The 2024 summer movie slate is filled with angry apes, bad boys and worked-up wolverines. In a strategic bit of counterprogramming comes Summer Camp, a light-hearted comedy about a trio of old friends reconnecting at a reunion many decades after their first s’mores and horseback rides. Hollywood legends Kathy Bates, Alfre Woodard and Diane Keaton are the headliners, but it’s the majestic mountains of Hendersonville, North Carolina, that steal many of the scenes.
Credit Summer Camp writer/director Castille Landon (who also directed Fear of Rain and After We Fell) for getting the white pines, redbuds and Golden Globe winners to have such great on-screen chemistry.
In the following chat with Forbes Travel Guide, Landon elaborates on the Tar Heel State’s charm, reveals the place she’d love to make a movie and talks about the one carry-on item that always gets her in trouble with TSA.
Where in the world are you right now?
I’m in Louisville, Kentucky. Home is originally Florida, and then I moved to L.A. and then Louisville. I didn’t know anyone when I moved here. I just wanted to be near my horses.
Did you do anything fun around the Kentucky Derby a few weeks ago?
Oh, it’s cool. The whole town turns to Derby mode, which I really like. I don’t race horses, but I love them. I have different kinds of horses. To be in a community where everyone loves horses is cool. It feels like when I first moved to L.A. I felt like, “Oh, my gosh. My people, my artsy people!” And then when I moved to Louisville, it’s like, “Oh, my horse people.”
Where’s a place with arts and horses?
I’m trying to make it here. We have a good tax incentive so, hopefully, I can make a movie here.
With Summer Camp’s May 31 premiere here, are you more excited or exhausted?
I finished the movie at least six months ago so, at this point in time, I have seen it a hundred times. I’ve moved on mentally to the next thing. But it is exciting because all of the hardship of making a movie I’ve also put behind me. It’s like what I imagine having a baby ends up being like, where you forget about [the pain] six months or a couple years down the line and you’re like, “Yeah, I want to do that again.” It’s fun to revisit that and be reminded of the good memories because it was a really enjoyable time making the movie.
When you’re making movies with Hollywood royalty like Alfre Woodard, Kathy Bates and Diane Keaton, do they have free rein with ad-libs and such?
I approach it the same as I do with every actor, which is to say it’s always a collaboration. With them, they’re so experienced and such professionals that you definitely have every confidence that they can do it. It doesn’t require too much in the way of wrangling. They can come to me and make changes. But at the same time, they’re such pros that they make things work.
There were a couple times where I would have jokes in the script where they didn’t quite get it because they were modern jokes. Maybe I should have written something that was more age appropriate. Sometimes we’d go, “That’s actually really funny if you say that” because it is so colloquial and modern. Other times it was like, “Okay, we’ll pull that. We’ll change the joke.”
The North Carolina mountains also have a starring role in this movie. What part did you play in picking that area as a destination?
Because of the horses, I grew up competing in Asheville, North Carolina, multiple times a year. My favorite show to go to was the Blue Ridge Classic in Asheville. I had fond memories, and I knew that area fairly well. It just so happened that, when we went to write a summer camp movie, our favorite [site] that we found was in North Carolina, right outside Asheville in Flat Rock. So, very, very early on, I wrote the script knowing that that was the camp [backdrop we’d use]. We reached out to them. It was a collaboration. I tailored [the movie] for exactly what that camp offered.
During the filmmaking process, I lived at the camp. I stayed in the counselor’s cabin, which was freezing cold. It was the only cabin that had actual windows. But we were there in February. It was fun because we got to see spring, which was nice. We were hoping that we would see the plants bloom right before filming, and they did. Being able to not just create in that environment, but also to live there was really inspiring. I would wake up and run before work on the treadmill.
Asheville is such a magical place.
It’s beautiful. Kind of like this little hippie enclave. It feels very West Coast, which I like in terms of the lifestyle. I just think it has everything. There are these little artisan coffee shops. People are also nice, unlike certain cities. They’re welcoming. It just has the best of everything.
Any area coffee shops or restaurants stand out?
Since I lived on the campground, we had all of our food made for us at the camp. But I did go into town quite a few times. I can’t remember names. I’m a vegetarian, but there was a place [I really liked with veggie dogs] called Hot Dog World. And there’s a hotel that has amazing food. I can’t remember what it’s called.
Was it Biltmore Estate?
It wasn’t the Biltmore. But I did go to the Biltmore. That was an incredible experience. Kathy and I got a little behind-the-scenes tour. Oh, my goodness. They gave us lunch and took us around the beautiful grounds. And the art there was wonderful.
When it comes to moving around from film sets to premieres and then back to your home, what are a few things that are always with you wherever you travel?
I have a very specific diet, so my bag is always full of food, which is humiliating [when I go through airport security] because my favorite food is zucchini, which I chop up. Zucchini, protein powder and apples are must-haves for me in my carry-on. Fun fact: they show up on the TSA screening as water. Every single time I get stopped.
The zucchini shows up as water?
You open it up and there are six zucchini in this girl’s suitcases. [TSA agents are probably thinking] this is suspect. Those are my must-have foods. And then, my headphones [are essential], which I just lost in the Newark airport last week. And then my iPad, which is a must for me because I’m always either reading or writing.
Are there any dream destinations where you’d love to make a movie?
I would love to film in Australia or New Zealand. I think those would be incredible. I just love to travel. I love being able to travel for work because it’s a very different experience than just traveling for vacation. You have to be there for five, six months. It’s like living in a place for a little while, but you get all of the perks of work travel.
How do you pack for five or six months away from home?
If I’m going overseas, I will usually have one suitcase full of my vitamins, protein, the stuff that I can’t get overseas. Oh, and lots of Orbit strawberry gum. My other bag will be clothes. The good thing is, with directing, I wear pretty similar [things often]. It’s not a fashion show. When I am traveling for work, I’m mostly there to work, so I don’t have to bring a bunch of different options for various occasions. But, you know, I gotta bring the swimsuit, the workout clothes and, hopefully, something that is acceptable to wear on set.
