This project's driving idea was to showcase the U.S. Coast Guard and Merchant Marine academies, two underrepresented service institutions, by highlighting their longstanding Secretaries' Cup football rivalry. The primary goal was to inform a national audience about the rich history of these services and the value they bring to the nation. We aimed to portray the cadets and midshipmen as legitimate, dedicated athletes who, despite their fierce competition on the field, share a profound, common responsibility for ensuring safety at sea. Ultimately, the work sought to celebrate the pride, discipline, and maritime traditions of these future leaders, culminating in their historic game at Fenway Park. The production, intended for a broad audience including being broadcast on ESPN and shown to congress, was carefully crafted to represent both academies equally, honoring their unique contributions and shared dedication.
With just a month’s notice, our team was tasked with producing a cinematic video to promote the 2025 Secretaries’ Cup, one of college football’s most unique rivalries between the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. Our vision was to capture the pride, discipline, and dedication of future maritime leaders and to build excitement for the game’s historic setting at Fenway Park, even though all filming took place at the academies themselves.
We began with intensive pre-production planning, coordinating with both schools to schedule filming around demanding academic, military, and athletic calendars, while also overcoming the constraints of a government shutdown. With the season nearly over, only three games remained, and we were able to film at just one home game for each academy. Each was a single day shoot, which meant we had only one chance at every shot.
Filming live football is inherently challenging because nothing is controlled. The action is fast, unpredictable, and constantly shifting across the field. We could not stage or repeat plays, move athletes for camera, or pause the game to adjust angles or lighting. Our team had to anticipate the flow of play, move quickly and safely on crowded sidelines, and constantly adapt to changing weather, light, and crowd dynamics, all while staying out of the way of game operations and officials. Every decision had to be made in real time, balancing risk, access, and coverage.
At the same time, both games were packed with homecoming activities and formal events, adding more layers of movement, ceremonies, and competing priorities. We had to capture military drills, traditions, and candid cadet moments while still getting high quality game action that could serve as the visual backbone of the story.
Another major challenge was our desire to reflect the long history and tradition of the rivalry and both services with very limited archival footage, especially from the Merchant Marine Academy. Instead of leaning on historical imagery, we focused our cameras on today’s cadets, their athleticism, and iconic campus landmarks. We then used the narration to carry much of the academies’ and services’ historic significance, allowing the script and visuals to work together to suggest depth, legacy, and shared purpose without extensive archival material.
The project involved extensive oversight and differing creative priorities from leadership at both academies, athletic departments, public affairs staff, and a congressional affairs liaison. The final narration was not approved until after filming, so we designed our coverage to be flexible and modular, giving editors enough variety and depth to support multiple narrative directions.
What makes this project unique is the combination of high-end cinematic visuals, a balanced dual academy perspective, and the difficulty of achieving that quality in live, uncontrolled environments with only two single day game shoots. Despite those constraints, the final video delivers a unified, emotionally resonant story that honors both institutions and the enduring significance of the Secretaries’ Cup.
The project was a resounding success, meeting and exceeding all our primary objectives. The video premiered during the Secretaries' Cup game and was broadcast on ESPN, achieving our goal of reaching a broad and diverse national audience. It was also shared widely across enterprise social media, further amplifying its visibility.
The results were validated by overwhelmingly positive feedback from the leadership, cadets, and alumni of both academies, as well as the general public. Viewers praised the video's cinematic quality and its emotional impact, confirming we had successfully captured the pride, discipline, and dedication of these future maritime leaders.
Ultimately, the project's success is measured by its ability to unify both institutions under a shared narrative of service and excellence. Despite a tight timeline and complex coordination, we delivered a powerful video that elevated the brands of both the Coast Guard and Merchant Marine academies. It generated significant pride, anticipation, and visibility for the Secretaries' Cup, solidifying its status as a triumph for our team.
Analytics for this video and accompanying reels and stories totaled more than 155k impressions, 1k shares, and 4k engagements across Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
