A Surprisingly Beautiful Film That Shows the Intricate Process Used to Make Wilson Tennis Balls

While on location at the Wilson factory, commercial filmmaker Benedict Redgrove created surprisingly beautiful film that captured the highly intricate, mechanized process that goes into crafting the yellow tennis balls for which the company is so well known.

I was commissioned to make a film and shoot a set of images by ESPN for Wilson, to show the manufacturing process of their tennis balls for the US Open. We flew to the factory, shot the film and stills in one day then flew home. Its an amazingly complex manufacture, requiring 24 different processes to make the final ball. It was hot, loud and the people who worked there, worked fast. So much beauty in each stage. I love the mechanics of how things are made, it fills me with great pleasure. I hope you enjoy the film.

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.