(pleasant music)
(pleasant music continues)
Good morning everyone,
and welcome to WJC Today.
This morning, we are joined
by two very special guests.
Why don't you introduce yourselves?
Hi, I'm Carson.
And I'm Charlotte.
Thank you both for
joining us this morning.
For those of you watching at home,
Carson and Charlotte are community heroes.
You see, three years
ago, you both did a series
of viral videos that
helped save a youth camp.
If that's not inspiring,
I don't know what is.
Well, it wasn't just us.
100%, they say it takes a village,
but for us, it took the whole camp.
Of course, but regardless,
the camp has become
so well known for its videos,
that it's become its own little studio.
So take us back to the start,
tell us how all this happened.
Well...
Were you just reaching for your phone?
Ah, I forgot.
I can't believe that they
took away our phones.
It's a conspiracy, I just know it.
Yeah.
Well, we could go outside, explore?
Now you sound like my dad.
Explore what, Ed?
I don't know, maybe
we could go in the woods,
build a fort, there's that
bamboo patch up the hill.
There's a bamboo patch up the hill.
It's just not fair, you know?
I don't understand how
taking away our technology
can be a legal punishment.
Like, yeah, what if we
need to call our parents,
say an emergency comes up?
An emergency, what if
we create an emergency?
Let's say, we go into
the woods and get lost
and our parents can't find us.
Then they would have to
give us back our phones,
and maybe let us play on our games.
So, we stage a missing child abduction.
I wouldn't call it a child abduction,
just four kids going to the
woods and they get lost.
Well, we'd have to bring food and water.
How many days you talking?
However many days it takes.
(upbeat music)
(bags thudding)
(upbeat music)
Really?
(doors shutting)
All right, you got your stuff?
Yeah.
Well, it's...
Are you in the right
place? Hey Summer Camp.
I mean, it's Sunday, right?
- Mm, hm.
(birds chirping)
Hey, welcome.
- Hey, hi, hi.
- Hey.
I'm sorry, is this Hey Summer Camp?
Yeah, it is. But we like
to say, Hey Summer Camp.
Okay, okay. This is
my daughter, Charlotte.
Oh, that's my daughter,
Charlotte over there.
Are we the first ones here?
Oh, no, there are plenty
of girls up in the bunkhouse.
Girls' dorms on the second
floor, and is her mom here?
No.
Oh, that's okay. If you
don't mind, I can go up
and help her get all situated.
That would be great.
- Okay, sounds great.
- Thank you.
- Okay.
- All right.
Is there like a registration process, or?
Nah, you just did it.
Oh, great.
(birds chirping)
(grass shuffling)
Were you filming us?
Yeah, we film everything.
I'm Mazel and this is my
sister, Hazel. We're filmmakers.
Maybe you've seen our channel.
Hurry up, we're gonna
miss the magic hour.
Magic hour?
Oh, it's the time day where
the sun is perfectly diffused.
You wanna come?
Um, next time.
And that didn't startle you?
I could tell right from that point,
this place was going to be interesting.
I mean, not gonna lie,
it kind of freaked me out.
They were sitting in the
bushes with their cameras,
but they seemed nice enough.
I guess I didn't really get the
whole film making thing then.
[Anchor] And tell us who all was there?
[Charlotte] It was really cool.
The camp brought kids together
from all walks of life
to become a little
community for a couple weeks.
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music continues)
You live here?
Yeah.
Welcome, welcome.
All right, we got everybody?
All right, let's go.
(doors shutting)
(upbeat music)
- Hey.
- Hey.
All right, so you all
comfy cozy in there?
- Yeah.
- Good.
Oh, this is Rhonda and Tara.
Rhonda, hi.
- Hi.
- Nice to meet you, Tara.
Hi, nice to meet you.
Okay, well, I guess I'm gonna go.
It's only a week.
Yeah. Well, the longest
week of my life, so.
(birds chirping)
- I'll miss you.
- All right, I love you.
I love you too, dad.
Nice to meet you girls.
Be careful. Brush your teeth.
Bye.
(gravel shuffling)
Sorry about that.
It's okay, your dad's kind of hot.
Oh, no. Gross, gross.
(upbeat music)
Hey.
(upbeat music)
[Sally] You guys excited?
Yeah.
Abby.
(feet shuffling)
(children indistinctly chatting)
All right, everybody,
put your stuff down there,
get in formation over there.
Move it!
(feet shuffling)
(people indistinctly chatting)
[Sally] He's harmless, he's harmless.
Come on. Move, move, move, move.
Formation, formation.
Two lines, two lines.
Come on, you ever seen
a movie in your life before?
All right.
Now, I know that here at Hey Summer Ranch,
it's all about fun and games.
Well, we have to have rules and structure.
That's why I'm here.
See, back in my day, we'd go to bed early,
we'd get up earlier and we liked it.
'Cause one day, you'll
be out there in a foxhole,
shrapnel tearing your clothes to pieces.
You and your buddies, mine was Gerdy.
Pat didn't like sardines.
You know what sardines are?
Little, tiny fish, bones. Very tasty.
Sometimes that's all we had to eat.
Thank you, drill instructor Albert.
(gentle applauding)
I think the kids get the message.
Albert is our activities coordinator
/facilities director/maintenance
supervisor.
/Arms instructor, no, weapons instructor.
Well, that's a little difficult,
seeing as how we have no weapons here.
But let's hear it from uncle Albert, yeah.
(people clapping and cheering)
But seriously though, welcome everybody.
I'm gonna let you all get settled.
Boys are on this side, girls
are on this side upstairs.
And dinner is at six.
And that's in the chow hall. Sardines.
Anyway, my name is Sally.
And this is my husband, Mark.
And our son, Nate, is
around here somewhere.
So I want you all to
make yourself comfortable
and we'll see you at dinner, okay?
Thank you.
- Welcome.
- Yay, come on.
Move it!
[Sally] He's harmless.
