Creator Camp operates in 30-plus locations and has taught more than 10,000 students. (Courtesy Creator Camp)
Five years ago, four best friends from Seven Lakes High School collaborated to create a summer camp.
The foursome bonded over the creation of their high school’s film club and stayed friends throughout college before deciding to form Creator Camp in 2021, a summer camp designed to make using technology creatively more accessible for kids.
After a lot of passion, dedication and one "Shark Tank" appearance later, co-founders Cazden Morrison, Jacky Chao, Robbie Davidson and Kai Forman are projected to serve 20,000 kids this year during Creator Camp’s sixth summer.
How it works
Creator Camp offers two and three-day camps with a range of themes, including entrepreneurship, filmmaking, YouTube creation, Minecraft and music production.
Morrison said they choose the topics based on what feedback previous campers tell them and that they are constantly creating new curricula to better serve campers’ interests. Additionally, the courses are project-based, with minimal lectures and a strong emphasis on teamwork and collaboration.
“For example, when we started our YouTube Camp, it was mostly the kids making mock YouTube videos and some of them would make vlogs,” Morrison said. “We now have [a] Creator Camp YouTube platform that the kids get to upload to, and then they can watch each other's videos within camp. It's the coolest thing ever.”
Three of Creator Camp's cofounders went on ABC's "Shark Tank" in 2024 and made a deal with Barbara Corcoran for $350,000 for 18% equity. (Courtesy Creator Camp)
About the program
During the second year of Creator Camp, Morrison said they started to see a more impactful effect taking place throughout the summer.
He said the camp was taking “iPad kids” who were reliant on consuming videos or games and inspiring them to turn their screen time into something more productive, such as creating their own animations and films.
“We'd show them how to do all the things on their devices, and then they would go home and they'd keep making things because everything we do in camp is very accessible,” Morrison said.
The local impact
One of the cofounders’ biggest goals from the start was not to interfere with the kids’ creative process, Morrison said.
“If they want to make a film about [a] topic, we tend to always endorse it as long as it's not something like crazy violent,” he said.
While he said a lot of companies have an overarching mission to make the world a better place, Morrison sees it play out every week during the summer.
“It's cool getting to actually see it week to week, like a kid coming in really shy on day one, and then at the end, having the confidence to present what they made,” he said.
