TREATMENT

2010 marks the 150th anniversary of summer camp: America’s “great idea.” What’s so great about summer camp? And what makes camp a distinctively American cultural phenomenon? Across the country, generations of Americans – from CEOs to celebrities – consider summer camp to be one of life’s most defining experiences. People who have been to camp “get it.” People who haven’t want to understand the camp mystique – the magic that makes campers, decades later, remember every camp song and every bunkmate. And people who don’t know anything about camp at all will be enlightened by the suggestion that camp is part of the societal solution: camp breeds competence, cooperation, and communication. Camp is for everyone.

Camp friendships endure for lifetimes. Hundreds of marriages began in camp. Every summer, thousands of international youth become campers and counselors at American camps. Why? Maybe it’s because camp is where people connect in positive, human ways – with each other, and with the natural world – without the aid of virtual technology. Maybe it’s because camp is a place of discovery – a safe place where children learn about what they can achieve and how to get along. Or maybe it’s because, as the American Camp Association (ACA) says, “Camp Gives Kids a World of Good.”

We propose to share the secrets of summer camp in a multi-part television program that will use interviews with well-known personalities and emotion-driven cinematography to explore and celebrate Summer Camp: America’s Great Idea. Possible segments, organized under the theme of “bunks” – the cabins that are central to camp life – include:

• The Seeds of Summer Camp in America
• Crossing Cultures: The Folklore, Songs, and Traditions of Summer Camp
• The Camp Gene: Camp Families and the People Who Make Camp Run
• Camps of Hope
• A Camp for Every Child: Faith-based and Specialty Camps
• What I Learned at Summer Camp

The key aspect or “hook” for our series will be the inclusion of a diverse group of celebrities: actors, musicians, artists, athletes, politicians, and business leaders who will recount their camp triumphs, disasters, secrets and highly personal reflections, and explain how camp helped make them who they are today. These familiar personalities will share how overcoming challenges and becoming independent at an early age empowered them to achieve future success. Many performing arts careers began on the stage of a camp Rec Hall. Many leaders first practiced leadership as camp “Color War” Captains. Our celebrity reflections will grab wider audience attention and impart the core message that summer camp has directly jump-started many positive and lifelong pursuits and endeavors. Michael Eisner isn’t the only famous person to say, “I can hardly think of an aspect of my life that wasn't positively affected by my camping experience."

Contact Reginald Groff: (207) 774 6446 or email to rgroff@groffvideo.com