Sarah John
Making the complicated feel obvious, one video at a time.
Here’s a truth I’ve noticed many companies tend to discover the hard way: technical knowledge doesn’t teach itself. Somebody has to take the dense, jargon-heavy, “just read the manual” stuff and turn it into something a regular person can actually absorb. That’s where I come in!
I'm Sarah, a video producer and instructional designer with over ten years of experience making helpful training content that people genuinely enjoy watching (or at least, that’s always the end goal). I handle everything from scripting and screen capture to motion graphics and final delivery, collaborating with clients and subject matter experts with a level of kindness and professionalism ingrained in me from my days working in customer service.
I will be honest: it’s kind of a weird time to work in this field!
Technology sure does move fast, doesn’t it? The tools considered standard practice have changed so much over the course of my career, and AI is a big part of that conversation right now. While my preference will forever be for wholly human-generated content, I understand that AI can be used like any other tool: responsibly, if and when it makes sense. But knowing what a confused learner actually needs to hear, or how to make adjustments when something just isn’t clicking with audiences? That kind of thing still needs a human being who has taken the time to understand the process and fully consider it from a learner’s perspective, and I’ve spent my career prioritizing being one of those.
I’m based in Northern Colorado, available remotely or on-site, and am open to roles in learning and development, internal communications, or product education.
If your organization creates things that need explaining, I’d love to talk!
Portfolio
Freelance Work
Since 2024, I’ve been creating tutorial content for Adobe’s official learning library, producing videos for After Effects, Acrobat, and Premiere. Each video is scripted, recorded, and edited to Adobe’s production standards, with a focus on clear instructions and practical outcomes for everyday creatives.
Create fluid text animations using motion blur and easing
An After Effects tutorial covering some effective techniques for making text animation feel natural and intentional rather than jerky and robotic. Motion blur and easing are simple effects that add an elevated, professional look, and this video makes them accessible to users at any experience level.
This was a video on which I was given free reign to choose a topic, and I went with a couple things I wish I had known when I was first learning how to use After Effects. Definitely a fun one to work on for that reason!
Edit videos and censor profanity with text-based editing
A Premiere tutorial demonstrating one of the app's more useful recent features: editing video by manipulating a transcript rather than scrubbing through footage manually. A great example of making an advanced workflow feel approachable.
I had a great time with this one, and I imagine this feature will be quite handy for a lot of editors looking to avoid demonetization on various video hosting platforms.
Create a dynamic title using video and text
A step-by-step After Effects tutorial walking users through creating an eye-catching title sequence that combines live video and text. This was built for creators who want polished, professional-looking results without a steep learning curve. Almost everything you wish you could do in a given Adobe program is easier than you think, as long as you have the right instructions to show you how!
One of my favorite things about this video was getting to pick out the stock footage to use for it. I went with an aurora clip because of the auroras that had just been widely visible over much of the northern hemisphere. Genuinely a life altering moment for me—I thought I’d have to take a special trip up to Alaska or Iceland someday to see it, and then it ended up being something I could watch from my front porch. Absolutely wild in the best way. (Still would love to go to Alaska or Iceland someday, btw.)
Enhance your review process with Frame.io
A Premiere tutorial covering Frame.io's integrated review and collaboration tools. This one is aimed at creators and teams who want a smoother feedback loop between editors and stakeholders.
I’ve gotten to use Frame.io and specifically this feature while working on these tutorial projects, and when I tell you they have been life-changing for my workflow, I am not kidding. This is a must-have for creative teams.
Add Adobe Stock media using the Stock Panel
A Premiere tutorial showing users how to browse, license, and drop Stock assets directly into their projects without leaving the app. An extremely useful and immediately applicable time-saver.
How to extract pages from a PDF
A quick, practical Acrobat tutorial for anybody looking to work with PDFs more efficiently. The biggest thing I’ve learned from the Acrobat tutorials I’ve worked on is that this little tool is packed with way more features than you think. PDFs: they don’t have to be a nightmare to work with anymore!
Corporate Work
The following videos were produced during my time at HP and DISH. Corporate video is always a team effort, and where collaboration was involved I’ve noted it in the description. Where it isn’t mentioned, the production work is mine end to end. These are all almost certainly completely out of date with the current branding and processes for these companies, but at the time they were right on target, I promise.
Welcome to Workforce Experience (HP)
A customer-facing onboarding video introducing HP's B2B clients to the Workforce Experience portal and walking them through the signup process.
I handled scripting, motion graphics, and end-to-end post-production, working within HP's brand guidelines to create something that felt polished and approachable rather than stiff and corporate. This is also an example of the Camtasia graphics template I created for our series of videos about these software offerings. The audio here was generated in Natural Reader, which was the standard tool used by the team.
Check Out Over the Air Technology (DISH)
A customer-facing explainer produced for DISH's YouTube channel, designed to help customers understand and get value from over-the-air technology. Studio footage filmed by DISH's in-house production team. Animation of assets (gathered from Shutterstock) and post-production are mine.
It has been a while since I made this now but I genuinely loved compositing and animating all the assets for this. Naturally, as a cat person, I had to include some cats in the living room scene.
Over the Top (DISH/Sling)
A video produced for DISH's customer service team, keeping agents up to speed on changes relevant to their roles in an engaging format that doesn't feel like a memo. Filmed on a green screen in DISH's in-house production studio, with scripting handled by the instructional writing team and the intro graphic by a teammate. Production from camera to final cut is mine.
There were so many of this type of video created while I worked at DISH, for both DISH and Sling agents, and the team collaboration was always so much fun. Some of my favorite work memories were in the studio while filming these.
Troubleshooting Black, Blue, Snowy Screen (DISH)
A (now pretty old school) customer self-serve troubleshooting video produced for DISH’s YouTube channel, designed to help customers resolve common picture issues without needing to call support. Script by the team’s instructional writers and the voiceover work was done by a teammate. Graphics and editing are mine.