Cazden Morrison

Tell me about your camp. 

Creator Camp is a summer camp that unites the most creative kids from around Texas to teach them the fundamentals of video production & technology to jump-start their creativity and individual talents. We offer a series of summer programs in filmmaking, animation, YouTube production, and other tech related areas to give kids a safe space to express themselves, create, and inspire each other. Myself and four other friends from high school started this project in the summer of 2021, running just a few weeks of camp in a small church in Katy, Texas. We’ve grown it a lot since then, and are looking to be in Austin, Houston, Dallas, & San Antonio next summer.

Why did you start the camp? 

We started the camp as a response to seeing how many kids nowadays are glued to iPads or other devices — watching random mindless content on YouTube or playing games. Through our camps, we’re on a mission to change kids' relationship with technology, to see it as a way to create things, instead of just using it to consume content. I also think we started the camp because we believed we could- we saw it as something we could tackle and build- also making it a career out of college.

How are you using the skills that you learned at Moody in your current position?  

I use the skills I learned at Moody nearly every day. In a literal sense, I produce most of our camps' advertising videos. Beyond that, I definitely made several great friends and professors at UT that have been pillars of support as we’ve been getting this project off the ground. Starting a business like this is something that lacks any security or guarantees, I left a video internship I had with Tesla to pursue this- the entire way through though, it’s been more than worth it, and a lot of that is due to encouragement and support from friends. Elena Wakeman has given me some solid advice in this journey, beyond that the support from my girlfriend Emma Goldstein, who has also worked for the camp and other close friends.

What's your favorite part about running the camp? 

It’s one of the most fulfilling things I’ve ever been a part of working with a student from their first day and then watching their complete film at the end of the week is incredibly inspiring. It’s also a job that allows so many different experiences. I have a hand in marketing, developing relationships with the schools we rent out of, planning the future of the company, as well as creating a mini-series that we produce for the kids that I act in- it’s a lot but it’s all so exciting and fun. It keeps me busy and I love staying busy. It’s also just awesome building something, especially something that has such a positive impact and has parents + our students wanting to come back year after year.