Film Lab Camp

For aspiring Actors, Writers, Directors. Learn all three perspectives on filmmaking and create an original short film with your classmates. All students will have the opportunity to be a part of the creative process and learn what it’s like to be in front of the camera and behind the camera as crew members. Complete edited film sent to each student by the end of summer.

Each class students will have the opportunity to direct a portion of a scene or improv and learn the basics of operating technical filmmaking equipment and their function.

Children and teenagers are natural storytellers who need the opportunity to express their ideas, emotions, and creativity with others. This is a great way to spend a week of the hot summer, and learn the foundations of filmmaking which they can continue to explore and build upon in the years to come.

The camp is creatively focused, not performance focused. It will emphasize the importance of each student’s ideas and value their uniqueness while challenging them to take direction and apply what they’ve learned. We will encourage values-based expression, respect of their peers and the filmmaking process, and coach to instruct without criticizing or tearing down. This will be a team environment to build confidence and learn to work and apply teaching with grace.

The campers will create a 5-minute short film based off their improvisations. Each group will help as crew members, learning the roles of director, cinematographer, sound, lighting, props, and continuity. They will learn vital film terminology and set etiquette by treating each short film as a film set. Each group will have a finished and professionally edited short to download and share with others.

Film Lab (ages 8-11)

• Mondays-Fridays, 9 am – 4 pm
• **Break for lunch–bring own sack lunch**
• July 7-11, 2025
• Mountain View Presbyterian Church • Hayden and Mountain View
• Ages 8-11
• Camp size limited to 15
• Cost: $650/student

Film Lab (ages 12-18)

• Mondays-Fridays, 9 am – 4 pm
• **Break for lunch–bring own sack lunch**
• July 14-18,2025
• Mountain View Presbyterian Church • Hayden and Mountain View
• Ages 12-18
• Camp size limited to 15
• Cost: $650/student

Mentors

Carissa Dalton is a professional actor, writer, director, teacher, and coach. She has over twenty years of commercial, television, film, and stage experience as an actor. She has appeared in projects for Volkswagen, Teleflora, Amtrak, Mitsubishi, Sony TV, National Geographic, and more. As a writer, actor, and director, she co-wrote, starred in, and directed the feature film All The Dragons. She has also directed thirty short films.

As a teacher and coach, Carissa has worked with actors and directors, helping them elevate their skills through the CFTN Film Lab—a collaborative class of actors, writers, and directors working to create film organically, of which she is the co-founder and co-director.

Carissa is also a well-trained vocalist, tap dancer, and theater performer.

This past year, she has taught film acting at CYT, producing two original short films, and at Arcadia Christian Academy, writing and producing two original one-act plays and two original short films.

She is currently getting her Master’s Degree at Flourish Institute of Theology.

Chris Dalton is a professional writer, author, teacher, and mentor. With over twenty years of experience as a writer, he began in marketing and then moved into the non-profit world. He is a published author, appearing in Group magazine, Relevant magazine, The Story Warren, and other publications. His novels, Nicholas and the Keeper of Names, a middle-grade fantasy-adventure, a modern-day fable, The Lantern Heart, and a young readers’ fantasy-adventure, The Akita and the Sumo, are all in print.

Chris has written several feature films for various production companies and independent producers in the entertainment industry. While working in Hollywood, he consulted on numerous feature films and television shows, mentored dozens of professional writers, provided script coverage for three hundred scripts, read over four hundred scripts for film competitions, and oversaw the writing program for Act One from 2016 to 2018.

Chris co-founded and co-led the CFTN Film Lab with Carissa, overseeing twenty-nine short films from development to production. He also co-wrote the feature film, All the Dragons, with Carissa Dalton.

This past year, Chris has taught English Language Arts at Arcadia Christian Academy, helping the students write and shoot a dozen short films.

He is currently getting his Master’s Degree at Flourish Institute of Theology.

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