Original documentary series · Two seasons
Finding
Fire Island
The parties made it famous.
The people keep it alive.
GLAAD Media Award nominee
Presented by SiriusXM and Broadway Podcast Network
About
“Finding Fire Island” brings to life how a sleepy, 19th century beach town became a modern day queer mecca for artists and the New York City theater community.
Queer history has often been told through the lens of loss and disappearance, but Fire Island has transcended that to survive as a stunning fantasy world and cultural touchstone.
We take you behind the curtain of the mystique, legends and lore of Cherry Grove and The Pines from folks who experienced their evolution from the 1950s to today.
Trailer
CREATOR. EXECUTIVE PRODUCER. NARRATOR.
Jess Rothschild creates documentary and interview series that explore cultural phenomena, uncover untold histories and the personalities who shape them. A native New Yorker with a sharp queer perspective, she develops, writes and executive produces each series, from research and talent booking to production and release.
Behind the Production
Creative Challenge
Finding Fire Island was developed to document and celebrate the rich, often overlooked history of Fire Island's LGBTQ+ communities. The creative challenge was to bring decades of queer cultural history to life through firsthand accounts, archival storytelling, and intimate interviews, creating a series that would resonate with both longtime community members and audiences discovering this history for the first time.
My Role
I assembled and managed a multidisciplinary production team, including sound design and video editing collaborators, while overseeing the series' creative direction and delivery.
Approach
I built the series around firsthand perspectives, oral histories, and cultural context, weaving individual memories into a broader narrative about community, identity, creativity, and queer life. Following the first season, The Pines Historical Society commissioned Season Two, expanding the project's historical scope and continuing its mission of documenting and preserving Fire Island's LGBTQ+ legacy.
Outcome
The series earned a GLAAD Media Award nomination and grew into a two-season documentary project, establishing Finding Fire Island as both an engaging audio experience and a contribution to the preservation of LGBTQ+ cultural history.
Season Two
Season 2 · Episode 1
Choose Your Own Adventure
Through the lens of share-house culture, we follow first arrivals and longtime residents as they describe the rituals that shape life in the Fire Island Pines. Candid perspectives from Indian and Black voices, and a look at The Doll Invasion, the annual trans-takeover festival.
Watch on YouTube ↗Season 2 · Episode 2
Heated Rivalries
We explore how the Fire Island Pines emerged from exclusion and competition with Cherry Grove. Original Pines entrepreneurs Peggy Fears and John Whyte set the stage for a sophisticated, private alternative to Cherry Grove. Plus– Architect Horace Gifford’s p*n lodge aesthetic, Calvin Klein’s Fire Island legacy and the glass palace “Reflections”, glossy 1980s visions of desire that still feel suspended in time.
Watch on YouTube ↗Season 2 · Episode 3
Sex Before the Internet
As the post-Stonewall liberation movement transforms gay life, Tea at the Blue Whale becomes a Fire Island institution. Plus, the art of cruising, from the Meat Rack and the hanky code to the Pines Phone Book, personal ads, and 900 lines.
Watch on YouTube ↗Season 2 · Episode 4
DJs and the Dance Floor
From the Sandpiper to the Pavilion, Fire Island Pines' dance floors became church. Featuring legendary DJs Robbie Leslie, Susan Morabito, and Lina Bradford, we follow the creation of Beach '79, the roots of the Pines Party, and today's "leave no trace" beach parties, where Joey with the Mustache is reviving the island's spontaneous, communal spirit.
Watch on YouTube ↗Season 2 · Episode 5
Pantry Girls & Firefighters
Behind every legendary summer is a community that keeps Fire Island alive. This episode explores the history of the beloved Pines Pantry through the eyes of its iconic Pantry Girls, alongside the volunteer firefighters of the Pines and Cherry Grove who protect the island from fires, hurricanes, beach erosion, and an uncertain future.
Watch on YouTube ↗Season 2 · Episode 6
Broadway & the Beach
Featuring Broadway director and choreographer Jerry Mitchell and Billy Porter, we explore how Fire Island's Broadway community transformed the AIDS crisis into action through landmark fundraisers for GMHC and ACT UP, the Fire Island Dance Festival, and the creation of Broadway Bares. Plus, the story of how Joan Rivers fell in love with Fire Island while performing a benefit for God's Love We Deliver.
