School is finally out but that doesn’t mean the learning has stopped. For any kid interested in expressing themselves through film, the Fox Tucson Theatre is calling your name.
Anyone with an iPhone can make a movie. The Teen Outdoor Filmmaking Camp: Connecting with Nature Through Film and Advocacy promises to show campers ages 14 to 18 how to use their artistic voices to implement change.
“Campers are going to be making their own films almost entirely on their smartphones,” Jordan Wiley-Hill, Fox’s education and outreach director, said. “We’re going to have them using a free app to edit the movie, to record audio and to put it all together. The idea is that they’ll leave camp knowing how to use this tool that’s already in their hands to make their own movies, their own outdoor environmental movies.”
Wiley-Hill said he would like campers to know how to help others connect to nature through film.
The underlying message is that teens have power. Now they have a tool to exercise that power.
“There’s all this beautiful environmental stuff but there’s also a lot of serious environmental issues all around us in lots of different ways and the idea that (campers) can see not only the way that film can amplify but also the way that film can advocate for change and have an impact for groups that are doing that change.”
This is just one of three film camps the Fox is offering. There’s also Scamps on the Silver Screen: Silent Filmmaking for Teens, also for campers ages 14 to 18. A second Scamps on the Silver Screen: Silent Filmmaking is for tweens, campers between the ages of 10 and 13.
For the outdoor filmmaking class, campers will meet at the Fox but there will be field trips up to Mt. Lemmon, for example, and the Santa Rita Mountains. No filmmaking experience is required or necessary.
Also on tap for this camp is a time to mingle with representatives from area environmental organizations such as (possibly) the Sky Islands Alliance or the Watershed Management.
The week culminates with the campers screening their work at the Fox Tucson Theatre.
Camp runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, June 8, through Friday, June 12. Cost is $360.
Information and registration can be found here: tucsonvillagefarm.arizona.edu/film-camp
This camp is being hosted in collaboration with Tucson Farm Village.
Scamps on the Silver Screen: Silent Filmmaking for Teens pays a bit of homage to the Fox Theatre itself, soon to celebrate its 100th birthday. The Fox was originally built to screen silent films but during construction in 1929 talkies made their appearance so plans changed but not all that much.
During the course of a week, these campers, also ages 14 to 18, will be creating a silent black and white film. Part of this is learning about silent movies, another part is learning about cinematography
However, “because we’re partnering with Scoundrel and Scamp this one is a little bit more focused on film acting and storytelling and visual storytelling,” Wiley-Hill said.
Last year he saw these campers really get excited about getting “down to the meat and potatoes of storytelling. Like, how do you tell a story when there’s no dialogue?”
Working in small groups the campers will craft and film their own movie. Just to expedite the process, staffers will pitch a story line and the group can run with it. The stories will cover the genres: slapstick comedy or melodrama, for example.
“The staff will provide the seed but then the kids will be doing the storyboarding and crafting the story line and actually bringing it to life,” Wiley-Hill said.
This camp, for ages 14 through 18, will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, July 6, through Friday, July 10, at the Fox Tucson Theatre. Cost is $350. For information and registration, visit foxtucson.com/event/silent-filmmaking-for-teens-summer-camp-2026.
Last is the Scamps on the Silver Screen: Silent Filmmaking for Tweens where campers will learn expressive acting, visual storytelling and classic silent film techniques, with an emphasis on green screen technology and cinematic effects.
“This camp is based on the idea of silent movies but instead of filming an entire movie, they’re going to learn a lot of movie magic,” Wiley-Hill said. “That includes things like green screen acting and how do you keep the shot stable so that an actor is there and then all of a sudden they disappear?”
Each camper will have an opportunity to create their own scene or work with another camper or group of campers.
The camp runs from 9 a.m. To 4 p.m. Monday, July 13, through Friday, July 17, at the Fox Tucson Theatre. Cost is $350. Information and registration may be found online at foxtucson.com/event/silent-films-movie-magic-summer-camp-2026.
The final works from both Teen and Tween filmmaking camps will premiere on July 17 at a Hollywood-style, red-carpet event at the Fox. Family and friends are welcome to see these original student films on the big screen, accompanied live by the Grand Wurlitzer theatre organ for an authentic silent-film-era experience.
“Even though historic theaters continue to exist, there are only so many that have an actual theater organ,” Wiley-Hill said. “The idea that the kids get access to that, to actually make their own movies and have it on a theater organ, not many kids in the entire world have gotten to do something like that.”
Check the websites for a list of supplies the campers will need. Campers for the Scoundrel and Scamp filmmaking camps will not need smartphones. They will be provided.