Thankfully, not everyone was as crazy
as our drill sergeant, but
I found it surprisingly easy
to make friends that first
day at Hey Summer Ranch.
We were all genuinely excited to be there.
And before dinner started,
it seemed like we were all
already lifelong friends.
(zip opening)
(pleasant music)
- Oh, hey.
- Hi.
Do you dance?
Oh yeah, I do.
Oh, I love your bag.
Thank you, it's from our dance line.
- Oh, cool.
- Do you dance at all?
Yeah, I do.
Well, I'm not in a dance line,
but I used to take some classes.
- Nice.
- Yeah.
(pleasant music)
- I'm Charlotte.
- I'm Bri.
(Bri and Charlotte giggling)
(pleasant music)
Hi, can I help you?
Yeah, sure.
I'm Tabitha, but my friends call me Tabs.
Lilly.
(pleasant music)
Nice picture.
Thank you.
So, where are y'all from?
I'm from Cali.
I'm from Georgia.
Why did y'all come here?
My mom went here when she was a kid.
Yeah, mine too.
She said it was the best
part of her childhood.
Wow, doesn't look like much has changed.
(pleasant music)
Having fun?
Lots.
(ball bouncing)
(feet padding)
Hey guys, just wanna make
sure you have enough blankets.
It gets cold up here in
the mountains at night.
What, is this a girls camp or something?
Well, it used to be.
We opened up to boys
a few years back though.
What, you guys have the whole room?
Yeah, I wish that was in the information.
Well, I would think that a teenage boy
would love the idea, I would.
Sure.
Right.
You guys need anything, you
just let me know, all right?
All right.
Come on down for dinner.
Make yourself at home, guys.
Wait, isn't this like home to you guys?
You know, shelter, bunk beds?
We have our own rooms.
We even have running water.
Look, guys, I didn't mean to insult you
or anything.
- Yeah, you did.
(pleasant music)
(children indistinctly chatting)
Chow time.
Ugh, Albert has me seeing it now.
(children indistinctly chatting)
(pleasant music)
This stupid cavity
has over 6 million views.
It's making bank, I mean, bank.
Hey guys, they're
claiming their territory.
We're habit forming
creatures, we want what's safe.
Let's say we have three
meals a day in here.
That's a 98% chance that we're
all gonna sit in our packs,
even though there's no assigned
seating during mealtime.
You mean chow time?
The packs have been made.
Soon enough, just like anything,
we began to form our little cliques.
Normally you've got the jocks,
the nerds, the theater kids.
Let me guess, you were all theater kids?
Mostly everyone was a theater kid.
Except for Charlotte, she's just a nerd.
Hey.
(plate shuffling)
(plate shuffling continues)
(food crunching)
(food crunching continues)
(food crunching continues)
How about you, Carson?
What was your first impression of the camp?
Well, it's kind of funny.
My aunt didn't drop me off
until the camp had a really started up.
Now, she swears she didn't
read the flyer wrong, but...
Well, that happens
to the best of us, right?
Eh, it would've been better
if she had just stayed in the car.
Why is that?
(door opening)
All right.
(birds chirping)
The cafeteria.
(feet padding)
Hi, hi, hi, hi. Sorry we're late.
- Oh, no, no. No worries.
- Hi.
- Hi, you must be Carson?
- Yes, sir.
Okay, well, I can take
you to the boys dorm,
get you all situated.
We just finished our service.
Wait, service?
I'll just stay here.
Okay. Well, you call me
if you need anything, okay?
Okay. Is this a church?
Well, this is our chapel.
Oh, so you guys do all
that religious kind of stuff?
Yeah, we do some religious kind of stuff,
along with our regular camp activities.
Well, I must have missed
that in the information packet.
Hmm, okay, I'm gonna be
staying right down the road,
just right down there.
But I was hoping I could
come in, and just check on him
from time to time.
- Sure, sure, sure.
We would love to have you.
- That's great, okay.
- Yeah.
- All right.
Anything else?
I mean, you don't have any like snakes,
or healing rituals or hexes
or anything like that, right?
- No, ma'am.
- Okay.
Okay, all right then.
- Okay.
- Thank you very much.
Okay.
Have fun, honey.
- All right,
I'll see you later.
- All right,
call me if you need anything, okay?
All right, bye. Thank you.
- You can come back anytime.
- Thank you.
- Right this way, Carson.
- Thank you.
(pleasant music)
Come on, it's an old
movie. You can do this.
Look, there's the wind. And now it's gone.
The wind, now it's gone.
Oh, come on guys, "Gone
With the Wind," Clark Gable.
Frankly Scarlet, I don't-
Honey.
That's it, I quit. Come on Maddy.
Come here to quit.
All right, who wants to go now?
Okay, not everybody all at once.
Okay, come on.
Maddy, Sophia, Hazel, Mazel, come on up.
Oh, no, no, we don't act
in movies, we make movies.
Oh, I'm sorry. Will
you please come on up?
Thank you.
- Thank you, ladies.
Okay, pick one. Don't show anybody.
(gentle music)
"Mary Poppins."
She's right.
- Really?
- Yeah.
Wow.
(everyone applauding)
Okay, guys. I know charades.
Who wants cake?
[Children] Me.
Yeah, come on.
(gentle music)
- [Mark] That's amazing.
- [Sally] Yeah, pretty good.
[Mark] Oh man, okay.
(sneakers squeaking)
(gentle music)
(plates shuffling)
(gentle music)
Mr. Mark, did you know my mom?
I know I'm old, I'm not that old.
This was my dad's camp,
we took it over when he died.
Someone you know, Carson?
My mom.
Oh, your mom, she didn't say that...
Oh, that wasn't my mom, that was my aunt.
Oh.
Oh.
(gentle music)
Grab some cake.
- All right, thank you.
- Yeah.
And, Carson, you were
close to your mother?
It was kind of surreal seeing
mom's picture on the wall,
standing in the same lunch hall she did.
Yet, even if she was gone,
I still feel like she was there with me.
