Jordan Firstman’s ‘Club Kid’ Hits Telluride, and Colleen Camp Could Be Its Secret Oscar Weapon

Jordan Firstman is hoping to join an exclusive club: the Oscars. And he might have someone on his team that can help him do it. Suddenly, one of the internet’s more recognizable comic personalities — currently a regular on Rachel Sennott’s comedy series “I Love L.A.” — had a movie, a major distributor and a fall festival trajectory far more serious than anyone might have expected.

It bowed at the Telluride Film Festival on Friday night with much anticipation for those who weren’t on the Croisette, and the film is ready to make its big splash on the circuit. That’s the first awards story. The second may belong to one of his co-stars, Colleen Camp.

Firstman writes, directs and stars as Peter, a washed-up New York party promoter whose life on the dance floor screeches to a halt when the 10-year-old son (played by the exquisite British newcomer Reggie Absolom) he never knew existed turns up on his doorstep. The premise invites the easy shorthand — a gay “Big Daddy” — but Firstman uses it as a way into something more complete. It’s a study of responsibility, loneliness and the possibility that adulthood might begin long after you’ve stopped expecting it.

The film works on three fronts with a touching script, naturalistic direction and a genuinely endearing lead turn. A24’s fall strategy only heightens the opportunity. The company is running “Club Kid” through Telluride before heading to Toronto and New York ahead of a November release, which is the classic runway for a movie built to play as a crowd-pleaser rather than a critics’ curiosity.

This is where Camp comes in — the veteran embedded in the ensemble whom many still aren’t clocking as the film’s secret weapon. At 73, Camp is a character actress-turned-social connector whose close friends include half the A-listers in town. By many estimates, she’s a significant reason Andrea Riseborough landed that shocking best actress nomination for “To Leslie.” Da’Vine Joy Randolph even thanked her by name from the Oscar stage while winning for “The Holdovers.” In recent years, Camp has become an influential operator on the circuit, with high-powered parties, star-studded dinners and taste-making events that have redirected more Oscar campaigns than anyone will admit on the record.

Think Countess Luann from “The Real Housewives of New York,” but with real sway over the people at her table. She’s part of the reason a healthy share of today’s Oscar nominees and winners got there at all, which is exactly why it would be foolish to discount her now. But long before she was hosting the parties, Camp was working the sets.