The Future Doesn’t Ask Permission
How Creator Camp is building the next era of filmmaking from the internet up.
Change is in the air. The old world is dying, and a new one is emerging. With all the noise around AI, streaming monopolies, and the slow fade of traditional media, it’s easy to feel paralyzed. Or worse—the feeling that you’re disconnected from why you started creating in the first place.
I saw a quote the other day that said something like:
“You can’t call yourself a creator if you’re not creating anything.”
At first, I rolled my eyes. Labels are dumb, life is messy, and no one needs another reason to feel like they’re not enough.
But something about it stuck with me.
Because being a creative (or a creator) isn’t a job title. It’s not a curated feed, a polished portfolio, or a resume of viral hits. It’s how you move through the world. How you see it. How you feel compelled to respond to it. It’s the pull in your chest you can’t quite shake.
And when you’ve been gifted that perspective, the ability to make something from nothing, you owe it to yourself to use it. Not someday. Not when things calm down.
Now.
That’s why I’ve been so inspired by the crew over at Creator Camp. I’ve followed their work over the past few years, and it’s been amazing to see them grow.
This month, they’re launching the first-ever Camp Film Festival in Austin. A place where internet-born filmmakers will come together to screen their work, collaborate on new projects, and remind each other that the next great stories aren’t coming from Hollywood boardrooms. They’re coming from bedrooms, backyards, and belief.
When you come across something like Creator Camp, it doesn’t feel like a company—it feels like a calling. Part global film studio, part creative uprising, they’re building a space where bold stories can grow. Not by accident, but by design. Not in isolation, but in community.
With the Camp Film Festival on the horizon, we sat down with Simon Kim, CMO of Creator Camp, about what they’re building, why it matters, and what they hope it inspires in the next generation of creators.
Here’s our conversation.
You just launched the Camp Film Festival. What’s the story behind it?
What was the moment—or conversation—that made you say, “We need to do this now”?
6 months ago we hosted a film festival at our annual Creator Camp summit in Switzerland. Think of it as our Oscars. A summit that celebrates the best of the best on the artistic side of the internet. It was during this event that teams of three were spread out across the region to create collaborative films over 8 hours.
When we came back together to screen the films made that day, every single person in that room was blown away. You should’ve seen the look on the faces of the Switzerland Tourism board reps. They had just spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a new hero spot with Roger Federer. This group of creators had made twenty 90-second films that rivalled that hero spot for $0 and just eight hours.
That was the ‘oh shit’ moment.
Once again, it was a clear indication of the incredible amount of talent that is growing up and getting their reps on the internet. It was then that we began to dream of what those same creatives could make if given more time and a bigger stage.
It’s no secret that the next great stories are coming from the internet. We started learning about the current state of Hollywood, the history of Robert Redford and Sundance. The internet is birthing the new wave of independent filmmakers.
It’s our mission now to give those coming from the internet the stage they deserve.
A lot of festivals feel exclusive or intimidating to new voices. What makes Camp Film Festival different?
How are you thinking about accessibility, emerging creators, and shaping a space that truly welcomes bold storytelling?
I’ll be honest, as we’ve dove deeper into the film industry the past year, it has been intimidating.
So much of this industry is barred behind opaque walls. As production began, we realized that we weren’t actually creating a bridge from the internet to Hollywood, but a whole new path all-together.
The other day I was chatting with Baron, who is currently working on his first feature film for the festival and he told me a great line: “We’re in the business of making people feel things –not in the business of making things look a certain way”
The internet is now the center of culture.
We’re a festival that is built and run by creators who all met on the internet. CAMP Film Festival is for the people who have honed their voice on the internet and are ready to make films. Our festival has an identity to it that closely resembles the internet.
People are flying in from all over the world — London, Sydney, Lisbon, Toronto, NYC, LA etc. The internet helped us reach every part of the world. Now it’s time to bring this wildly talented community together to take the next step.
The only talks, keynotes and workshops programmed are creator-led. We want all the attendees to feel inspired by their peers. Not the traditional industry that doesn’t see what is being created here.
It’s a Creator Camp tradition to set up a one day film challenge. You can bet we’re bringing that to CAMP Film Festival. Just imagine the feeling of a young creator getting to see their work being shown at The Paramount Theatre in front of a 1,000 people.
CAMP Film Festival will be the launch pad for creators to be taken seriously and launch their careers as directors and filmmakers.
Creator Camp isn’t just about content—it feels like a belief system.
What’s the deeper mission behind what you’re building? What do you want your community to believe about themselves?
It’s a new reality.
We think about the 4-minute mile story all the time.
No one could break the four-minute mile until 1954. As soon as Roger Bannister did it, everyone else saw it was possible and it became possible.
Talent and incredible stories exist everywhere. We have an opportunity to break a mold and show what’s possible when you’re an artist who starts on the internet.