Watch on YouTube ↗Featuring
Artists, comedians, DJs and island originals.
Comedian & actor; Loot, Fire Island
Comedian & actress
Actor & Singer; POSE, Kinky Boots
Comedian; Las Culturistas w/ Bowen Yang
DJ & Performance artist
Cherry Grove icon
SNL writer, HBO's Fantasmas
Filmmaker & Pope of Trash
Drag performer; Wigstock
Theater director
Comedian
Talk show icon
DJ
Nightlife Impresario
Screenwriter, First Wives Club, Sister Act
Podcaster; Dads & Daddies
Cherry Grove & the Pines
Season One
Season 1 · Episode 1
Gay Summer Camp
We are introduced to the two oldest LGBT communities in the US -- Cherry Grove and The Fire Island Pines. Our cast of characters describe their Fire Island origin stories and we quickly see how what plays out here is like "gay adult sleep-away camp." We also observe how racial and socio-economic pressures are felt on the island.
Watch on YouTube ↗Season 1 · Episode 2
Cherry Grove
We explore how Cherry Grove became the birthplace of Drag and Disco, contrast the quaint cottages to the Pines’ mansions, landmark venues of The Ice Palace and The Monster and the queer female population.
Watch on YouTube ↗Season 1 · Episode 3
The Pines
We trace The Pines’ closeted past to its present day sex and party-forward atmosphere. We explore the architecture of Pines homes via Horace Gifford and the impact of Pines owner John Whyte who brought celebrity. Plus, The Meatrack, The Pavilion, the Pines Pantry and history of Tea at The Blue Whale.
Watch on YouTube ↗Season 1 · Episode 4
Tea
We focus on the legendary parties Fire Island is known for, beginning with the history of The Tea Dance and DJ Lina Bradford’s 10-year reign in The Pines. We detail The Morning Party, The Underwear Party and The Pines Party. Plus, the thriving sober communities which balance it out.
Watch on YouTube ↗Season 1 · Episode 5
The Invasion
We experience the very first Invasion of the Pines in 1976 as told by its leader, “Panzi,” and how the annual July 4th event evolved over the years. We go deeper on the history and evolution of Drag in Cherry Grove and New York City via Lady Bunny’s Wigstock and Drag Race.
Watch on YouTube ↗Season 1 · Episode 6
Legends & Lore
Stories of Madonna, Liza Minnelli, Carol Channing, Andy Warhol, Calvin Klein, Sarah Jessica Parker, Andy Cohen and more escaping to Fire Island. We uncover star-studded tales from Fire Island Pines & Cherry Grove, plus the filming secrets of “The Normal Heart” and incredible cultural treasures discovered inside Pines homes.
Watch on YouTube ↗Season 1 · Episode 7
Men Die & Women Buy
We trace how the HIV / AIDS crisis transformed Fire Island. As more women gained financial independence and began buying homes in Cherry Grove, Fire Island’s identity evolved alongside a rising epidemic. We also explore the emotional history of The Meatrack, which moved from a place of freedom to a site of remembrance, where ashes and roses were laid for those lost.
Watch on YouTube ↗Season 1 · Episode 8
Winter
We hear stories of fires, storms and hurricanes on Fire Island (Cherry Grove & The Fire Island Pines) which often threaten to destroy it as mother nature punishes with beach erosion. Plus, Halloween, Christmas and New Year’s and how to survive winter on the island with several year-rounders.
Watch on YouTube ↗Credits & Inquiries
Archival footage courtesy of Arts Project of Cherry Grove, Cherry Grove Archives Collection and Fire Island Pines Historical Society.
Press inquiries: scott@gorensteinpublicity.com
Finding
Fire Island
“Finding Fire Island” is a GLAAD-Award nominated docu-series which brings to life how a sleepy, 19th century beach town became a modern day queer mecca for artists and the New York City theater community. Queer history has often been told through the lens of loss and disappearance, but Fire Island has transcended that to survive as a stunning fantasy world and cultural touchstone. We will take you behind the curtain of the mystique, legends and lore of the LGBT communities (Cherry Grove and The Pines), from folks who experienced their evolution from the 1950s to today.
