Portraits of Impact

Jacky Chao BA’22, like many students, did not arrive at college knowing exactly what he wanted to do. He knew a few things: He loved working with sound, he loved media arts and he wanted to use his creative skills to express himself.

It was not until he discovered the array of motion design classes The University of Texas at Dallas has to offer students that he realized his true passion in life.

“It was junior year and I decided I definitely want to do this for a living,” Chao said. “I like how motion design has the potential to create a truly positive impact. It is a digestible medium that can be educational.”

Chao’s favorite memory of the program was working on his capstone project alongside associate professor Eric Farrar. The project required a one-minute motion graphic about how misunderstandings between people can be perceived as invitations to learn, rather than obstacles. Chao named it “Circumstance Meets Circumstance.”

The relationship between Farrar and Chao continued to grow through the project’s journey. Chao now considers him a mentor.

“Professor Farrar would sit with me every week to discuss my progress and direction,” Chao said. “I got philosophical lessons and unique insight into my project and what it meant to call myself an artist. When I lost motivation towards the middle, he sat down and encouraged me. I really thought he was going to say something like, ‘You’ve got to push through, it’s your responsibility,’ but instead he validated me and my feelings. That was what motivated me to keep going.”

Chao graduated from UTD in December 2022 knowing exactly what he wanted to do with his degree.

During his junior year, one of his friends from his hometown of Katy, Texas, pitched the idea of creating a summer camp that taught creative classes for children, including filmmaking, video editing, animation and other courses that could change the relationship between children and technology. His friend group decided to pursue the idea.

“We didn’t really get the resources or support for film and media classes when we were in school, so we wanted to bring that resource to Katy,” Chao said. “Our first year we had one location, and our only teachers were my three friends and me. We made up the curriculum and, to our surprise, we had around 200 students enrolled.”

They considered their effort, Creator Camp, a success and decided to offer the program again in 2022. Once again, they were surprised when they doubled enrollment numbers from the previous year. In 2023 — during Chao’s first summer since graduating — Creator Camp enrolled around 1,000 students. In 2024, they project enrollment around 5,000 students at several locations across Texas, including at camps in the Dallas area. The camp will also partner with out-of-state children’s museums to host additional courses.

To serve its growing enrollment, Creator Camp now offers courses in YouTube animation, game development, music production and even experienced filmmaking and animation classes for students who decided to re-enroll and wanted something a little more challenging.

“Not to be cliche, but there is a light in a kid’s eyes when they learn,” Chao said. “I love teaching hard skills like the actual animation techniques themselves. However, I also love teaching them soft skills like patience. We never know if the students will continue creative pursuits, but even if they don’t, they take all these soft skills we teach them into adulthood.”

Chao hopes Creator Camp reaches enrollment expectations in summer 2024 and continues to grow in following years.