Deerfield Produces Promotional Video for the MET

From October 14 to 16 of this year, Deerfield Academy partnered with LoneSpruce, a videography and creative studio, to produce a promotional video for the Academy’s upcoming 2026 fundraising campaign. Director of Communications Jess Day described the initiative as a “comprehensive campaign,” explaining that it will raise money for many projects, including the dining hall construction, financial aid, faculty support, and a new dormitory. She noted that comprehensive campaigns run parallel with annual fundraising events, such as the Deerfield Fund. Currently, the Academy has set a goal of raising $425 million through this upcoming campaign, which will run for four to five years.

The Academy has been in a “quiet phase,” a period before the campaign’s public announcement. The campaign is scheduled to officially begin on May 13, 2026, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The video will be displayed during a formal event for the Deerfield community, where parents, alumni, select faculty, and students will gather to share their experiences, celebrating the school’s many facets. Ms. Day emphasized that the purpose of the video is to “highlight all the things that we're raising the money for…and the things that are important [to Deerfield], like the meaningful traditions, and everything else that makes Deerfield great.” 

The filmmaking process began this past spring, when the LoneSpruce crew captured footage of athletic games, classroom discussions, and everyday campus life between May 13 and 14. This fall, the crew returned to capture more footage, much of which included faculty and student participation in discussions. Ms. Day explained that, since the primary audience is alumni, the Academy “wanted to highlight teachers who are well-known,” such as Science Teacher Heidi Valk, who has taught at Deerfield for almost 30 years. Ms. Day added that the crew also selected History Teacher Hayden Fox’s classroom to illustrate the humanities at Deerfield, offering insight into the school’s academic environment. 

Beyond showcasing its classroom experiences, the Academy hopes to capture the “feeling” of being on campus, something Ms. Day said was “tough to do.” To accomplish this, the crew has spent time “capturing the beauty of the place…filming everything as you would for a movie,” Ms. Day said. “We want to show as much as we can…to show all the aspects of Deerfield, like humanities, sciences, arts, and athletics.”

Students also had the opportunity to partake in multiple scenes, contributing to the film’s depiction of an authentic school environment. Associate Editor for the Scroll Rory Hartblay ’26 participated in a scene where he and two other students had a discussion with Head of School John Austin in the library. Hartblay explained that the reading room on the first floor had been set up to look like a mock class. During the filmmaking process, “[the film crew] told us to have an actual conversation with Dr. Austin, but make it random because they weren't actually going to take the sound from the recording,” Hartblay said. He explained that as a result, “Dr. Austin decided to have each of us make a meal for him.” 

Nate Ugwonali ’27 also participated in the filming of the mock classroom with Dr. Austin. “The filming of the promotional video was fun,” Ugwonali said. “I got to talk to Dr. Austin about his favorite foods and books, and it was especially cool seeing [the] behind the scenes of a production like this.”

Another student who was featured in the same scene, Tashvi Reddy ’27, shared her perspective on the filming experience, stating, “The film crew asked us multiple times to either take down notes, to lean in or out of the camera, and even asked Dr. Austin to say something that makes everyone laugh.” Reddy recalled that her participation was unplanned and that she happened to be studying in the library when the filming began, and she described the experience as “unexpected but incredibly fun.” 

Hartblay described the filmmaking process as being very professional, saying, “I was kind of shocked because I didn't know that it was going to be a professional film crew. I thought it was just going to be like another film promo that Deerfield does like with the communications office, like the ones you see on Instagram every other day.”

The film crew also captured footage of students at the rock to display more facets of the Academy’s culture. Luc Ruminski ’27 was part of this process, and he described the experience, saying, “It was really fun getting to work with the crew, since I got to meet a bunch of new people during filming. I was happy to represent Deerfield and be part of the filmmaking process.”

The film crew will return to campus in January of next year to capture scenes of a sit-down meal after the dining hall renovations are complete. Ms. Day shared the possibility of an on-campus premiere once filmmaking wraps up. She expressed her excitement to witness the completion of the production and the opportunity to participate in the filming process. Reflecting on the experience, she emphasized, “[The video] is supposed to be inspirational. It’s supposed to get people excited to participate in the campaign…and I think it’s a privilege to share things about Deerfield.”