Filmmaking Summer Camps

Filmmaking Summer Camps gives participants hands-on experience with creating shot-lists, scouting locations, setting up camera angles, and using green screen. Campers write, produce, and direct their own short films and work on post-production editing and sound design as part of the program.

• Ages: 9–17 years old
• Schedule: Two-week sessions offered on multiple Monday–Friday date ranges in June, July, and August
• 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 part of Chicago Filmmakers, a not-for-profit media arts organization established in 1973. The organization’s filmmaking summer camps are taught by acclaimed filmmakers, and its year-round classes are taught by professional filmmakers and university professors. Chicago Filmmakers’ Executive Director is Brenda Webb. The camps are one part of Chicago Filmmakers’ broader mission to foster the creation, appreciation, and understanding of film and video as media for artistic and personal expression, and to nurture aspiring filmmakers of all ages through classes, workshops, summer camps, and other programs. Chicago Filmmakers also supports independent film and digital video artists through production grants, equipment access, fiscal sponsorships, mentorship, workforce training, and other services and events.

Chicago Filmmakers serves the Chicago filmmaking community with 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. All camp sessions for 2026 are sold out, with a waitlist available. Chicago Filmmakers screens films with open captions when provided, streams films virtually with closed captions when available, and offers assistive listening devices at the box office for screenings. It provides live audio description, CART, and ASL interpreters for select screenings, and large print program materials, program booklets in braille, and other accommodations may be provided upon request with at least three weeks’ notice. For online Q&As, webinars, and virtual classes on Zoom, Chicago Filmmakers provides live closed captioning via Rev or Zoom, and recordings of online classes are provided to students upon request for accessibility purposes. For accessibility accommodations not listed, such as ASL interpreters, typists, or audio recordings of in-person classes, requests should be submitted at least three weeks in advance.

Last updated July 29, 2026.