Presented by: Broadway Podcast Network & SiriusXM
WATCH SEASON TWO
About Jess Rothschild
“Finding Fire Island” is created, executive produced and narrated by writer, producer and native New Yorker Jess Rothschild.
Since 2019, Jess produces and hosts the podcast “Hot Takes & Deep Dives” centered on queer pop iconography and New York City culture.
Jess was a founding writer for the largest independent LGBT web site still in existence, Autostraddle.com from 2009-2013.
Instagram: @jessxnyc
Featuring:
JOEL KIM BOOSTER
Comedian & actor, Loot, Fire Island film
MARGARET CHO Comedian & actress
I’m the One That I Want
BOB "ROSE" LEVINE
Cherry Grove icon
JOHN WATERS
Pope of Trash, Filmmaker
JAY JURDEN
Comedian, The Problem with Jon Stewart
BEN RIMALOWER
Theater director, Patti Issues, Bad With Money
ROBIN BYRD
Talk show icon
JUDSON MORROW
Podcaster, Dads & Daddies
MIKE FISHER
Filmmaker, Cherry Grove Stories
BILLY PORTER
Emmy & TONY winner, POSE,
Kinky Boots
MATT ROGERS
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers & Bowen Yang
JULIO TORRES
SNL, HBO’s Fantasmas,
Los Espookys
LINA BRADFORD Performance artist & DJ
DANIEL NARDICIO
Nightlife impresario
SUSAN MORABITO
DJ
Ep 1: Gay Summer Camp
We are introduced to the two oldest LGBT communities in the US -- Cherry Grove and The Fire Island Pines. Our cast of characters describe their Fire Island origin stories and we quickly see how what plays out here is like "gay adult sleep-away camp." We also observe how racial and socio-economic pressures are felt on the island.
Ep 2: Cherry Grove
We explore how Cherry Grove became the birthplace of Drag and Disco, contrast the quaint cottages to the Pines’ mansions, landmark venues of The Ice Palace and The Monster and the queer female population.
Ep 3: The Pines
We trace The Pines’ closeted past to its present day sex and party-forward atmosphere. We explore the architecture of Pines homes via Horace Gifford and the impact of Pines owner John Whyte who brought celebrity. Plus — The Meatrack, The Pavilion, the Pines Pantry and history of Tea at The Blue Whale.
Ep 4: Tea
We focus on the legendary parties Fire Island is known for, beginning with the history of The Tea Dance and DJ Lina Bradford’s 10-year reign in The Pines. We detail The Morning Party, The Underwear Party and The Pines Party. Plus, the thriving sober communities which balance it out.
Ep 5: The Invasion
We experience the very first Invasion of the Pines in 1976 as told by its leader, “Panzi,” and how the annual July 4th event evolved over the years. We go deeper on the history and evolution of Drag in Cherry Grove and New York City via Lady Bunny’s Wigstock and Drag Race.
Ep 6: Legends & Lore
Stories of Madonna, Liza Minnelli, Carol Channing, Andy Warhol, Calvin Klein, Sarah Jessica Parker, Andy Cohen and more escaping to Fire Island. We uncover star-studded tales from Fire Island Pines & Cherry Grove — plus the filming secrets of “The Normal Heart” and incredible cultural treasures discovered inside Pines homes.
Ep 7: Men Die & Women Buy
We trace how the HIV / AIDS crisis transformed Fire Island. As more women gained financial independence and began buying homes in Cherry Grove, Fire Island’s identity evolved alongside a rising epidemic. We also explore the emotional history of The Meatrack, which moved from a place of freedom to a site of remembrance, where ashes and roses were laid for those lost.
Ep 8: Winter
We hear stories of fires, storms and hurricanes on Fire Island (Cherry Grove & The Fire Island Pines) which often threaten to destroy it as mother nature punishes with beach erosion. Plus — Halloween, Christmas and New Year’s and how to survive winter on the island with several year-rounders.
“The same socioeconomic, racial and political issues that play out across the U.S. are played out in these tiny, remote gay communities as well - it’s all just a microcosm for the rest of the world.”
Our work centers on gathering the stories and artifacts of the people, organizations, and events that shaped the Pines; preserving them digitally.
“The epic stories, influential storytellers and fascinating Fire Island lore will capture audiences completely.”
“The epic stories, influential storytellers and fascinating Fire Island lore will capture audiences completely.”
