Newly Released Sports Video Inspires Millions

Award-winning South African cinematographer produced the new motivational video with an athlete from Michael Johnson Performance

DALLAS, Nov. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The newly released "Love of the Game pt. 2" video - created to inspire and motivate audiences - has already attracted more than 1.3 million views on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKKYAa9rrZk 

The visuals use strenuous football training as a metaphor to urge viewers to start and never stop pursuing their own dreams. The content documents an athlete's path to success in his chosen sport. Lyrics to "Love Yours," the accompanying soundtrack, encourage doubling down on the message "there's no such thing as a life that's better than yours."  

"Love of the Game pt. 2" was produced by Bongani Mlambo, an award-winning cinematographer. Based in Los Angeles, Calif. and raised in Harare, Zimbabwe, Mlambo is known as an advocate who passionately believes in diversity and inclusion in front of and behind the lens.

A visually creative and compelling storyteller, among his feature films are: "All Creatures" starring David Dastmalchian and Karen Gillan; "The Virgin of Highland Park" starring Penelope Ann Miller and Dermot Mulroney; "Three Days In August" and "Upstream Color." 

Bongani's credits also include "The Hair Tales" TV series by Tracee Ellis Ross and Michaela Angela Davis for OWN, Onyx Collective, and Hulu; "Waffles and Mochi Holiday Feast" special for Netflix and the Obama's Higher Ground production company; and "Dot and Brie Talk TV" on Hulu.

His work as director of photography has won accolades at The International Cinematographer's Guild Emerging Cinematographer Awards, The Tellys, NBCUniversal Short Film Festival, Cannes International Series Festival, Urbanworld Film Festival, LA Shorts Fest and others. He is a 2018 Film Independent Project Involve Fellow and has supported and collaborated with filmmakers in Disney Launchpad, WarnerMedia OneFifty, Netflix Emerging Filmmaker Initiative, Film Independent's Global Media Makers, and Hulu's Bite Size Halloween.

Beyond his filmmaking pursuits, Bongani plans to establish arts and film workshops, programs and residencies in Zimbabwe to inspire the next generation of Africans to tell their stories via the visual and performing arts.

His new video is associated with an athlete from Michael Johnson Performance, a world leader in athletic development and high-performance training, offering athletic development and high-performance training based on research and scientific data. https://michaeljohnsonperformance.com/

The first video, "Love of the Game pt. 1," provided an introduction at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU5gSl8m-ZU

The colorful photograph used in both videos is credited to Walter Looss Jr. /Sports Illustrated Classic via Getty Images/Getty Images. Loos is noted for his images of athletes and his legendary work for Sports Illustrated. At 79, he has earned a reputation as the poet laureate of sports photography. 

The original artwork in "Love of the Game pt. 2" was created for the video to spread awareness and highlight the continued efforts of nonprofit organizations across the country that support the work of artists in underserved communities.

Among them are:
California African American Museum Art + Practice https://www.artandpractice.org/
Art Administrators of Color https://aacnetwork.org/
Black Artists + Designers Guild https://badguild.info/
Another Justice https://forfreedoms.org/
The Laundromat Project https://laundromatproject.org/
Project Row House https://projectrowhouses.org/
Rebuild Foundation https://www.rebuild-foundation.org/
Tessera Arts Collective https://www.tesseracollective.com/

About Michael Johnson Performance https://michaeljohnsonperformance.com/ 
Michael Johnson Performance (MPJ) was founded by Olympic gold medalist and Dallas native Michael Johnson to provide innovative training to athletes of all levels—from young to pro—based on years of research and scientific data. Originally headquartered in McKinney, Texas, the company is known for providing training and sports medicine services to professional athletes and Olympians from around the world, including in-season and offseason training programs, biomechanical analysis, and injury prevention programs for athletes to maintain superior levels of athletic performance.

Contact: 
Christian Leath
[email protected]
(682) 290-3796

SOURCE Michael Johnson Performance