CinemaKidz — Local services in New York

Redoing my review based on the owner's tone deaf response to my prior review. I recommend to parents to find another camp with a more exciting curriculum and better customer service.

My son did this camp for one week. He thought it was so so and fairly boring. He had no desire to return for any additional weeks. I found the owner to be very unprofessional (from how she answers the phone to how she talks to parents) and I truly think she should hire someone with better customer service skills to be the direct interface with the parents. I PERSONALLY found the owner to be quite unprofessional (on SEVERAL occasions, starting from when I was trying to enroll my son). I found the policy of not letting parents up to see the performance if they were a few minutes late to be absurd (and contrary to the owner's assertions in her initial response, they were NOT on top of everything - they didn't give us adequate notice about the performance - if they had, I wouldn't have made the work meeting. If my memory serves me correctly, they told us the day before. It should be something they tell you right when you enroll). My OWN personal experience with the camp left me underwhelmed.

Now, I will share the experience of the other mom separately - one poor mom who came in from NJ was told the wrong start time for the live "movie" viewing (which the kids do at the end of the camp week). When she got there at the time she was told to be there, she was not allowed in as she told she was "late". The distraught mom called the owner who adamantly insisted there was "no way" the mom was told the wrong time by her staff - basically accusing her of lying. The mom persisted until she found the camp employee who did, in fact, acknowledge that he had given her the wrong time (I was there and witnessed him acknowledging that he had messed up). She was STILL not allowed to go up to the room as they said it would have been "disruptive" and she would just have to watch the video they would send out later in the day - seriously, this is not the Academy Awards!! It's an expensive summer camp for elementary school kids that parents pay for - you would think the owner would have made some effort to try to accommodate this poor woman - especially when it was the camp's mistake why she was late! (I witnessed all this personally as I was a few minutes late myself as I had a work obligation - I was quite surprised when I was told I was not allowed to go up to the performance and so I just waited outside the building for my son until it was over - the upset mom and I discussed how absurd the whole situation was).

Initially, I shared the experience with the other mom (as well as my own personal experience) and the owner seemed to think that this story was not relevant as it was the experience of another parent, not mine. Well, I witnessed it and think it is extremely germane to other parents who are considering this camp.

Response to CinemaKidz: Your response is just not true at all. I did ONE prior review before last summer. You must be confusing me without another unhappy customer. The reason I deleted my prior review and just redid it was I found the initial response from the owner to be so off-putting, I edited my review to make it clear I was basing my review on my personal experience (in additional to what I witnessed with the other mom). Anyhow, this response from you finally got you to (sort of) respond to my actual complaint about the camp and it is the first time I received an apology for my negative experience so at least there's that. :) Hopefully, you will actually process what I wrote and my feedback will help other parents be treated more...

HI everyone! As I write this my son Gio is in class with Nick at CinemaKidz! I can't possibly begin to express how much he loves and adores his film classes with Nick. He can't wait even just to listen and learn from Nick. He is absolutely fascinated! We live in Los Angeles but are from Brooklyn NYC and that Gio is taking a class from Brooklyn is so special to us. He only wishes he could be there in person! Gio is intensely passionate about making films. He started making them during the quarantine and one of his films called Bird in the Wild actually made it into 3 film festivals so far! One night he woke me up and said "Mommy! Get me a film class I want to make movies more than anything!" So I searched and found CinemaKidz which looked perfect for him to be with a group of kids who are serious about making films and so it has been a tremendous blessing. Nick the teacher has been so beyond supportive and pushes the kids to have confidence in what they're doing no matter how big, how small, just to use their own creativity on film! He teaches them film techniques as well! They are learning about Green Screens, Scripts, lighting, and storytelling. It's really incredible! I'm an actress and writer who loves making films more than anything too so you can't even imagine how exciting all of this is for me! I even secretly listen in on the classes so I can learn more too! We are thrilled we have found CinemaKidz!!...

I think one thing that a lot of people forget is that a mandatory thing in school’s across America is not only to teach and learn but while doing so keep your creativity alive. People can argue with art classes, and drama clubs but in art classes you have to stick to clear boundaries, in drama you are given a script of what to do, and in band you are given what you need to play. But in Cinemakidz the kids are the ones that create. Throughout my time at Cinemakidz i have made movies about The Avengers becoming kids again, pirates going to the center of the earth and meeting gingerbread men, and a noir film set in a hotel that features a scene where a character gets mad at a detective for bombarding him with water in a water gun fight so he kidnaps people in a hotel. The possibilities are endless. While if this was strict like school i would probably be making a Dhar Mann film. Cinemakidz goes step by step to the process of filmmaking from brainstorming an idea to editing your movie. And the best part is that kids are the ones that make it. In one week your children will type a script, storyboard scenes, act in a movie, and film it. Not to mention there are also games. And the people working there are amazing too, teaching,having fun, and keeping people under control. I quote Jonathan Larson when I say “No Day But Today”. -Conor Lawson 11 years old Nostalgia...