Filmmaker Amy Nicholson - Happy Campers

Vacation Station

This episode of Big Blend Radio features filmmaker Amy Nicholson who discusses her documentary "Happy Campers." The film chronicles the final days of a working-class summer colony in a scrappy trailer park that just happens to hold the secret to a rich life.

In a waterfront campground off the coast of Virginia, residents spend their summers living spitting distance apart in rust-bitten RVs. They chuckle about the modest rent they pay for a million-dollar location, but what makes them the luckiest people in the world is more than just stunning sunsets, it’s the community they’ve created.

Beneath cliched trailer park stereotypes lies an unlikely utopia where all are welcome. Neighbors help each other out, and share everything from power tools to simple pleasures. Loneliness and isolation are inconceivable.

When their affordable paradise is sold to developers, the residents brace for eviction and the loss of friendships that span generations. They hold tight to their final days in the sun. The well-heeled crowd that takes their place will never be as wealthy.

Learn more: https://www.happycampers.film/