And in a lot of ways, I
feel like we shared a lot
of the same experiences
and ended the same way.
How so?
With great friends and great memories.
Are you Mark?
Yes, sir.
(paper shuffling)
Well, if their offer is
contingent on water rights,
then I say decline it and, you know,
decline it in the way they know
that we are not going to ever
do business with them again.
Mm, hm, yeah, no. I will be
in the office all next week.
My kid, my sister's child is at camp.
Yeah, it's ridiculous. Just
find another buyer, okay?
Yeah, call me back. Bye.
Excuse me.
- Hi.
- Hi.
Have you seen an ice machine around here?
They said there was one.
I don't work here.
No, no, no, no, no. I didn't...
Okay, full disclosure,
I overheard your telephone conversation.
- Wow.
- It wasn't, nope, not creepy.
Not trying to be creepy at all.
Okay.
It's just, do you have
a kid at the camp here?
Camp Hey Summer
Ranch with the... Yes, I do.
Yes, yes.
- It's pretty wild.
Yeah, it's just, my daughter's there too,
so I just thought... - That's great. Yeah.
- Yeah.
All right, well, off to get ice.
Hey, you don't know if it's like
a religious camp or anything, do you?
I mean, it's not a cult, is it?
My sister was totally into that.
And they're not drinking the Kool-Aid,
or any kinda tomfoolery, are they?
Wow, well, nothing better
than a Guyana reference,
which I appreciate.
No, no. No Kool-Aid up there.
- Okay, great.
Okay, you know what?
Yeah.
The ice machine is right there.
- Where it says ice machine?
- That's right.
I will go.
- Good luck.
- See ya.
- Yeah.
- Nice to talk to you.
- Yeah, you too.
- All right.
(bag rattling)
What you doing?
Making a pizza.
Hey, how's Nate doing?
I don't know.
It's still early, I guess.
It's all new to him, he's still pretty shy.
Yeah.
- I have hope though.
- Yeah.
Maybe he'll come out of his shell.
I think so.
(oven door rattling)
(bedding shuffling)
It's okay, Abby. It'll be okay.
Some of the girls had a hard time
being without their parents.
While it wasn't my first
night away from home,
I knew what some of them
must have been going through
that first night at camp.
The next morning was
rough for all of us though.
(birds chirping)
All right, outside,
move it, move it, move it.
Time for calisthenics,
best part of the day.
Get that blood pumping. Move it, move it.
Come on, two lines, two lines right here.
Hurry up everybody, we don't have all day.
Actually, we do have all day.
We're gonna spend all day doing
this until you get it right.
Hey, where you going?
Two lines right here.
What are you two doing back there?
Are those dolls ready to do calisthenics?
Let's go, here we go. 25
jumping jacks, here we go.
One, two, three, four, five, higher.
Six, seven, eight,
nine, 10, 11, keep going!
12, 13, 14, 15, 16,
17, 18, 19, 20, that's good, that's good.
Now we're gonna do some
toe touches, you ready?
You know how to do a toe touch?
You gonna touch your toes!
Okay, Albert, it's enough of that.
You guys ready for breakfast?
[Children] Yes.
(feet padding)
(birds chirping)
(birds continue chirping)
(pleasant music)
(pleasant music continues)
(children indistinctly chatting)
(pleasant music)
How you doing, kid? You doing all right?
Yeah, I'm good. I'm
just counting croutons.
Yeah, that's important.
Honey, we gotta get
that girl some glasses.
You're gonna have to keep an eye on her.
Keep an eye on her?
That is not funny, she cannot see.
I know, I'm sorry.
Seriously, come on.
It's a good group of kids, huh?
Yeah, I think they're
gonna have a good week.
I think they're gonna have fun.
Yeah, I think so.
You excited?
- Yeah.
- Yeah?
Yeah, I'm good.
(pleasant music)
(children indistinctly chatting)
(pleasant music)
(children indistinctly cheering)
Hey, what's going on here?
What are you doing?
We're dancing.
Dancing?
It's a Wednesday, but
today's hike day, ready?
Hike, everybody hike, let's go.
Hike, hike, hike, hike, hike,
hike, hike, hike, hike, hike.
Move it, move it, move it, move it.
Oh, don't forget your water.
And don't forget to have fun.
(pleasant music)
Hey Nate, we're going on a
hike, you wanna come with?
(pleasant music)
(grass shuffling)
Hold on a second.
I'm glad you changed your mind and came,
what made you change your mind?
Hm, I don't know.
Oh, okay. Okay, I get it.
That's all right.
No, I'm won't say anything,
it's all right. Come on.
Woo! All right, everybody.
Take five, take five.
That's a steep hill.
Woo, good thing we did calisthenics. Woo.
Oh, you guys can sit if you want.
No, no, no, no. Ladies sit first.
Well, that's so nice of you, gentlemen.
And that's what we
are, aren't we gentlemen?
So, do you guys think
we're hiking somewhere,
or just going in a circle?
My calculations say
we've been heading north,
been heading north for about half a mile.
I'm assuming there's a destination.
So, hey, what do you guys think so far?
It's only been a day,
it's kinda hard to say.
Hey, you sing, don't you?
Yeah, I do.
You sing nice.
(boy chuckling)
What, he compliments
a girl and you laugh?
I was agreeing with him.
Your singing was fabulous.
Okay, you know what I think?
I think you one of those
guys who uses laughter
to cover up how they really feel.
That's actually a psychological
characteristic of narcissism.
Just-
Huh?
Say what you mean and mean what you say.
Um, okay. Thanks.
So Carson, right?
Yeah.
And where do you live?
I live in New York now.
Wow, in the city?
Yep.
And your parents brought you here?
No, actually, my parents are dead.
Oh, I'm sorry.
(boy laughing)
Oh, you're serious.
Wait, so then who was the hot chick
that brought you in last night?
Whoa, whoa, bro. That's my aunt.
Okay, why don't we
talk about something else?
The trees, it's beautiful out here.
Yeah, it's so beautiful.
