SOCAPA mixes the best of elite film programs and exciting summer camps. Nowhere else will you find this level of filmmaking intensity combined with this much fun. We currently offer three different filmmaking intensives for students ages 14-18. For new students, we recommend the Core Filmmaking Program - our most popular intensive! For return students or students who have extensive filmmaking experience, we have Advanced Filmmaking. And Filmmakers and writers of all levels can also hone their skills in one of our Screenwriting intensives.
At the heart of great films are great stories. At SOCAPA, students focus on storytelling. Each student writes, directs and edits their own films, crafting the stories they want to tell from start to finish.
Collaborate with SOCAPA's Acting students, the stars in your films. Crew on one another's films and gain experience on set with other filmmakers.
"My daughter attended this amazing film camp in NYC last summer and absolutely loved it! At first, she was apprehensive about being away for 3 weeks, considering she had never been away from home for l... read on google"
"My daughter attended this amazing film camp in NYC last summer and absolutely loved it! At first, she was apprehensive about being away for 3 weeks, considering she had never been away from home for longer than 2 nights, but her concerns quickly subsided. By the end, she wasn't ready to come home and would have stayed longer. The environment was very collaborative, and the students' films were highly creative. I enthusiastically recommend this camp to any budding writer or filmmaker."
"I love SOCAPA! I've spent one summer on the Manhattan campus and I plan on returning! The teachers & staff are all so friendly, kind & fun! I got to learn SOOO much about film while also making great ... read on google"
"I love SOCAPA! I've spent one summer on the Manhattan campus and I plan on returning! The teachers & staff are all so friendly, kind & fun! I got to learn SOOO much about film while also making great new memories! 10/10! Definitely recommend."
"I love SOCAPA! I've spent one summer on the Manhattan campus and I plan on returning! The teachers & staff are all so friendly, kind & fun! I got to learn SOOO much about film while also making great ... read on google"
"I love SOCAPA! I've spent one summer on the Manhattan campus and I plan on returning! The teachers & staff are all so friendly, kind & fun! I got to learn SOOO much about film while also making great new memories! 10/10! Definitely recommend."
SOCAPA offers three filmmaking intensives for high school students ages 14-18. For new students we recommend CORE FILMMAKING with workshops ranging in length from two to five weeks. For return students or teens with extensive filmmaking experience, we have ADVANCED FILMMAKING with three to six week options. Beginning and advanced filmmakers alike can also hone their writing skills in our SCREENWRITING intensives.
NYC, LA & VT
NYC, LA and VT
NYC, LA and VT
Bring your stories to life!
Stories are a way for people to connect, to make meaning out of experiences, and to share their own unique view of the world. Tell your stories through your films. Learn to craft a compelling narrative and bring that to life from script to screen.
At SOCAPA we believe in providing students with the opportunity to express themselves through the exciting and timeless medium of film. That's why each student has the chance to write, direct, and edit films of their own creation, in addition to working on one another's films in the essential roles of supporting crew.
From NYU to Pace University, Occidental College, and Champlain College, all of SOCAPA’s programs are run directly on college campuses, using the classrooms, dormitories, and facilities of undergraduates. Residential SOCAPA students enjoy the emerging independence of dorm life together with roommates and floormates under the supervision of SOCAPA’s staff.
Attend SOCAPA as a day student and save on room & board.
Students are introduced to using a dual system for capturing picture and sound separately, which is the industry standard and allows for a much higher level of control of each element. In addition to learning the technical workings of the cameras, students take sound classes and learn the best strategies for recording high quality production audio using handheld audio recorders, a variety of microphones, and production slates. Get ready to mark those scenes and sync that audio!
Originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Miguel Silveira lives and works in NYC. After wrapping his first feature-length documentary I Am a Visitor in Your World (Official selection - Woodstock Film Festival, Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival, Athens Film + Video Festival) Miguel completed his thesis film at Columbia University, a political thriller titled Devil's Work. The film was selected by Columbia University's festival jury as one of the seven best films to come out of the program in 2014. The film also received the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation production grant, the Caucus Foundation award for excellence in filmmaking, the DGA awards for best film in its category and it was selected as a semi-finalist at the Student Academy Awards competition. Miguel developed and directed the Venezuelan chapter of MTV's documentary series Rebel Music, executive produced by Shepard Fairey, which aired worldwide in 2015. Miguel has taught in institutions such as Columbia College Chicago, EICTV in San Antonio de Los Banos, Cuba as well as Columbia University. He is also a proud sponsor of the Telluride Film Festival City Lights Program. After receiving his MFA from Columbia University, Miguel co-founded NoPort Films and is currently in post-production for the feature film American Thief.
