IN – PERSON AND ONLINE OPTIONS
Filmmaking and Animation Summer Camps, New York and Beyond
CinemaKidz offers the best summer day camp in New York City for children ages 5-15, and now as a Virtual Summer Camp for children across the country. Our trained teaching artists guide campers through the fundamentals of filmmaking, animation, and creative expression. Whether your child has a passion for acting, costume design, YouTube, or creating art with their hands, our camps are designed for everyone and every interest. Campers are encouraged to trust their imaginations and refine their unique vision at each stage of the creative process.
NBC features our Virtual Camps
EXPERIENCED EDUCATORS
The CK Summer Team is made up of true artists, filmmakers, and experienced educators. Teachers can teach the basics, as well as advanced techniques. We staff at a small ratio to ensure campers get the attention they need. Counselors are all 18+, background checked, and thoroughly trained to ensure your child has the best summer yet!
KID MADE FROM START TO FINISH
We teach campers the tools to express themselves creatively, guiding children through the entire process of filmmaking or animation. Kids to take the reigns and are involved in every stop of production. Unlike many filmmaking camps where adults direct, edit, and take over the set, we make sure kids create their own work, and are proud of what they do!
AGE-APPROPRIATE CAMPS FOR AGES 5 TO 15.
Children are broken up by age and ability at camp. Teachers are experienced and able to teach to all levels, from the novice filmmaker to the experienced expert. Children use accessible equipment and software that teaches the fundamentals of filmmaking and animation, with programs ranging from iMovie to Adobe Suite!
VIRTUAL SUMMER CAMP OPTIONS AVAILABLE
CinemaKidz Virtual Summer Camps are engaging, hands-on, and kept extremely small to ensure your child is learning while having tons of fun! Every virtual media camp comes with a CK Materials Kit valued at over $75 and includes all the tools your child needs to make professional quality films, animations, and creative media projects. Classes are kept small and kids are broken up by age and ability. Full day options with a 1.5 hour break, as well as half day options available.
Summer Camp 2020 Offerings
Pick the themes that interest you, or join us for the entire summer for an in-depth experience. Need help planning your experience? Give us a call and we can suggest a Summer Track.
June – September Online Camps Available
Virtual Summer Camps
JUNE 15 – SEPTEMBER 4, 2020
Full Day*: 9am – 11am and 12:30 – 2:30 pm
Half Day: 9am – 11am OR 12:30 – 2:30pm
*we highly recommend a full day for those in the 3rd grade and above for a more in-depth experience
Join us this summer for the best Virtual Summer Camp for your creative kid! Learn filmmaking, animation, scriptwriting, editing, special effects, music production, and more.
Virtual summer camps run for one-week sessions, with Half Day or Full Day options. Join us for the full day and dive deeper into the subject as you get social and collaborate with other creative kids. Full Day Camps include a 1.5 hour break, with an optional camp-wide activity session where kids can tune in and play games, get moving together, share their work, and get silly!
Camps are taught by our best teachers and experts in the field, every camp comes with a materials kit delivered in advance to your door. Sessions are kept small in order to foster real learning and engagement. Further learning activities are provided each day for continued solo projects at home.
Check back soon for more camp options!
In-Person Camps
Pine Street School, FiDi/Downtown Manhattan
M – F, 9am – 4pm (extended day 8am – 5:30pm)
We are paying close attention to guidelines from the Department of Health, the Governor, and the Mayor of NYC regarding safety precautions and summer camp. At this time, CinemaKidz is planning on running in-person summer day camps from August 3rd – August 28th, but this is based on trends in NYC, and is subject to change.
WHAT’S A TYPICAL DAY LIKE AT CINEMAKIDZ?
Glad you asked!
See what happens at Camp CinemaKidz
A day at Camp Cinemakidz is jam-packed with activities and fun! Kids start the week off working in small groups, and collaborating with one another to make projects and get familiar with the technology and equipment. As the week progresses so do the complexity of projects, kids build valuable skills and learn by doing. Each week concludes with a film festival for friends and family to showcase all the amazing kid-made work.
THE DAILY BREAKDOWN
Everyday is full of activity at CinemaKidz
Early bird + Transportation Options
8am - 9am
The normal camp day runs from 9am - 4pm, however Early Bird is available beginning at 8am. Take advantage of transportation options to and from our Pine Street Location from Brooklyn Heights and the Upper West Side. Get in touch with any questions!
