users find information about brands and products on social media platforms.”
The Problem
The way your company creates videos isn’t fast, efficient, or cost-effective.
It’s 2024, and you know that creating impactful videos is not just a trend; it's a necessity.
As a startup, you might feel that you can’t keep up with larger companies and their massive budgets for video marketing.
You don’t want to be outperformed by the competition. You can see industry leaders publishing engaging and high-converting videos consistently and you want a piece of the pie.
We’re here to tell you something crucial:
Companies are losing time and money by doing video production wrong.
Why? Because video vendors are expensive and time-consuming.
“54% of consumers want to see more video content from a brand or business they support.”
Why Hiring Videography Vendors Isn’t Always The Best Idea
Quality: Can there be too much of a good thing?
Professional videographers always put their best foot forward by producing videos with the highest quality, which means the client will be paying for the most talented filmmakers, the best camera gear, and additional headcount on set.
This makes sense when high-ROI video requires a high-quality, polished look, such as a customer case study, commercial, or an exciting new feature announcement.
But does every webinar, software tutorial, Zoom conversation, demo, or podcast require so much polish?
~75% of content the average tech company creates could benefit from a more lean and agile approach.
“Viewers retain 95% of a message when watching it on video (vs. 10% through text)”
Save time: Remove back and forth with vendors
Imagine you hired a bakery to create your perfect cake. As the client, you sample the finished product and provide feedback. However, the baker has to repeat the entire process of mixing, baking, and icing the cake before giving you the revised finished product. Video production is similar to this.
Most clients are unaware that creating videos is a very time-consuming process. Due to large file sizes and technical limitations of software, video editors cannot just make a quick text change and send you a revision immediately. It can take hours just to render, export, and upload a video file, let alone do the actual editing.
Additionally, it takes time to send video drafts back and forth until all stakeholders approve, delaying a consistent posting schedule.
That’s how companies invest weeks or months into overly-produced videos.
When you bring video production and editing in-house, you can bypass the unnecessary back and forth with vendors and avoid unnecessary professional polish.
You could cut down on the time it takes to create a video by 40%, with less friction to completion.
“After 10 years of producing videos for Silicon Valley, we believe in being scrappy, lean, and building Minimum Viable Videos.
We know that most videos don’t need the high production value that professional videographers offer.”
SolarHour is proud to present a revolutionary concept of Minimum Viable Video.
What is a Minimum Viable Video (MVV)?
An MVV is a video rapidly produced in days, in which the production value is commensurate with the ROI of the video.
The production process is more strategic, affordable, effective, and efficient.
Most importantly, it is sustainable.
To thrive with video content, as a startup, you need to act fast, produce high-quality content, and be consistent. That’s achievable using MVVs.
Our revolutionary program is here to teach you how to create MVVs.
Here’s what a Minimum Viable Video contains:
A clear and concise message.
High-quality lighting and sound.
Leverage the latest AI tools to simplify editing.
Shot on a phone.
Modern tech has advanced to the point that you CAN create high-quality videos on a phone, because the secret to professional quality is in lighting and sound.
It’s important to not get overwhelmed with complicated professional cameras and use the camera that you know best, which is your phone!
SolarHour is here to spill the industry secrets for professional video production.
“SolarHour helps you build a pro-level sustainable video creation pipeline that suits your startup budget.”
At SolarHour, we understand the challenges tech professionals face in today's landscape. Our revolutionary coaching program, Lights, Camera, Traction is custom-tailored to empower you in overcoming video creation obstacles, increasing brand recognition, and propelling your business to new heights.
We provide world-class white-glove support, complete walkthrough guides, 150+ on-demand video tutorials, and top-tier award-winning instructors.
With 10 years of experience creating hundreds of videos for tech companies, from startups to Fortune 500 companies, we’ve figured out a formula to help companies stay lean, competitive, and boost their growth using effective video creation.
Save time, money, and effort = SolarHour’s revolutionary formula.
Believe it or not, you can actually make professional-quality videos on a smartphone.
How is this possible? Because the biggest secret is that the key to making great videos is 1. your story, 2. lighting, and 3. audio - all of which have nothing to do with your camera.
We recommend investing in $250 in lighting, tripod, and a microphone. We’ll also provide our recommendations for what gear you should purchase.
Our program is specially designed for beginners with ZERO experience. Never used a camera before? Never used video editing software before? Have NO idea where to even begin? No worries.
We’ll help you skip the overwhelm and get started with beginner-level video gear and skills.
Your instructor is the founder of SolarHour, Karen Lum, an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and Stanford University alumna, who is incredibly passionate about teaching and empowering others in their art and business. She started building this program in 2019, and after 5 years of testing and reiterating, she is still constantly improving the program.
You’ll have access to support 7 days a week and a community of other business owners and content creators. Expert professional content creators and filmmakers are there to help you at every step.
SolarHour’s Coaching Program Lights, Camera, Action will teach you how to create a Minimum Viable Video with 5 essential elements:
Increase Quality and Speed
Your team will learn effective storytelling.
How to create high-quality videos, swiftly.
You’ll leverage AI tools and the latest video technology to save time and reduce effort.
Save Resources
Save money by making videos in-house instead of depending on vendors.
Most videos don’t need high production costs and are easy for your team to create. You can save time by not waiting for vendors and produce videos faster and more cost-effectively by doing it in-house instead.