Hey, guys, listen, don't worry,
I don't mind talking about it.
What's done is done. Life moves on.
[Albert] All right, you sluggards.
That's enough, move
it out, back on the trail.
Move it, move it, move it, come on.
Here we go again.
(birds chirping)
I don't know what you've been told
Never before did a hike
make my legs hurt that bad.
(everyone laughing)
That camp counselor had to
have been a drill sergeant
in a past life, there's
no other explanation.
We bonded through
pain and collective sacrifice.
Collective sacrifice, that's powerful.
Dad, going exploring.
Goodbye.
[Dad] All right, have fun.
Water, check. Map, check.
Lollipops, check. A compass
Compass, what the heck is a compass?
(bag rattling)
(compass thudding)
All right, operation getting
our phones back has begun.
Let's go.
- Let's go.
(grass shuffling)
(pleasant music)
(pleasant music continues)
After a while, it started
to feel like we were lost.
The camp counselor
took us a bit off the trail,
and we kind of hoped
that he knew the way back.
But when we reached the
river, no one seems to care.
But when we reached
the river, it was amazing.
(pleasant music)
(pleasant music continues)
(pleasant music continues)
Isn't this gorgeous?
I mean, sometimes I come up here
just to remind myself
that the everlasting God,
I mean, if he made all of
this and he made me too.
It's just, I'm...
He says every flower, every
feather on every bird he knows.
And if he knows and
cares about all of that,
he cares about us.
I mean, the eternal God, the Great I Am,
knows you and cares about you.
- Cool, right?
- Mm, hm.
Right, very cool.
(Mark sighing)
Wow.
(hands tapping)
Hey, do they have a pool around here?
- Um, no.
- They do not?
No, they do not.
Great, but you know what?
It's probably for the best.
I haven't been to the pool
without Charlotte in so long.
I, you know, feel guilty and dad stuff.
That's why I have one.
What do you mean?
What, you got a sea mat calling over there?
I do, I do, I mean,
not that I ever get in it,
but it's there if I want to.
Wait, hold on.
You have a pool, but
you don't ever get in it?
Yes, I mean, I just feel
like I never have the time.
But my kid, my sister's
kid, he enjoys it very much.
I'm sure he does.
Hey, do you want a coffee?
You know, I'd love one, but
I am so close to being done
with this offer and I just wanna finish.
Okay, okay.
(leg thudding)
Oh, oh, oh, oh.
Oh my gosh, are you okay?
I am okay.
That was, it was a test.
- Dirty trick.
Well, it just shows
that you care about me.
Wow.
Yeah.
All right, I'll have cream
in my coffee, please,
if you don't mind.
Okay.
Thank you.
(birds chirping)
All right, everybody,
grab a lunch and eat up.
(birds chirping)
(bags shuffling)
Thanks.
(birds chirping)
They've been out there for like an hour.
I know. I'm sorry.
It's okay, honey, but I don't
know what we're gonna do.
I don't think there's anything we can do.
It'll be okay though.
(birds chirping)
(gravel shuffling)
(birds chirping)
What's going on?
I don't know, but I heard my dad say,
this is gonna be the last camp ever.
I think we need to move out.
(birds chirping)
I didn't know what
to feel in that moment,
we were having so much fun.
How could this be the last
season at Hey Summer Ranch?
Something had to be done.
I wanted to call my
dad, ask for some advice,
but for whatever reason, he
wasn't picking up that day.
Must have gotten called to work.
Oh, he was working, all right.
What happened?
Oh, no.
So what did you think about the toe test?
It's a little, it's one of my better...
- It's rascally, I gotta tell you.
- Yeah, I am,
I've been known to rascal
here and there.
- Yeah, full on Rascal.
No, but you know, what
we were talking about.
My wife and I, we never really wanted kids.
- Mm.
- I mean, don't get me wrong,
I love Charlotte to death.
I don't know what I'd
do without her, but...
So where is old wifey now?
Wifey no aroundy.
Yeah, she don't come around too often.
Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah,
I'm sorry to hear that.
Yeah, I never wanted to have a kid.
I never thought about it,
and then my sister died
and her husband and, you know?
Yeah, life happens.
(phone vibrating)
You gonna answer that?
Um, it can wait.
- Well played.
- Oh, thank you sir.
(gravel shuffling)
- Guys, guys.
- Guys.
Hey guys, something's wrong.
[Carson] Yeah, what's up?
We need to save the camp, who's in?
Save the camp?
- We're all in, let's go.
- Yeah.
- Let's go.
- Let's go.
(gravel shuffling)
There was no question about it,
we were determined to save the camp.
But at the time, we didn't
have much to work with.
And in a sort of waist,
we kind of didn't know where
to start, but we had a goal.
And we made a promise to each other
to help those camp doors stay open.
(gentle music)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(no audio)
Seriously, you mock me? How dare you?
All right, how about this?
Well, I mean.
All right, that whole part,
that with the Godzilla sound.
- Yeah.
- That wasn't part of
- Oh, really, it wasn't?
- The actual prayer, so...
I just, I'm kind of in awe of the fact
that you're blessing a
donut before you eat it.
Are you kidding me?
It's the only game in town,
there's nothing to eat around here.
I saw a raccoon on the side of the road,
I was gonna skin that baby up.
Well deep fry it,
and there you go.
- Anything's good deep fried.
- Wow.
- Is what they say.
All right, now, but seriously.
So what's your beef with religion?
- I don't have a beef.
- It feels a little beefy.
- It's not-
- It's beefy.
I'm like, where's the
beef? Boom, there it is.
No, no.
You know, my sister loved religion,
and she loved it starting
at that camp down there.
But it didn't work for me then,
and it doesn't work for me now.
I get it, I get it.
It's just, I don't know
that the religious stuff
is kind of what attracted me
to that camp for Charlotte
in the first place.
- Really?
- Yeah. I don't know.
I just feel like kids need
that kind of stuff, man.
You know, like the
activities and I don't know,
it's all for a reason.
