Johnny Mac Tennis —
College Day.
A fundraiser film made for College Admission Day at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy. A celebration of the young athletes whose talent on the court opened the door to their academic futures.
Client
John McEnroe Tennis Academy
Director
David Dessel
Year
2026
Services
Direction · Production · Post
Where elite tennis meets a college future.
The John McEnroe Tennis Academy at Sportime is one of the premier tennis training programs in the country. College Day is an annual milestone — the moment the academy celebrates the players it has helped place in college programs, and raises support for the ones still on their way.
Make donors feel what the families already know.
A fundraiser film has one job: close the emotional distance between a donor and the thing they're being asked to support. For College Day, that meant capturing not just the athleticism on the court, but the ambition, the work, and the very real stakes behind every backhand and baseline sprint.
The court is the classroom.
The film finds its meaning in the specifics — the sound of a ball machine, the focus on a young player's face, the names being read aloud at the ceremony. It's a film about what training at this level actually produces: not just better players, but people ready for what comes next.
The Art of Teaching
Education · Documentary