Another school year beginning means another summer must come to an end, but for many young students, it was a summer they’ll never forget. These students spent their summer break at New York Film Academy’s various camp programs, getting to meet new people from around the globe and studying fun, artistic skills that may lead them (eventually, no rush!) to exciting, prosperous careers!
New York Film Academy (NYFA) offers summer camps to both kids and teenagers in a variety of fields. Teen camps are located around the world, including New York City, Miami, Harvard University, Paris, Australia, and Florence, Italy. 
Each teen camp is built around a challenging and intensive curriculum that combines in-class instruction with faculty-supervised workshops using the same state-of-the-art equipment professionals and NYFA’s adult students use. In between these rigorous but fun exercises, students bond over exciting, supervised activities.
This year, at NYFA’s Los Angeles campus, located in the heart of Hollywood, over 600 students attended the kids and teens camps offered. Students arrived from all over the world, many of them returning for their second, third, and even fourth summers running! Camps that ran included Filmmaking, Acting for Film, Screenwriting, 3D Animation, Music Video, Photography, Documentary, and Game Design.
One of the perks of NYFA’s Los Angeles campus includes unique access to the Backlot of Universal Studios, where campers could shoot and act in their film projects. The backlot includes famous sets of Mexico, Western, Colonial St, Elm St., Log Cabin, Europe, Courthouse Square — featured in blockbuster movies like Back to the Future and Nightmare on Elm Street.
At the end of each camp, which ranged from one to eight weeks, students screened or presented their work at NYFA’s main school building, along with popcorn and a red carpet step-and-repeat photo session.
“Teaching with the summer program is the best!” remarked instructor Jason Crossman.
Fellow camp instructor Bruce MacWilliams agreed, adding “I really enjoyed teaching the kids and teens this summer! It was a lot of work, but very rewarding!”
Students that stayed overnight during the camps stayed at Toluca Hills, where NYFA faculty, counselors, and RAs supervised pool parties and game nights. Other activities the students participated in between workshop classes included going to theme parks like Universal Studios, Six Flags, and Disneyland.
Campers also visited Santa Monica, The Grove, The Americana, and Universal CityWalk. Other activities included laser tag, bowling, mini golf, video arcades, karaoke, dance classes, and tie-dye sessions.
New York Film Academy, famous for its guest speakers and Q&As with industry leaders and professionals, had two such events specifically for the teen campers. The award-winning documentary High School 9-1-1 was screened, followed by a Q&A with director Tim Warren and producer Kelli Joan Bennett. And John Altschuler, co-creator of the HBO hit comedy Silicon Valley, spoke with students as well.
Many students couldn’t hold back their gratitude for their summer to remember. “Thank you so much for everything,” said camper Gemma Penglase, continuing, “the camp has been the most incredible experience, and I loved every moment of it and I will definitely be back.”
Jade Klacko, another camper, shared a similar sentiment, adding, “On a personal note, I wanted to express my gratitude to you and to everyone responsible at NYFA for making my time so memorable.” Klacko went on, “I wanted to say that it was one of the best experiences of my life and I was so sad to leave to go back to Florida and say goodbye. You run such an amazing program and I am so thankful that I got to experience this three-week summer program at NYFA.”
Interested in attending New York Film Academy’s kids & teen camps next summer? You can check out more information here!