Jordan Firstman has solidified his status as a major cinematic force after his feature debut, “Club Kid,” inspired a heated bidding war. Indie giant A24 beat out Focus Features, Searchlight, Netflix, and Mubi for a global rights deal worth $17 million.
The film, which Firstman wrote, directed, and starred in, follows Peter, a nightlife promoter who has spent a decade lost in a cycle of hard partying—including ketamine, cocaine, and GHB—and modern queer life in New York City. The narrative is disrupted when a 10-year-old boy named Arlo appears at Peter’s SoHo apartment claiming to be his son. Firstman describes the film as a story about growth, noting that it was designed to work on multiple levels, from a "layer of warmth that feels like a hug" to more "transgressive ideas" beneath the surface.
Firstman’s path to the big screen was not immediate. A decade ago, at age 25, he met producer Greg Berlanti at the Sunset Tower Hotel to discuss his career. At the time, Firstman had sold a series to Sundance TV based on his short film “Call Your Father.” However, the network pushed back on casting a 50-year-old out gay actor in the lead, claiming no one of sufficient fame existed to justify the budget. Firstman recalls being "a little bit threatening," telling the network he would not proceed if the actor wasn't gay. Sundance TV eventually passed on the project, and it later disappeared during a series of mergers at HBO Max.
Before his breakthrough, Firstman built a massive online presence as an "Internet Gay" persona, amassing over 1 million followers on Instagram and TikTok. He also worked in writers' rooms for series like “The Other Two,” “Search Party,” and “Big Mouth,” and wrote a notable sketch for Aubrey Plaza at the 2020 Independent Spirit Awards.
To bring “Club Kid” to life, Firstman shot the film in just 26 days last year with a budget of just under $5 million. He sacrificed his own fees as writer, director, and star to ensure two "nonnegotiables": a pivotal location shoot in London and the use of 35mm film stock.
Firstman says, “I feel like there hasn’t been a defined generation of new filmmakers since the Safdie brothers era began.” He notes that “Los Javis and Jane and Lukas and I are all around the same age.” He views “Club Kid” as part of a movement of elevated queer stories in 2026, alongside films such as “La Bola Negra,” “Elsinore,” “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,” and “Coward.”
