Youth Filmmaking Camps
Chicago Filmmakers, 1326 West Hollywood Avenue, Chicago, IL 60660
About
Youth Filmmaking Camps include hands-on activities such as a Teen Animation Class and a Filmmaking Summer Camp. Participants write, produce, and direct their own short films while creating shot-lists, scouting locations, setting up camera angles, using green screen, and working on post-production editing and sound design.
• Ages: 9–17 years old
• Schedule: Monday–Friday sessions running approximately two weeks each
• Price: 2026 Youth Filmmaking Camp (Ages 9–13) in-person $800.00; 2026 Teen Filmmaking Camp (Ages 13–17) in-person $800.00
Filmmaking summer camps are taught by acclaimed filmmakers, and year-round classes are taught by professional filmmakers and university professors. Chicago Filmmakers was established in 1973, when a group of experimental filmmakers formed an artist-run weekly screening series called Filmgroup at N.A.M.E., which separated from the gallery and incorporated as Chicago Filmmakers in 1976. The organization’s Executive Director is Brenda Webb. Chicago Filmmakers is a not-for-profit media arts organization with a mission that includes fostering the creation, appreciation, and understanding of film and video as media for artistic and personal expression, serving independent film and digital video artists, and nurturing aspiring filmmakers of all ages through classes, workshops, summer camps, and other programs. Chicago Filmmakers also offers a tuition-free, two-month Production Assistant Workforce Training Program.
Chicago Filmmakers serves the Chicago filmmaking community through low-cost film classes and youth camps, workforce training, fiscal sponsorship, professional development, networking opportunities, regular screenings of independent films, and two annual film festivals, Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival and The Onion City Experimental Film Festival. Its programs are partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council and a CityArts grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. Chicago Filmmakers operates the Firehouse Cinema as Chicago’s Film Community Headquarters and runs CHICAGO SEEN as a free screening opportunity for Chicago-based films and filmmakers. The organization states that it is a hub for film lovers and filmmakers throughout Chicagoland and the world, connecting the global movie scene at its Edgewater home base and building what it describes as Chicago’s most inclusive film community.
Chicago Filmmakers notes several accessibility practices, including screening films with open captions when provided, streaming films virtually with closed captions when available, and offering assistive listening devices at the box office for screenings. It provides live audio description, CART, and ASL interpreters for select screenings, as well as large print program materials, program booklets in braille, and other accommodations upon request. For online Q&As, webinars, and virtual classes on Zoom, it provides live closed captioning via Rev or Zoom, and recordings of online classes are provided to students upon request for accessibility purposes.
Last updated April 18, 2026.
• Ages: 9–17 years old
• Schedule: Monday–Friday sessions running approximately two weeks each
• Price: 2026 Youth Filmmaking Camp (Ages 9–13) in-person $800.00; 2026 Teen Filmmaking Camp (Ages 13–17) in-person $800.00
Filmmaking summer camps are taught by acclaimed filmmakers, and year-round classes are taught by professional filmmakers and university professors. Chicago Filmmakers was established in 1973, when a group of experimental filmmakers formed an artist-run weekly screening series called Filmgroup at N.A.M.E., which separated from the gallery and incorporated as Chicago Filmmakers in 1976. The organization’s Executive Director is Brenda Webb. Chicago Filmmakers is a not-for-profit media arts organization with a mission that includes fostering the creation, appreciation, and understanding of film and video as media for artistic and personal expression, serving independent film and digital video artists, and nurturing aspiring filmmakers of all ages through classes, workshops, summer camps, and other programs. Chicago Filmmakers also offers a tuition-free, two-month Production Assistant Workforce Training Program.
Chicago Filmmakers serves the Chicago filmmaking community through low-cost film classes and youth camps, workforce training, fiscal sponsorship, professional development, networking opportunities, regular screenings of independent films, and two annual film festivals, Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival and The Onion City Experimental Film Festival. Its programs are partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council and a CityArts grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. Chicago Filmmakers operates the Firehouse Cinema as Chicago’s Film Community Headquarters and runs CHICAGO SEEN as a free screening opportunity for Chicago-based films and filmmakers. The organization states that it is a hub for film lovers and filmmakers throughout Chicagoland and the world, connecting the global movie scene at its Edgewater home base and building what it describes as Chicago’s most inclusive film community.
Chicago Filmmakers notes several accessibility practices, including screening films with open captions when provided, streaming films virtually with closed captions when available, and offering assistive listening devices at the box office for screenings. It provides live audio description, CART, and ASL interpreters for select screenings, as well as large print program materials, program booklets in braille, and other accommodations upon request. For online Q&As, webinars, and virtual classes on Zoom, it provides live closed captioning via Rev or Zoom, and recordings of online classes are provided to students upon request for accessibility purposes.
Last updated April 18, 2026.
Is this your business? There is no cost, but you will be asked to sign up or log in.