We advise you on the best bang-for-buck video gear to purchase (lights, microphones, webcams, software) and how to design an in-house video studio.
We teach your WFH employees to make their homes look better on camera.
Top-Tier White-Glove Support
We provide step-by-step guidance and premium support.
A team of expert professional content creators and filmmakers there to help you at every step.
Gain an Edge Over Your Competitors on Social Media
We advise on social media technical requirements.
We’re up to date on all platforms and know the ideal video length, how to hook your audience, choosing portrait or landscape videos, writing titles/descriptions/captions, designing thumbnails, and the latest AI video tools.
Access to all the technical skills you need to be competitive.
Scale Your Team
We’ll help you build your video team through pro-level training.
We’ll provide feedback and help make your content creators better at making videos.
If you hire more videographers to join your team, we can help assess their skills, conduct technical interviews, and review their video work with a trained eye.
SolarHour’s Camera, Lights, Traction is a professional-level, results-driven coaching program that’ll guide your team to become industry leaders in video, providing you with access to expert support and guidance at every step.
Your New Superpower
In 4 to 6 weeks, clients enrolled in this program will be able to:
Develop a highly effective video marketing program.
See a clear boost in business by investing in video.
Become an industry leader in your market using video.
Be recognized as the most visible, engaging, and exciting company that your prospects and customers are magnetized to work with.
Discover what it means to have fans instead of customers or prospects, your customers will share, adore, and engage with your content.
If 4-6 weeks doesn’t fit your team’s schedule, we can arrange a cadence that suits their needs.
Step-by-Step Instructions for Hands-on Practical Learning
Sample Projects with Full Walkthrough Guides
World-Class Expert Support
Project: Create a 15-second lifestyle video (2-4 hours to complete)
27 videos (2.5 hours to watch)
A lifestyle video is an extremely short video, under 15 seconds, that will only take 1 hour to film and 10 minutes to edit. You’ll leverage templates to get a high-quality result, with no previous video experience!
An introduction to using CapCut, picking the correct template, and getting the best video quality.
Setting up your phone to get started with video. Learn the secret camera settings that will make your phone take videos like a professional camera.
An introduction to lenses that work best with your phone.
How to choose lighting and angles to make you look your best.
How to film real estate videos to make homes look great.
On-the-field guides to walk you through every step of our video editing process.
Easy export guide. Share your videos on social media with ease and quality.
Rapidly edit videos in MINUTES using pre-made CapCut templates
Quizzes for learning that sticks.
Project: Create a 30 second video using voiceover to tell a story (4 hours to complete)
27 videos (3.5 hours to watch)
AI optimization: How to create a script and storyboard in ChatGPT
Lighting: The difference between bad lighting and good lighting, good natural lighting techniques, and best types of spaces for lighting.
Good vs. bad audio and how to optimize audio to sound crystal clear.
Introduction to editing: step-by-steps on improving video quality, piecing together a story using your video clips, fixing audio, and stabilizing shaky video.
Behind the scene looks at how we film and edit videos.
Quizzes for learning that sticks.
Project: Create a video where you teach a concept (4-8 hours to complete)
27 videos (3 hours to watch)
How to get Ideas for explainer videos.
More lighting techniques that are the real hidden secret behind high-quality videos
How to setup a shot for daytime vs. nighttime
Picking the perfect microphone.
AI alternative to teleprompters.
Adding effects, text, filters, and b-roll.
On-the-field guides to walk you through every step of our video editing process.
Quizzes for learning that sticks.
Project: Put together all of your learnings of camera, audio, lighting, and editing techniques to create a long-form video (10+ hours to complete)
27 videos (3 hours to watch)
Mastering social media: Social media video requirements.
Choosing the optimal background for your video.
Editing: Cutting out um's and inappropriate pauses.
Editing: Adding B-roll and creating vertical video for Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts
On-the-field guides to walk you through how we film videos and our + step-by-step editing system.
24 hour SLA for emails
Biweekly Zoom calls
Expert instructors to offer you support, and guide you towards creating pro-level videos.
Would you like to see a detailed syllabus and a preview of the course videos? We’re happy to answer any questions you may have.
we advise you on what video gear to purchase
We have tested hundreds of products and can help you figure out what lighting, microphones, editing software, and camera accessories to buy for you niche and budget.
We even have videos on how to set these producs up.
Our clients rave about this feature of the program.
Whatever your profession, goals and budget are, we’ve got you covered.
Your lead instructor will be Karen Lum, Founder of SolarHour, creator and author of this program.
Karen is an Emmy award-winning filmmaker with 20 years of filmmaking experience.
She founded her video production company, SolarHour, in 2016, has served dozens of tech companies, and produced hundreds of videos.
Her philosophy was simple yet game-changing. She refused to believe that video had to be expensive and difficult for amateurs.
So she has spent the last 5 years building this program, creating, testing, and refining the curriculum to offer easy and affordable ways to produce high-quality videos.
Karen has helped coaches, consultants, and real estate agents, increase their market presence through video.
accountability and support
In addition to the modules, you’ll also have access to our community page where you can ask questions and our instructional team will also respond.
Our lead instructor, Karen Lum, has 20 years of experience and can handle any question you throw at her.
As a passionate teacher, she believes no question is a dumb question, and is committed to every student’s success!
““Karen is really good at explaining technical concepts, then illustrating them through examples. Her personality is delightful. I love how she shows up as yourself and shares her stories and photos and videos. She is really what makes this course!” ”