- Hm, maybe.
So do you believe in God?
I do, I'm just not very
happy with him right now.
- Here's to our donuts.
- Cheers.
They're not even good.
(feet padding)
(feet padding continues)
(chairs shuffling)
Okay, so we saw a
foreclosure notice online,
it ran in the local paper.
Wait, this town has a paper?
Yeah, a local developer wants
to put a hunting lodge here.
He's the highest bidder so far.
So what are we gonna do about it?
Maybe we can help.
If I can get some more
information about foreclosure,
corporate structure, their
easement rights, et cetera,
I think I can do some research.
Wait, are you a lawyer or something?
Come on.
Okay, so what are we looking for?
Anything that looks legal,
thinking about the camp.
(feet padding)
(drawer opening)
Hey, hey, here's the
accounting for our camp.
Oh my gosh, he doesn't
charge half the kids here.
Oh, well there's the problem,
all the homeless kids, what?
Well, that's a noble thing he's doing,
more reason why we should help.
Hey, guys. Costumes, right?
Playing cards.
Lobster, gorilla.
Um, okay.
There's nothing in here
but church books and Bibles.
Guys, I found some old letters.
(papers shuffling)
See if we can find anything.
(papers shuffling)
It's a letter from my mom.
(letter shuffling)
Dear Camp, Hey! Summer
Ranch. Thank you for an amazing
I met so many new friends
there and have never felt
so close to God. My wish is
that this camp last forever
so that I can always come
back. Reserve me two spots,
next year I'm going to
bring my sister. I am truly
grateful for your love for Jesus. Judy.
(letter shuffling)
Oh my goodness, how did you find that?
I mean, I guess they
keep all the letters.
Look at how much there are.
Do you think we're really
able to save the camp?
We're gonna try.
Carter Bank and Trust, that's the lender.
They need $341,000 and 1 cent
to get the property out of foreclosure.
They have...
Oh my, Friday's the deadline.
The end of this week?
Okay, okay, okay.
We have to pay the
bank, so let's make bank.
Rhonda, these videos that are
online, how much do they make?
Rhonda?
- What?
You said something about a
stupid cat video making money.
What else is there?
- Everything.
So what if we make videos?
Camp videos, we'll call it Camp Life,
like videos about us at camp.
Yeah, yeah.
Reality videos are hot right now.
Videos up to one minute can monetize
at 0.00001 cent per view.
Wait, is that even a number?
So we'll make short movies,
stuff about like funny
stuff or sad, whatever.
Or I could sing.
And we got the costumes too.
Exploring videos, like
what we did yesterday.
Yeah, I wanna be in them.
We just need someone to record them.
(pleasant music)
- Guys, guys.
- That's one.
(body thudding)
Uh, sorry to wake you,
but do you guys think
you could film something for us tomorrow?
(pleasant music)
(Hazel and Mazel indistinctly commenting)
I guess that's a yes.
(pleasant music)
(feet padding)
(birds chirping)
Man, why aren't they coming for us?
Don't worry, man, the
search crew will be here
any minute, I'm sure of it.
What, what if they don't come?
My dad will come.
My dad will probably come too.
I didn't mean it like that.
I'd say we're about
3.4 miles north of town.
Should we start a fire?
With what, Shane, rocks?
I told you to bring a lighter.
How am I supposed to
know we need a lighter?
I didn't think we'd be out here all night.
- I told you-
- Guys, guys, guys.
The search crew will
be here in the morning.
(birds chirping)
(insects chirping)
(boys groaning)
I gotta pee, man.
Be quiet.
- That was some of the worst-
- Shut up.
Sleep of my whole life.
Am I dead?
Where to next?
(boys groaning)
I heard 'em.
All right, move it,
move it, move it outside.
This again, really?
(feet padding)
Come on, hurry up.
We don't have all day.
Move it, move it, move it.
Two lines, two lines. Here we go.
Over here, guys.
This is what you are when you're prepared.
See, did you bring an umbrella?
No, because you're not prepared like me.
I'm not getting wet and you are.
(Albert chuckling)
All right, 25 jumping jacks.
Here we go, one.
Birdie birdie in the sky
Birdie birdie in the sky
Dropped a whitewash in my eyes
Dropped a whitewash in my eyes
I'm no wimp I don't cry
I'm no wimp I don't cry
I'm just glad that cows don't fly
I'm just glad that cows don't fly
Birdie birdie in the sky
Birdie birdie in the sky
I'm no wimp I don't cry
I'm no wimp I don't cry
Dropped a whitewash in my eyes
Dropped a whitewash in my eyes
I'm just glad that cows don't fly
I'm just glad that cows don't fly
[Albert] Everybody go, go.
(children clapping)
Keep it going.
(children clapping)
Dead parents boy, keep it going.
(children clapping)
Birdie birdie in the sky
Birdie birdie in the sky
Dropped a whitewash in my eyes
Dropped a whitewash in my eyes
I'm no wimp I don't cry
I'm no wimp I don't cry
I'm just glad that cows don't fly
I'm just glad that cows don't fly
Birdie birdie in the sky
Birdie birdie in the sky
Dropped a whitewash in my eyes
Dropped a whitewash in my eyes
I'm no wimp I don't cry
I'm no wimp I don't cry
I'm just glad that cows don't fly
I'm just glad that cows don't fly
Birdie birdie in the sky
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
(Mark whistling)
Breakfast.
[Albert] Okay, breakfast is for winners.
Let's go get breakfast.
(children indistinctly chatting)
Move the shot to the left.
No, no, no. The other left.
No, no, the other other left.
Wait, what?
Add a transition right
there, that's perfect.
Come on, let me see.
Is that good?
Post it.
- Yeah, yeah.
- Dude, this looks so good.
- Yes!
- Yes!
First one's done, okay, now
we just wait on the views.
Yes, is that where
we watch it, right there?
Yep. Right there.
I'm sorry guys.
No, I think it's gonna stop though,
I really believe it
will, it'll be all right.
