MEDIA RELEASE: Summer Qamp is now in session! Cineflix Productions, Hello Friend Media, and Bright West Entertainment roll cameras on feature documentary showcasing LGBTQIA2S+ camp
-Acclaimed Director Jen Markowitz and award-winning
Producer Michelle Mama join the creative team-
-Super Channel set as Canadian Broadcast Partner with Quebecor Content to air in Québec-
Filming is underway on Summer Qamp, the feature documentary from Cineflix Productions, Hello Friend Media, and Bright West Entertainment chronicling the stories of campers and counselors during a dynamic session of the Centre for Sexuality’s Camp fYrefly, an LGBTQIA2S+ summer camp nestled between the Canadian Rockies and Alberta’s Bow River Valley. Super Channel is Summer Qamp’s Canadian broadcast partner with Quebecor Content on board in Québec.
The documentary focuses on a group of queer youth as they attend a camp like no other: a judgement-free zone where they can explore their authentic selves while building community and making memories that will last a lifetime.
Acclaimed Director Jen Markowitz and award-winning Producer Michelle Mama bring their extensive expertise, history of success, and unique synergy to Summer Qamp, having both worked on Canadian Screen Award-winning Canada’s Drag Race for Bell Media and Fuse/OUTtv’s Shine True. Markowitz is a director, writer, and producer who has worked across a wide range of series and documentaries such as The Fabulous Show with Fay and Fluffy for Prime Video, Call Me Mother for OUTtv, and A&E’s Intervention Canada. As a 20-year veteran director and producer in film and television, Mama’s credits include CBC’s In the Making, Lost Car Rescue for History Channel, and the documentary 21 Days to Nawroz. The production team also includes award-winning Cinematographer Lulu Wei, whose debut documentary There’s No Place Like This Place, Anyplace premiered at the 2020 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, and Additional Camera by Alejandro Coronado, most recently the cinematographer of Ever Deadly, the Tanya Tagaq documentary feature that screened at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month.
“With this film, I aim to give young viewers a glimpse of the gender euphoria that is possible, and that a long life full of expression, exploration, and community care is awaiting them,” said Jen Markowitz, Director. “This project is a collaboration between the film crew and the campers, many of whom had never seen what queer adulthood could look like. They invited us into their world because we understood who they are and how to tell their stories.”
“Telling uplifting queer stories is deeply personal for me—and more crucial now than ever,” said Michelle Mama, Executive Producer. “I’m thrilled to be able to collaborate on this project with Jen and allow filmgoers to meet these incredible young humans at a tender time in their lives and witness an idyllic week of queer joy.”
“Jen and Michelle have a fantastic track records as storytellers that tell meaningful outside-the-box stories across a variety of genres—their personal perspectives are essential to Summer Qamp,” said J.C. Mills, President and Head of Content, Cineflix Productions. “At a time when policies and legislations are actively harming LGBTQIA2S+ youth, we are honored to be a part of a film that will push the conversation in a positive direction.”
Cineflix Productions is producing Summer Qamp in association with its partners Hello Friend Media and Bright West Entertainment. The Executive Producers include J.C. Mills and Tanya Blake for Cineflix Productions, Lauren Heimer and Mia Weier for Hello Friend Media, and Alex Lieberman for Bright West Entertainment, along with Michelle Mama.
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