Base Camp: Catskills, NY

May 19–24, 2024 — Upstate New York

For the past couple of years, Creator Camp has been hosting intimate creative gatherings with one big goal: help shape a better internet by supporting thoughtful, story-driven work. This edition of Base Camp took place over five days in the Catskills with a cohort of filmmakers, animators, photographers, and entrepreneurs who all came together to live, create, and share projects side by side. Base Camp Cohort 4 was made possible by support from Patreon and Notion.

This Event’s Theme: “Sustaining Your Creativity”

What does that mean?

Every creator knows what it feels like to hit burnout or run on empty. “Sustaining your creativity” is about building a long-term practice—having systems, habits, and guardrails that let you keep going even when inspiration dips, so you can return to the work again and again with fresh eyes.

Why have a theme at all?

After running several retreats without a shared focus, the team realized that having a clear intention makes the time together more meaningful. For the start of the 2024 season, they wanted a theme that could anchor conversations, workshops, and collaborations—something everyone could interpret through their own craft and career stage.

How it shaped the week

Throughout the week, campers hosted sessions that tied back to this idea of longevity in creative work—everything from unpacking editing workflows, to sharing how they protect their energy, to walking through the realities of turning art into a sustainable business. The theme became a lens for talking honestly about process, money, boundaries, and the long game of making things online.

A Special Thanks to Our Partners

Worldbuilding Workshop with Patreon

Our year-long partner Patreon aims to give creators the tools and support to build sustainable creative futures. Inspired by their mission—and by visionary worldbuilders like Walt Disney and Hayao Miyazaki—the group ran a “Worldbuilding Workshop” where everyone mapped out their dream futures, named the challenges in the way, and looked for ways to support each other’s paths. It was one of those sessions that felt part therapy, part strategy lab, and completely magical.

Building with Notion

Creator Camp also partnered with Notion to power the entire Base Camp experience—from logistics and workshop planning to cohort profiles and shared resources. Many people in the community already rely on Notion to run their studios, productions, and personal systems, so it became the backbone of how this camp was organized.

During an interactive Notion workshop, attendees walked through the pages and dashboards they use to track clients, projects, content calendars, and finances. Everyone swapped templates, compared setups, and left with new ways to structure their creative lives.

Looking Ahead

Base Camp: Catskills was the first event of the 2024 season and a reminder that creativity is not just about making great work once—it’s about building the capacity to keep going. With the help of partners like Patreon and Notion, and a cohort committed to honest conversation and experimentation, the week in the Catskills became a living case study in what sustainable creativity can look like.