Play it, play it.
Good morning, everyone.
So how was your first night
at Hay Summer Ranch?
[Children] Yeah.
Great, great.
Well, we were gonna go to the lake today,
but that looks like it's off the docket.
But we can have some great indoor stuff.
We're gonna have some
fun today, what do you say?
All right, good. Can I help you?
We're just traveling through,
and might need a place to crash.
It's four of you.
Sure, you can crash here.
Come on, grab a seat.
Grab a seat, we'll get you some breakfast.
Oh, Mr. Mark.
- Yeah.
- Excuse me.
Do you think we could
do a group project today?
A group project? What
do you have in mind?
A surprise, maybe we could all meet up
in the chapel or something.
In private.
- Private, huh?
Yeah, of course, you can. Of Course.
Oh, do you know if you have any costumes,
like playing cards or a lobster?
- Costumes?
- A gorilla?
No, we don't have costumes.
Yeah, hun, we have all those things.
They're in a box in the chapel,
they're left over from Halloween.
- We do.
- Yeah, we have all of 'em.
Of course, we have costumes.
Yeah, you guys are welcome to 'em.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
Okay, so you guys, you can stay here
as long as you like,
okay? You're welcome here.
There might be some
people looking for us.
Looking for you?
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
Don't worry, sir, we
didn't do anything ill*gal,
but we just might have some
people looking for us later on.
Yeah, I'm gonna be watching you.
That's okay, they'll find
you here safe and sound.
Okay?
- All right, thank you.
All right, as you were.
Crash?
It's a long story, they're fine.
Who do you think this bunch is up to?
I don't know.
Hmm.
(Albert chuckling)
[Albert] Let's go get breakfast.
(children applauding)
So we're gonna make videos?
Short films about camp life.
Could I do a dance?
Yeah, maybe we could
all do a group dance.
Yeah, dance videos are hot right now.
How about a romantic theme?
And the cool costumes.
Yeah, perfect. We
wanna make about a dozen.
So start thinking about
what you guys wanna make.
Can I say something?
This is my production crew,
Mazel, Sherry, and Grace.
I'll be the director, and the
first rule of show business
is always listen to the director.
Perfect.
You boys wanna join on in?
Does everyone wanna be involved?
[Children] Yeah!
(children applauding)
Yeah!
Our first video's gone viral,
we've made 7 cents so far.
See, guys, we can do this.
Who's ready to get to work?
(children cheering)
Hey, we have an idea, but we need guys.
Um, we're guys, what you got?
(upbeat music)
It was amazing seeing
everyone want to come together
to help save the camp.
After that, summer camp
turned into a film camp.
We turned the campgrounds into
our studio, and after that,
sky's the limit for what we could do.
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music continues)
I
I want to stay under the moon
Watching the earth
And be in tune
Now everything looks so small
On your feet and have it all
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music continues)
(upbeat music continues)
Hey, do you wanna write something?
Yeah, sure.
What are they doing?
I don't know.
Let 'em be. I mean, what's
the worst that can happen?
I don't wanna think about that.
So is there someone I
can call for you guys?
We kind of ran away from home.
Kind of?
Yeah.
Well, our parents took away our phones
and we thought if we got lost,
they might give them back.
Wow, you must love your phones.
Well, fortunately, I know
someone who loves you more.
(feet padding)
How did they find us?
We overheard you little stunt,
and we're not happy about any of this.
But fortunately, Mr.
Mark here was kind enough
to give us a call.
I'm sorry, dad.
Ed, let's go home.
Can we stay?
I don't think so.
You've interrupted Mr.
Mark's camp enough already.
Actually, it's not a problem.
We have the room, extra blankets, pillows.
Boys, first off, being deceitful
to get what you want is not acceptable.
And I can assure you that being without TV,
phone, and computer, you sir,
may never leave the house again.
But dad, this place is really cool.
We even met new friends.
Yeah.
We're okay with it,
but like Mr. Noah said,
when you get home, you're grounded forever.
So enjoy your time here.
Boys' rooms are upstairs.
Go on, get out.
Thank you.
Get outta here, knuckle heads.
Hey, thanks for coming,
I'm real sorry about this.
Thank you.
- Thank you so much.
- Sure.
They're good kids though,
we'll take care of 'em.
- Thank you.
- All right.
Hello mother
Hello father
Here we are at
Camp Granada
(girls laughing)
50/50 chance of rain.
Ooh, if it rains tomorrow,
I'll ask Mr. Mark if we
can start our videos,
say we need more bonding time.
Rain is super dramatic on film.
Me next.
Sure, Bri.
(upbeat music)
Hey, hello.
(upbeat music)
Water.
(upbeat music)
Okay, you got this.
(upbeat music)
Thank you.
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music continues)
(upbeat music continues)
Hey, guys.
(Mark chuckling)
Wow, I'm sorry to interrupt,
but can we do a quick service?
Now, I know, I can tell
you're all exhausted,
so I'll make it quick.
I just wanna say, I know what you're doing,
and I think it's wonderful.
You're coming together, that's
what I love about this place,
it brings young people together.
We look beyond social status,
where you come from, how you look.
God made you, and he
made you with a purpose.
And I'm just, I'm so proud of all of you
for coming together, for
caring for one another.
(gentle music)
Because, at the end of
the day, that's all we have.
So let me just pray here real quick
and then we'll get you some sleep, okay?
Father God, we love you.
We love each and every young person here.
And we're so grateful
that we are all blessed
to be here this week.
And what might be a...
Well, just for this week.
And you've given us so much, Father,
you've blessed us and we
are grateful, we're thankful.
Even when we don't know the answers,
we know that you do and we trust you.
In Jesus' name, amen.
[Children] Amen.
Okay, you know what though?
Before we go to bed, I thought
maybe we could open it up
and see if any of you might
wanna give a testimony,
maybe share an experience
that you had a camp this week, anyone?
Tara.
