we're all mad here

This is my friend's brother Sam Reynard driving at 100 mph on a motorcycle while his friend drinks a milkshake and sports a 'Saved by the Bell' t-shirt.

When I saw this years ago, I thought - Sam's cool.

I guess I was right. Since then Sam has set up an enterprise that teaches kids how to make their own films. It is called; Mad Hatters Film Camp with a goal to inspire others on the art of film and video production, tools they believe students can learn to express themselves and use as a powerful tool of communication.

Based in Sotogrande, Spain, students learn about story, character and from day one the course offers a hands on film experience. After two weeks, they leave with a number of short films and students then can enter the films into festivals around the world boosting their creative talents and hopefully starting a hobby or even a career in filmmaking.


Mad Hatter's Film Camp 2014 from sam reynard on Vimeo.

Based on previous camps, both the students and instructors have grown from their experience together and I asked Sam Reynard to share.

"I, for one, have learned a lot about myself through passing my knowledge onto the students. I hope this camp in later years expands into a world-wide film camp. Where we have students stay over for 2 weeks a summer to create all types of film media and learn the importance of film and video production in an online media world."

When I asked Sam, 'what makes a good Director?' he replied;
"I think someone who can share their vision with others, be a fair leader and work harder than anyone else on set has what it takes to be a good director. The rest is practice, practice and more practice!"

We live in a world where content and more content can occupy our lives online and offline. What a wonderful endeavour it is to learn to be a creator of content to share with others and empower kids to feel the same... perhaps with less war scenes and of course many more happy endings!

If you have any rug-rat Spielbergs in the making that need to hone their craft, get them to Mad Hatters Film Camp for a tea party with Sam. Hopefully they won't be returned covered in milkshake.