They came to film life. So we built one worth filming.
Campus life at Creative Hut Academy runs on one idea: learning never stops at the classroom door. Thirty students live together on a residential campus in Kerala and mark the whole year as one family, Onam to Christmas, campfires to night shoots, study tours from the backwaters to the Himalayas. Every celebration is student-led, mentor-guided, and filmed.
You arrive as strangers. You leave as family.
Living and creating together does what a timetable cannot. Shared festivals, late shoots, long tours, and small daily rituals turn a batch of thirty into people who trust each other on set and off it.
Belonging
Friends become family, and a campus becomes a home you carry for life.
Confidence
On stage, behind the camera, and in real life. You learn to lead a team and hold a frame.
Joy
Celebration and creativity, together. The work is serious. The living is joyful.
Every season here is a production.
From Vidyarambham on day one to convocation at the close, the campus keeps a rhythm that has repeated for more than twenty batches. Each event is run by students, guided by mentors, and shot as real practice.
The best classroom has no walls.
Every year the campus goes on the road. Study tours take students from Alappuzha and Vagamon to Jaipur, Pushkar, Kolkata, and Kashmir, shooting real places, real light, and real people far from the comfort of a set.
The work leaves campus too.
Since 2009, Creative Hut Academy has staged photography exhibitions across India, from Ahmedabad galleries to the Lalithakala Akademi. Today the campus has its own gallery, and in 2025 student photographs were selected by IIT Roorkee and IIT Guwahati.
The campus gallery
A dedicated exhibition gallery on campus. Student work is curated, presented, and shown in a continuous cycle of making and reviewing.
Selected by IIT Roorkee and IIT Guwahati
Student photographs chosen for prestigious external exhibitions, a marker of Creative Hut's growing national presence in the photography community.
Wildlife photography exhibition
A three day show honouring student work and noted alumnus Manoj Iritty. Thirty wildlife photographs, more than a thousand visitors, inaugurated by Dr Padma Pothukuchi.
Twist, Lalithakala Akademi, Thrissur
The debut show for the sixth batch. On the same occasion, India Book of Records winners were honoured for the world's first Photography History Calendar.
Chayachitra, Kerala Lalithakala Akademi, Kottayam
The Sixth batch's work, shown on National Camera Day, focused on Indian visual storytelling.
Photo Video Fair, Gujarat University
Student work at a ten day national fair, following the success of IPF 2011 at Sanskar Kendra, Ahmedabad.
Sanskriti, Ravishankar Rawal Kala Bhavan
One hundred and eighty photographs on Indian tradition, shown alongside more than 150 vintage cameras.
First shows, Ahmedabad
The earliest Creative Hut exhibitions at Orchid Mall and Anayas Art Gallery, introducing new photographers to public platforms.
Twenty one batches. One family.
Come and live it.
Admissions open on 29 July 2026. Thirty seats, one year, and a whole life packed into it. The batch begins 11 August 2027.
Campus life, answered.
Is the campus fully residential?+
Yes. Creative Hut Academy is a fully residential Gurukul campus in Mattakkara, Kottayam, with separate hostels for boys and girls. Food is available on all working days.
Are the festivals and events compulsory?+
They are student-led and part of everyday campus life, not exams. Everyone takes part in their own way, whether that is organising, performing, cooking, or shooting the day.
Who lives on campus with the students?+
Mentors live and work alongside the batch, and the founder's family stays on campus too. That is the heart of the Gurukul model: teachers and students living and learning together.
Do study tours cost extra?+
Study tours and personal production projects sit outside the core programme fee. We share the current details directly on WhatsApp so you always get the up to date figures.
Can parents and families visit?+
Yes. Families are welcome to visit the campus. Reach us on WhatsApp to plan a good time around the batch calendar.
What languages is campus life in?+
Students come from across India, and campus life runs in English, Hindi, and Malayalam, so everyone can follow along and belong quickly.