To be honest, I was a
little nervous to come to camp
because I had never been away from home
for more than a few days before.
But I knew that God was gonna
be with me and protect me.
And I made a lot of great
friends, so I'm glad I came.
Well, that's wonderful. I
bet you're not alone in that.
That's very nice, anyone else? One more.
Jackson.
I just wanted to say that coming here,
I was not expecting to
make friends with anyone.
I didn't really wanna be here at all.
I thought that it wasn't gonna be fun,
and kind of a lame show.
When I got here, turns out,
I was gonna meet two of my best buds.
That's awesome.
Well, God bless you guys. I'm
so glad we've had this time.
Now, let's go get some
sleep. What do you say?
- [Children] Yeah.
- All right.
Good night, everybody.
(gentle music)
Hey.
Hey.
What you doing?
Shot list for a new video tomorrow.
What's that?
Everything has to be detailed out,
I mean, from the blocking to the whiting.
Oh, okay, okay.
Good night.
- Good night.
(gentle music)
(feet padding)
- Hey.
- Hey.
What's wrong?
$1 and 27 cents,
that's all we have so far.
How much more are we gonna make?
I don't know, I figured
we'll film a few skits tomorrow.
Well, Rome wasn't built in a day.
But they were laying bricks every hour.
What do you mean?
Well, that's how the saying ends.
Huh? I didn't know that.
So it does end, it just takes time.
(gentle music)
You know, I really like this place.
I could see why someone would
wanna send their kids here.
How many kids are you gonna have?
A bunch.
You know, it's kind of weird being here,
looking at the same star as my mom did,
eating in the same dining hall she did.
She mentioned in her letter that
she made a ton of great friends here.
You know, I think I'm
gonna go get some sleep.
Goodnight, Carson.
Goodnight.
(gravel shuffling)
(gentle music)
All right, mom, don't think I'm nuts,
but for some reason, I think you're here.
I'm doing good, aunt Heather's
doing the best she can,
but I miss you like crazy.
(gentle music)
That must have been so surreal for you,
feeling her in that must have the moment.
- Yeah.
- Feeling her.
Even though she was gone,
it felt like she was my guardian
angel smiling down on us.
But it was hard, you know?
I had to walk the same ground she used to,
and just without her there.
I bet she loved you very much.
Thank you.
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music continues)
(upbeat music continues)
(upbeat music continues)
(upbeat music continues)
(upbeat music continues)
(upbeat music continues)
(upbeat music continues)
(knocking on door)
(door opening)
- Hey.
- Hi.
So, what, are you going hunting?
No, I'm gonna go spy on the kids.
Do you wanna come with me?
- Of course I do.
- Okay, good.
Can I get to wear one of those?
- Oh, watching and-
- Yes.
All right, good. Let's go.
(door shutting)
So what are we doing for dinner tonight?
Hibachi today.
- Yum.
- Right?
- All right.
- All right.
Everyone, 30 minutes till dinner.
So make wise use of 'em, okay?
[Children] All right.
What are we doing?
(gravel shuffling)
Where? Okay, okay.
Come on, guys.
(gravel shuffling)
We are here live at
Hey Summer Ranch.
- Summer Ranch.
- And I'm Carson.
- I'm Charlotte.
And we are back with another documentary.
What?
[Children] Yeah!
(children indistinctly chatting)
Hey, is that my dad?
With my aunt.
(children indistinctly chatting)
We were all ready that
morning to try one more time.
Our last ditch effort to save
the camp, a mass media blitz.
Our goal was to sh**t 100 or
so videos in a couple of hours.
And if one of 'em went viral enough,
it would give us the funds we needed.
Then we had quite the surprise.
Don't leave me hanging.
My dad showed up with Carson's aunt.
Hmm.
- What is he doing?
- I have no idea.
Okay, I'm gonna go in there
No, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
- What are they doing?
- I don't know, I don't know.
- Oh my, oh.
- Okay, they saw us.
- All right.
- They saw us.
Hello, hello.
- What?
- Hello.
- Carson.
- Yeah, what?
- Hi.
- Dad?
Heather.
- What are you doing?
- What are you doing?
What are you wearing?
- What are you-
- Well?
- Hello, these are... Army Surplus Store.
- Yes.
- Oh, okay.
- Very fashionable.
What was that?
Those were short videos, movies.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
What?
Honey, why are you making
videos at camp? The truth.
Well, we found out that
the camp's in foreclosure.
We're just, we're trying to raise funds.
It's a short series.
- Oh, wow.
- Called Camp Life.
Camp Life at Hey Summer Ranch.
- Oh, I see.
- There it is.
It's a double g*n.
I got it, I got it, I got it, I got it.
How do you know about the foreclosure?
Yeah.
We kind of broke into the office.
Wait, you did what?
But I found mom's letter.
Well, okay. Oh, hi.
Can I help you guys?
Mr. Mark, check.
- No, we're just-
- We're good.
- We're just, you know-
- We were just
Hey, you know, it's
such a beautiful camp.
- Yeah, it really is.
- We decided to suss things
out a little.
- We were sussing.
Oh no, aunt Heather, don't
- Okay, okay, cool.
- Yeah.
I'm sorry, I'm Darren,
I'm Charlotte's dad.
And you know, you remember Carson? Yeah.
Yes, yes, yes.
- What, what are we doing?
Well, I think the kids have something
they wanna to tell you.
- Oh, really?
- What?
We know about the foreclosure,
we broke into your office.
You what?
We're sorry. We just, we wanted to help.
Tell him about the videos.
Oh, I know about the videos,
I just didn't know what they were for.
Is it true that the
camp is in foreclosure?
Yes. Yes, it's true.
We are on appeal,
but the bank wants this beautiful property
for a hunting development.
Ooh.
So they adjusted the terms
of the loan a few months ago.
Adjusted for you?
No, no, most decidedly against us.
Oh, I'm sorry.
We saw it ends Friday.
Yeah, last day.
- Wow.
- Wow.
I'm sorry to hear that.
- Yeah.
