Find your voice.
A production, not an activity. Their idea, their department, their name in the credits.
They pitch the idea, write the screenplay and run a real department for the week.
Shot on professional video cameras and cut by the teens themselves — everyone credited on a finished short film.
Real crew positions
- Director
- Runs the set, works with actors, decides what the scene is about.
- Cinematographer
- Camera and lighting. Lenses, exposure, and why the shot feels the way it does.
- Editor
- Assembles the cut, builds pace, mixes sound and music.
- Production designer
- Sets, props and costume. Makes the world look like somewhere real.
- Sound
- Boom, mixer, room tone. The department that resonates with the audience.
- Writer
- Pitches the story and creates empathetic characters worthy of a tale told in moving pictures.
Why It Matters
Making it, not watching it
Teens spend the week off their phones and on a set — pitching their own ideas out loud, collaborating about a shot, and making something for a big screen instead of scrolling a small one.
- Their own story, their own way — nobody hands them a script.
- A real crew of peers working together and building confidence..
- A finished film with their name in the credits.
Five days on a real production
Monday - Pitch & crew up
- Everyone pitches. The room picks the films it wants to make, then the crew roles get handed out — and they rotate all week, so every teen directs, shoots, records sound and edits before Friday.
Tuesday - Prep & blocking
- Script pass, shot list, casting, lighting plan. The camera department tests lenses; sound tests the room.
Wed–Thu - Principal photography
- Two full shoot days on the stage and on location. Call sheets, slates, coverage — run the way a real set runs.
Friday - Post & wrap
- Cut, sound mix, titles and color. Our editors finish the film after camp, it plays at the annual screening with parents and peers in attendance.
FAQs
Is this different from the 7–12 camp?
- Yes. Teens pitch their own material, work at their own pace and shoot on professional video cameras. They rotate through every crew role during the week — directing, camera, sound, editing — so nobody spends five days holding a boom. The 13–17 group makes its own film with its own instructor.
My teen wants to apply to film school. Does this help?
- That is what the week is built for. They leave with a professionally edited, credited short film and a reference letter on request.
What if my teen has never touched a camera?
- Most have not. Monday morning is hands-on with camera equipment and story pitching. Experience is not the entry requirement — wanting to make something meaningful is.
What roles will they partake in?
- Please do. Cinematography, editing, sound, production design and writing are all real departments here, and the quiet kid on sound often turns out to be the one running the set by Thursday.
Do teens get their film online?
- Yes. Films go up on our YouTube channel, so a teen can actually link it in an application, and every film also screens at the annual Film Camp Film Festival with the teen credited.
Will my teen be working with other teens?
- Yes — teens are crewed with kids their own age, on their own film, with an instructor running that group. Ask us which weeks are busiest on the 13–17 side and we will point you at the best one.
