Sterling Point‘s references to Camp Rock may not have been intentional, but in the words of Mitchie Torres (Demi Lovato) and Shane Gray (Joe Jonas), series creator Megan Park “wouldn’t change a thing.”
In Sterling Point Episode 5, “I’m Not a Shots Girl Either,” Connor (Keen Ruffalo) hosts an 18th birthday party on the Canadian island he and his twin sister Annie (Ella Rubin) have learned they recently inherited, inspired in part by the original 2008 Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM), but primarily by its 2010 sequel, Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam. (In Connor’s words, “This is not ‘This is Me’ era.”)
Since Sterling Point dropped on Prime Video on Wednesday (Aug. 5), just over a week before the Aug. 13 premiere of Camp Rock 3 on Disney Channel, fans might have drawn the conclusion that this bit was planned. However, Park told DECIDER that the reference was “a happy accident,” though the series ultimately had more ties to the beloved films than the cast and crew expected.
“We also didn’t realize that we filmed some of the outdoor stuff at the exact spot that Camp Rock was filmed at, which was thrilling, obviously, for us,” Park said. “We were all very excited about that. But no, all that was happening at the same time we were filming. Somebody—I think [EP] Josh [Schwartz]—there was an article that dropped and he sent in the group chat. He was like, ‘Well, here we go. This is perfect timing.’ But yeah, that all worked out perfectly. Can’t wait for Camp Rock 3. So excited.”
With Sully’s (Nikko Angelo Hinayo) help, Connor pulls out all the stops for his—and technically, Annie’s— Camp Rock-themed soiree, including green and gold balloons with the Jonas Brothers‘ faces on them, a cake featuring “Alyson Stoner‘s face saying ‘Happy Birthday,’” and t-shirts spoofing an iconic scene featuring Stoner’s Caitlyn Geller and Lovato’s Mitchie Torres. Specifically, the t-shirts have Connor’s face morphed onto Caitlyn’s body during her infamous keyboard performance, during which Mitchie exclaims, “She’s really good!” Instead, Connor’s t-shirts read, “He’s really good!”
Hinayo confirmed that he and the cast “all have” a t-shirt, which he revealed was “Keen’s wrap gift for all of [them].” But the t-shirt was not the only piece of memorabilia that Hinayo held onto from the Camp Rock birthday party scene.
“I got, like, a little Poot sticker as well—’Free Poot’—that I stole from set,” Hinayo shared, while showing us the sticker on his water bottle over Zoom. “So there’s that.”
The sticker is inspired by a viral meme that originated on Tumblr in 2015, after someone created a backstory for a startling photoshopped picture of Lovato, per Rolling Stone. According to the outlet, the story claimed that Poot was Lovato’s long-lost twin sister, who was locked away in a basement. Lovato has since leaned into the bit, laughing as she recalled her initial reaction to the meme during a September 2025 appearance on Watch What Happens Live.
“My first impression was like, ‘Oh no! That’s a terrible angle of me!’ And then I learned it was photoshopped and then I was like, ‘Okay, I love it,’” she said.
Sterling Point is streaming now on Prime Video. Camp Rock 3 premieres on Thursday, Aug. 13 on Disney Channel, with next-day streaming on Disney+.