- Thank you.
I appreciate that.
- Me too.
You know, it is what it is.
And we're waiting on God
for a miracle, so we'll see.
Okay.
So I tell you what, we
were about to have dinner.
Why don't you come and join us?
Oh, Mr. Mark(everyone mumbling)
No, you look great.
Don't let them say suss.
Dad, dad.
Oh, no, no.
(pleasant music)
That's it?
We only made $45 so far.
Well, how many videos did you make?
Seven, and then the ones today.
13, maybe even 14.
Hmm.
Some of them are really funny, dad.
(children indistinctly commenting)
(children continue indistinctly commenting)
But even after all that, all our hard work,
it didn't seem like it was gonna be enough
to pay off the debt.
Even if we did 10 times the videos we did,
it still wouldn't have been
enough to make a dent
in what they needed to pay off the debt.
We were going to need a miracle.
So we prayed, together.
(gentle music)
I'm wanna tell you a story.
(gentle music)
Jesus and his disciples were in a boat
on the Sea of Galilee,
and they were just in a tremendous storm.
The wind was blowing and
the waves were crashing.
In the Bible, Mark
says that it was horrible.
And do you know what Jesus was doing?
He was in the back of the boat sleeping.
And as you can imagine, the
disciples were scared stiff.
And so, they woke him and
said, Lord, we're all gonna die!
And so, Jesus woke up,
and he spoke to the wind
and he spoke to the sea.
The Bible says he rebuked them,
and then came a great calm.
So the disciples wrote,
what manner of man is this,
that even the wind and sea obey him?
(gentle music)
Okay, this is what I know.
You are either just about to enter a storm,
or you're currently in
the middle of a storm,
or you're just about to leave one.
That's just life,
but God is always with you.
Now, it's true this camp,
we're in a storm,
but I have faith, all right?
Now, when you go home in a few days,
when you leave here,
there may be a storm there.
But he is in control.
I promise you this, my
beautiful young friends,
he will never leave you.
Listen to me, it is not possible that God,
the Great I Am, will leave you.
He created you, he loves you, he's for you,
and he has a wonderful
purpose for your life.
So, can we all stand and sing a song?
Who am I that the highest King
Would welcome me
I was lost but he brought me in
With his love for me
Oh his love for me
Who the Son sets free
Oh is free indeed
I'm a child of God
Yes I am
In my Father's house
There's a place for me
I'm a child of God
Yes I am
I am chosen
Not forsaken
I am who you say I am
(birds chirping)
Oh, well, good morning camp.
[Children] Hey Summer Ranch.
Well done, grasshoppers.
You've learned well.
Well, today's the day your
parents come to pick you up.
(children moaning)
I know, I know. Me too, me too.
But let's spend the day together
doing camp things, all right?
And then later on,
I've got a little surprise.
But, boy, God has given us a
beautiful last day together.
So let's use it, okay? We've
got a full day planned.
So that means I'm gonna want all phones,
cameras, iPads, laptops,
phasers, tri-quarters, all of it.
All right, we're gonna
spend our day together
doing camp things, okay?
So that means no filming, no snap face,
or chat book, or MySpace, chap stick,
whatever it is your people call it, okay?
Right here, let's get started.
Nice, very good.
I know you're sad, you'll see it again.
(pleasant music)
(pleasant music continues)
(pleasant music continues)
(pleasant music continues)
(pleasant music continues)
(pleasant music continues)
(pleasant music continues)
(pleasant music continues)
With the last day of
camp coming to an end,
we were still nowhere near the money
we needed to save the camp.
It seemed like all of
our hopes were dashed,
I think we all felt like we
needed a superhero that day.
You know? In a way, I guess we did.
God has a way.
(car honking)
(door opening)
- Hey.
- Hey.
There's my girls, how you doing?
- Great.
- Great.
All right. What'd you guys do?
- We made films.
- It was fantastic.
Of course, it was.
Your dad is Superman?
Wait, wait, like the real one?
No, he played Superman on TV.
Jump in, jump in, jump in, you guys.
Hey, nice to meet y'all. Is it locked?
Hey, there we go. Good to meet you guys.
Thanks for taking good care of my girls.
(door shutting)
So, Carson, Charlotte,
you have a good time?
- Yes.
- Yes, sir.
Great, you gonna come back next year?
- Of course.
- Of course.
What was your favorite part?
Movies.
- Hey.
- Going to the lake.
- Hi.
- Hi, hi, hi.
Well, sir, I bought your camp.
I'm sorry.
Well, I tried to negotiate,
they weren't willing, so I bought it.
So, yes, actually you do work for me.
(pleasant music)
Wow.
Well, I guess I better take out all that
religious kind of stuff.
Hmm.
(pleasant music)
Come on.
- Thank you.
- Yeah, you're welcome.
You're doing a great job.
- Thank you.
- Yeah.
(pleasant music)
So that was it, we had our
miracle and the camp was saved.
Although we didn't
reach a million followers
or a million dollars, we're
proud of what we did.
And you should be.
Camp Hey Summer Ranch is thriving now,
and they had record numbers this year.
Yeah, they even launched
a dedicated film program.
Of course, Hazel and
Mazel run the show there.
So what's next for you both?
Will you be going back to the camp?
Camp changed us both for
the better, in so many ways.
It made me a better leader,
and I'm really happy being
a camp counselor there.
That's awesome.
It really made me connect with others,
and form long lasting friendships.
The camp helps kids connect
in such a strong community.
I'll definitely be going back.
Oh, also, I'm a counselor there too,
so I kind of work there.
You'll be there.
What an incredible story.
Thank you both for
coming on the show today,
and sharing all that you have done.
So I guess that means one thing.
As Hazel and Mazel would say,
- That's a wrap.
- That's a wrap.
- On Hey Summer Ranch.
- On Hey Summer Ranch.
Good job, you guys.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
I'm proud of you.
[Director] And cut.
All right.
That's a wrap on film camp.
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Film Camp (2024)
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