Billy Porter is blazing yet another trail, stepping into directing feature films.
According to an exclusive from Deadline, Porter has been brought on to direct the adaptation of Camp, the popular Young Adult novel by author L.C. Rosen, for HBO Max and Warner Bros.
Camp follows the story of Randy Kapplehoff, a 16-year-old very out and proud teen who loves his yearly trips to Camp Outland, a summer camp for queer teens. He loves nail polish, he loves his summertime friends and he loves taking centerstage in summer theater productions even more. But when he forms a major crush on fellow camper Hudson Aaronson-Lim, who’s notably only into straight-passing guys, Randy leaves his interests behind and reinvents himself as the buff, masculine “Del” to win his heart. But is it worth it?
In addition to directing the film, Porter also will play the role of camp theater director Mark. It’s the second directing job announced for the near-EGOT in recent weeks, as Porter is also slated to direct an as-yet-untitled queer-themed comedy for Amazon Studios. The decorated artist most recently won the Emmy for Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2019 for his role as Pray-Tell on FX’s hit show, Pose.
“Billy Porter, who I’ve been fortunate to know for more than 20 years, is the perfect director for this story, which is both hilariously funny and also quite moving,” said Dan Jinks, the producer attached to the project. “I wish a movie like this was around when I was growing up. I’m thrilled we get to make it now.”