In a freshly leased warehouse on the east side of Austin, Texas, a group of 20-somethings with no studio experience, no traditional investors, and—by their own admission—”no idea what we’re doing” are quietly mounting one of the most audacious challenges to the Hollywood status quo.

Welcome to Creator Camp, a creator-led, internet-native film studio that isn’t trying to become the next A24 or Neon. It’s trying to build something they can’t: a ground-up cinematic platform powered by the creator economy, fueled by community, and untethered from the rules of legacy media.

A Studio for the YouTube Generation

“Everyone knows Hollywood is broken,” says Cristina Colina, Creator Camp’s Chief Creative Officer. “But nobody’s doing anything about it.”

Creator Camp launched with a scrappy, two-day film festival at Austin’s Paramount Theatre in fall 2024—1,100 attendees, 10 original short films, and a budget just under $200K. No studio backing. No venture capital. Just a Discord server, a Patreon partnership, and a belief that creators deserve their own version of Sundance. They even tapped Quentin Tarantino for private workshops.

Now, riding that momentum, they’ve rented a large studio space in Austin with plans to scale. The goal? Empower digital creators to produce theatrical-level films without waiting for a greenlight from the industry. As Colina puts it, “There’s no ‘A24 for YouTubers’—so we decided to build one.”

From Montana to Movie Screens

The Creator Camp team—including founders Max Reisinger, Simon Kim, and Chris Duncan—traces its roots to a Montana cabin, where they first launched the #YouTubeNewWave: a philosophy of raw, handcrafted, emotionally honest storytelling.

Since then, the group has hosted unplugged retreats in Colorado, Utah, France, and Switzerland, created short films for brands like Spotify and Coca-Cola, and grown a loyal online community that connects daily via Discord and Patreon.

Their ethos is simple: launch first, figure it out later—a mindset common to creators, foreign to studios. “Hollywood waits for funding. Creators start with an idea and trust their audience will follow,” says Reisinger.

Rethinking Theatrical From the Bottom Up

In interviews with Colin & Samir, Reisinger laid out Creator Camp’s theory of change: forget $100 million budgets. Instead, make a great film for $100K, put another $100K into theatrical release (DCP, Dolby mix, lean digital marketing), and sell 200,000 tickets at $10 each. That’s $2 million in gross—enough to generate real profit for the filmmaker and reinvest in the next slate.

It’s an indie cinema model updated for the creator age—Roger Corman for the TikTok generation.

The Creator Flywheel

The larger vision isn’t just films. It’s a creator-powered ecosystem: music, merch, podcasts, touring, community events, and new forms of monetization. Think Sean Baker meets Shittown meets DIY pop-up theater. A narrative universe where the fans aren’t just consumers, they’re co-builders.

The risks are real. The team admits they’ve “emptied their entire bank account” on this studio. They lack formal training. They’re not sure what happens next. But that’s kind of the point.

“We’re just a bunch of 20-year-olds figuring it out as we go,” says Colina. “It all starts here—with a big office and way too many ideas.”

Legacy’s Blind Spot

Traditional studios have largely abandoned the kinds of low-to-mid-budget films creators are now making: niche comedies, intimate dramas, high-concept horror. Meanwhile, millions of viewers are tuning into YouTubers who already know how to shoot, edit, and market.

That disconnect is the opening.

Creator Camp isn’t trying to make Oppenheimer. They’re trying to make the next Slacker. Or the next Paranormal Activity. Or maybe something we haven’t even named yet.

And that might be the most Hollywood thing of all.