Long Island native Jordan Firstman's 'Club Kid' becomes breakout film at Cannes Festival

A Long Island native became the toast of Cannes over the weekend thanks to a feature film that earned a standing ovation and ignited a bidding war.

Jordan Firstman, who was raised in Northport, made his directorial debut at the famed film festival with "Club Kid," the story of a dissolute party promoter who suddenly finds himself caring for a 10-year-old son he never knew he had. Firstman is also the film’s writer and star.

"Club Kid," whose cast also includes Cara Delevingne ("Suicide Squad") and Diego Calva ("Babylon"), earned a seven-minute standing ovation after its Friday premiere at Cannes, according to Deadline.com. Next came headlines about a bidding war between such suitors as the buzzy studio Neon ("The Secret Agent," "Sentimental Value") and Warner Bros.’ new indie startup, Clockwork. Figures quickly rose from seven to eight, and eventually the hip boutique studio A24 ("The Brutalist," "Marty Supreme") won worldwide distribution rights with a $17 million deal, Variety reported.

Firstman, 34, the son of former Newsday reporters Rick Firstman and Jamie Talan, has been steadily building a career since moving to Los Angeles more than 10 years ago. An early break came as a writer for "Search Party," a five-season series for HBO Max, followed by a pandemic-era stream of Instagram posts that caught the attention of celebrities such as Ariana Grande and Katy Perry. Jordan Firstman landed a role on FX’s "English Teacher" and released a comedy album, although he's probably best known for playing Charlie Cohen, a gay stylist in "I Love LA," Rachel Sennott’s comedy series for HBO.

Firstman had been mulling over the project that would become "Club Kid" since 2023, thinking, "Something with me and a kid would be funny," according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film’s protagonist, like Firstman, is gay, but realizes that a long-ago threesome produced a child. Firstman shot the movie in real clubs in New York City with British actor Reggie Absolom (Britbox’s "The Other Bennet Sister") as his on-screen son. An early review from Screen Daily called the film "a crowd-pleasing queer family drama" with a "knockout" ending.

The film’s opening scene, set in 2016, unfolds to the strains of Rihanna’s "Sex with Me," though Firstman initially did not have rights to the song. He included it anyway, he told The Hollywood Reporter, confident that Rihanna would grant permission once she previewed the film. Three weeks before the premiere at Cannes, she did.

By Rafer Guzmán

rafer.guzman@newsday.com