By the end of the festival we’ll have produced 9 short films and 1 feature film. The proof is here — these creators are directors and filmmakers. They run on the same currency as the greatest living directors. We’re ready to be taken seriously so that the next generation has something greater to believe in.
Why now?
In a time when platforms are shifting and creators are burning out, why is it important to double down on community and storytelling?
There’s a great quote by Brian Eno that we reference a lot and it’s that, “Great new ideas are almost always generated by communities”.
It’s where we’ve discovered the most exciting innovation occurs: when the artist meets the poet, when the cinematographer meets the stop-motion artist. 3 years ago we began hosting events, not knowing where it would lead but with the core understanding that when you bring creative people together across different mediums, magic happens. It’s also why it was important for us to not only have films at this festival, but workshops from creators from all sorts of mediums. Whether stop-motion animators, designers, musicians, this is a hub for creativity to thrive.
and storytelling?
I’ve always found it fascinating that even if platforms are designed to incentivize certain metrics –human nature always brings us to creating the best work we can.
Instead of just pressing upload and sitting behind a screen, we believe these stories deserve to be celebrated, deserve a stage and that’s what we’re aiming to create.
We read an article that said that theatres are sitting at an 11% occupancy rate.
The reason people went to the theatres 50 years ago is different than why you’d go to a theatre today. Back then the only way you could watch a film was in a theatre. Today you have many ways to consume films. That means there’s an opportunity to redefine the value of going to a cinema.
We believe going to a cinema represents gathering around a certain identity. It’s the meeting point, not the end destination.
Where do you hope all of this leads?
Not just the festival—but the whole movement you’re building. What’s the dream future you’re chasing for creators?
Every day there are millions of hours of incredible stories being told on the internet. From bedroom filmmakers, those who just picked up a camera and started shooting, from the writers who dream of having their work out there –and the work is only getting better and better.
On the other hand, we find bloated Hollywood budgets, struggling theater chains, and a hunger for more original stories.
Over the past decade we’ve broken down the walls to digital distribution through the internet. However, what remains and is so core to our mission is to build a pathway to physical experiences. To clear a way for these stories to get the stage they deserve –to bring them to the big screen.
This festival represents our first step towards this future – a place and stage for great internet filmmakers to showcase their work. Because we believe that these stories deserve nothing less.
The future doesn’t ask for permission. It doesn’t wait for approval, access, or legacy systems to catch up. It moves forward anyway.
That’s exactly what Creator Camp is doing. They’re not waiting for the industry to change—they’re showing what the future can look like when creators make something real, side by side.
And the truth is, you don’t have to wait either.
If this woke something up in you, follow it. Start the thing. Make the thing. Share the thing.
Support what Creator Camp is building at campfilmfestival.com, follow them on Instagram at @creatorcamps, and subscribe to their YouTube channel here.
Because the future of storytelling doesn’t ask for permission.
It just starts.
Keep creating and repeating,
- Zack
📀 Can Mixed Media Save Us From AI Art?: An awesome video exploring how human-made art is pushing back against the rising tide of AI-generated content.
🏃♂️ The Cure to Burnout is Art: "The boredom fades away as the curiosity compels you back to the moment."
🥘 Collaboration Cookbook: A living resource filled with recipes for real-world creative projects and collective making.
🖥️ Curated.design: An growing gallery of web design inspiration pulled from the best corners of the internet.
If you believe in what we’re building with Create.Repeat, the best way to support us is by joining Take It or Leave It—our weekend newsletter exclusively for paid subscribers.
It’s more than just a newsletter. It’s a direct way to back the work we do, helping keep Create.Repeat independent, creative, and growing.
Each week, we dive into community questions submitted through Substack Chat, offering our honest take on the creative process, career struggles, and everything in between. It’s part advice column, part mood board, and part behind-the-scenes look at what it really takes to stay creative.
For just $5/month, you get exclusive content while directly supporting the mission of Create.Repeat. And if you haven’t used your free trial yet, now’s the perfect time to start. No pressure, just inspiration.
This week’s advice…
The Courage to Be Seen, The Discipline to Keep Going
Some weeks you need a push. Some weeks you need permission to pause. This newsletter is for both.
Create.Repeat is a community for creatives.
The Create.Repeat Substack is a project designed to be a weekly diary on creativity. Sharing inspiration for artists to keep creating and repeating.
Written and curated by Zack Evans & James Warren Taylor
Each week we will be sharing recent thoughts on creativity, some links helping us stay creative, and a talent show featuring an artist from the community. Thank you for engaging with us.
History repeats. Create the future.
Check out some of our other posts:
 |
|
loved this Zack! and good luck with the fest this week Simon - rooting for y'all from across the pond 🎥
So powerful! Loved this♥️