Missy Hernandez is a Filmmaker, Writer, Actor and Assistant Professor in the Cinema and Television Arts department at Columbia College Chicago where she teaches courses in screenwriting, television writing, and creative producing at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Hernandez graduated from Columbia University in the City of New York with a B.A. in Cinema Studies and an M.F.A. in Screenwriting. She studied Meisner Technique at the William Esper Acting Studio with Bill Esper and has taught Meisner based acting to teens and young adults at the School of Creative and Performing Arts and Northwestern University's National High School Institute where she also served as Director of the Summer Film Program. Her most recent film and television credits include Associate Producer for Terence Nance’s Peabody Award-winning television series RANDOM ACTS OF FLYNESS (produced in partnership with A24 for HBO), and Writer and Co-Producer of a feature-length narrative/documentary hybrid and social-thriller entitled AMERICAN THIEF (Jerome Foundation Grantee 2016, IFP Narrative Lab Participant 2017). Her upcoming creative work focuses on female-centric narrative stories that highlight and investigate Latinx experiences within the US and the Caribbean.
[http://www.missyhernandez.com]
Nick earned his MFA in Film from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts. Before entering the world of film, Nick studied literature and theatre at Princeton University and taught English at Chiang Mai University in Thailand. His films have played at Lincoln Center. Nick was the Assistant Director on the 2011 Academy Award-winning short “God of Love.” He is currently developing a dark romantic comedy. Originally from Manhattan, he also spent time, growing up, in Westport, CT.
Christoph Rainer is an Austrian filmmaker who graduated from The Filmacademy Vienna with a concentration in directing. He then received a Fulbright scholarship to pursue his MFA at Columbia University in New York, where he graduated with honors. His short films have been invited to over 250 film festivals worldwide, screened at museums such as the Tabakelera in San Sebastian and the MoMA in New York and have won numerous awards such as the TIFF Emerging Filmmaker Award at the Toronto Film Festival.
Growing up the tall kid with no athletic ability, Derek quickly embraced his love of the arts and never looked back. He is a Texas native and a graduate of the American Film Institute where he received an M.F.A in Screenwriting. His Hollywood journey has taken him from writing independent films, to developing TV pitches, reading for notable screenplay contests, while still finding time to teach film theory and screenwriting to the next generation of young artists. Most recently, he was selected as part of Imagine Entertainment's content accelerator where he is developing and writing an original TV project. Derek is a proud University of Miami graduate as well as the recipient of an M.F.A. in Screenwriting from the American Film Institute.
Jen earned her MFA in Film from Columbia University. She served as Senior Producer for Manning Productions and as Director/Writer/Editor for Sagebrush Productions. Jen is an award Winning Director: Regional Finalist for the Student Academy Awards, Princess Grace Honorarium, two-time Columbia College Chicago Big Screen Finalist, and winner of two Telly awards. Her debut feature film, The Revival, was an Official Selection of Outfest 2017. She is originally from Hot Springs, Arkansas, and remains active in the film industry there.
SOCAPA was founded by a culturally and artistically diverse collective of New York City artists and that's the way we run our camps. SOCAPA fosters an accepting and nurturing culture of creativity and collaboration that allows students to be themselves and to express themselves. We invite teen filmmakers from across the country and around the world to collaborate with SOCAPA’s four other programs, learn from other talented young artists, and build lifelong friendships.
Every evening, Monday through Friday, we plan an activity for the students, whether it be a barbecue on campus, a dinner in the city, a cool-off swim, a theater/musical performance, or a film screening. On the Saturday afternoons that are not devoted to shooting and performing, we organize a group excursion. This could include a trip to a museum, the beach or a show in the city. Past evening and Saturday excursions have included trips to Coney Island Amusement Park, live tapings of MTV's TRL, outdoor concerts (The Roots, OCMS, TV on the Radio, etc.), Universal Studios, Pilobolus Dance Group at the Joyce, Disco Bowling, Broadway Shows such as Spring Awakening, Hair, Rent and Avenue Q, Six Flags Amusement Park, Fourth of July Fireworks, Bryant Park Film Screenings, and off-Broadway hits such as Fuerza Bruta and Stomp, to name a few.
At least once per session, SOCAPA invites a top industry professional from the New York or Hollywood film or performing arts scene to come to campus and lead a master class for all students, regardless of focus. Some past guests include Academy Award-Winning actress Melissa Leo (The Fighter, Frozen River, 21 Grams), writer/director John Hamburg (I Love You Man, Along Came Polly, Safe Men, Zoolander, Meet the Fockers, Little Fockers), actor Luis Guzman (Traffic, Boogie Nights, Punch Drunk Love, Carlito's Way, Anger Management), writer Hawk Ostby (Iron Man, Children of Men, Cowboys and Aliens), actor Brendan Sexton III (Empire Records, Welcome to the Dollhouse), the four lead characters from American Teen, filmmaker Peter Sollett (Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, Raising Victor Vargas), actor Sarah Clarke (TV show 24, Thirteen) screenwriter Andrew Marlowe (Air Force One, End of Days, Hollow Man), director Morgan J. Freeman (Hurricane Streets), comedian Matt Walsh (The Daily Show, Bad Santa, Upright Citizens Brigade), and the cast of Hair and Spring Awakening on Broadway.
If you have any questions, please send us a message. We will contact you ASAP.
Manhattan Campus
Los Angeles
Burlington, VT