Creative Work and Collaboration
9am - 12pm
For camps that stay on site, kids participate in engaging and hands-on projects every day from building sets and costumes to directing scenes and editing. Projects are focused on collaboration and the sharing of ideas. Kids are broken up by age and ability in each theme, and we staff at 1:5 so everyone gets the attention they need.
Lunch and Snacks
12 - 12:30pm
At CinemaKidz, campers are active all day long. We ask that families pack their children with 2 snacks and a hearty lunch to keep the energy up all day long! We take a lunch at noon, and have games and activities on site for some fun downtime.
Outdoor Time + Play
12:30 - 1:30pm
Everyday the camp heads outside to get some fresh air at a nearby park or field. We play structured games like soccer or freeze tag. Kids can also just run around and play together. Sometimes campers may spend the time capturing footage for their projects.
Gaining Skills With Technology
1:30 - 4pm
Camp CinemaKidz offers a flexible program that helps kids find their creative passion and lets it thrive. Kids are involved in every step of filmmaking and animation, and have the opportunity to take their interests far. Interested in editing? We can tailor the week to focus more on that for your child, showing them how to use professional software include Adobe Premiere. With computers, cameras, and a variety of equipment available, we bring your child's ideas to life!
A Creative Community + Extended Day
4pm-5:30pm
At the end of every day, all the camps come together to share what they worked on and learned that day. Each week ends in a Friday Film Festival where parents and friends can come see all the hard work and amazing projects from the week. We offer Late Bird beginning at 4:15 - 5:30pm.
Frequently Asked Questions
My child has a special request, or topic they want to learn about.
Great! We love to learn about what kids are passionate about. Because the CK staff are so experienced, and have a diverse set of skills and background, we can work closely with your child and help them learn more about what they’re passionate about! Want to learn all about editing, or focus on cinematography for the week? Sounds great, we will teach you all about it!
If I sign my child up for two weeks of Creative Filmmaking, will it be the same camp again?
Nope! Every week is completely different, because the story ideas and needed film techniques vary with the creative minds of the group. You can sign up for Cinnessentials for all 7 weeks and never do the same thing!
I have a 13 year old, will there be other kids their age?
Yes! We have campers of all ages, ranging from 5 to 15 years old. Children are grouped with children of the same age and ability.
How do the kids travel around for the outdoor camps?
Camps is just two blocks from the Wall Street Ferry Terminal, during the summer we travel by water as much as we can. Its fun for the kids, and also extremely safe.
Other times we may take the train, but we choose easy to get to locations on 1 train line, and staff at a 1:5 ratio to ensure kids are being supervised and are safely traveling.
Where do campers go during NYC Movie Adventurers?
The CK team has scouted out NYC, and found some really special and cinematic locations for kids to choose from when planning their production. Email us and we will send you the full list of locations!
Do you go outside each day?
Yes! We make sure to go outside each day after lunch to enjoy the sun and burn off some energy. Outdoor time consists of both structured games, as well as free time to run around. Often we bring the cameras to get some outdoor footage, and kids have the opportunity to work on independent projects during this time as well.
Some of our camps spend a large part of the day outside, including NYC Movie Adventurers, and the Skateboard Filmmaking camp.
We go to Imagination Playground, or the the Brooklyn Bridge Park via the water taxi.
How are kids grouped at camp?
Children are grouped by age and ability. This ensures our teachers are focusing on relevant, age-appropriate filmmaking and animation techniques. Kids also have time to come together with the other camps, and interact with both older and younger kids at times.
How big is the camp?
Sections are generally from 10 – 15 children. We keep each theme small and intimate so that kids have a lot of creative input, get the attention they need from the teachers, and they don’t get lost in the crowd. It ensures a safe and successful week. Some camps are extremely limited due to how much attention the content needs from the teachers.
What should I bring to camp?
We send out a helpful list of what to bring closer to camp time, but generally we ask parents to bring the following items:
- A change of clothes (in case we get into some water)
- Sunscreen
- A book
- Comfortable closed toe sneakers
- A re-usable water bottle
Camp is expensive, do you offer financial aid and discounts?
We try to make summer camp accessible to all students regardless of financials. We do offer financial aid on a case-by-case basis, shoot us an email or give us a call to discuss your financial needs.
We also offer various promotions and discounts to make coming to camp a little easier.
