Ten years ago, a web series about two Black gay men navigating love, identity, and life in New York City quietly changed the landscape of Black queer storytelling.

Love @ First Night, created by Sean and Terry Torrington for SlayTV, arrived on June 13, 2016, the day after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, and in doing so, became something much larger than anyone on the team could have planned for.

The show followed Kyle Price as Spencer and Jayden, played by Ramad Carter, as they tried to balance their relationship, career, and personal lives across three seasons, weaving in mental health narratives, chosen family, and the full complexity of Black gay male experience at a time when those stories were nearly invisible on screen.

It earned a devoted following, critical recognition, and a permanent place in the cultural memory of Black queer media.

A decade later, Price is bringing the cast and creative team back together. This past weekend, Price hosted the black carpet of the Native Son Awards on June 19th as well as the Native Son House event on June 20th. He also moderated the Make It A Moment: Love @ First Night 10th anniversary reunion panel, a precursor to the virtual event that will be posted on the SlayTV YouTube channel on June 26.

But Price’s investment in community-building goes far beyond a reunion. Since 2022, he has been developing Make It A Moment, a platform designed to create authentic space for Black queer people to be seen, celebrated, and connected, through digital content, in-person events like Kismet, collaborations with organizations including GLAAD, Native Son, MOBI, Better Brothers LA and the Black Trans Femmes in the Arts Collective, and a long-term vision that includes a physical facility and a mainstream television platform.

We spoke with Price to talk about the show that started it all, the platform he’s building, and the generation of young Black queer men he’s building it for.

QG: Your motto is “Not me versus you, but us versus the problem.” Where did that come from, and how does it guide everything you do?

Price: That motto is a personal mantra of mine any time I get into my head and start comparing my journey to anyone else’s. It’s a reminder to remember that my steps are already ordered and that there is enough space for us all. In the early days of shooting Love @ First Night, people would always ask us, the cast, how our show compared to other popular web series at the time, and are we vying to be number one. I was always intentional in saying that we don’t have to compare to any other show because our story is uniquely ours, and every story being created is necessary. If anything, the problem is that there aren’t enough Black queer shows with variety, so we should all uplift each other’s projects. From there, I always carried that with me in everything I do and every project that I’m a part of. I only want to be in competition with myself and one up the last project I did because it’s something that I believe in.

QG: Make It A Moment came out of your own experience with a lack of representation and belonging. What made you decide to build the platform yourself rather than wait for someone else to do it?

Price: My original intention for creating Make It a Moment was to celebrate my Black queer friends who are doing amazing things in the world, but were rarely given context on who they are beyond what they do for work and how they live their lives. I noticed that Black queer people are often forced to “perform” in our everyday lives, for our families, for our jobs, and for society. Rarely do we get to just “be” and celebrate with each other. So I decided to create a platform to help us “take our wigs off” and just connect in a way we rarely get to on a public platform. I believe the Black queer experience is such a unique one, filled with VERY specific idioms and nuance that needs to be handled with care. So that’s what I wanted to build, and now we’re making it a moment!

QG: You’re intentional about employing and collaborating with young Black queer talent in every project possible. What does that look like in practice?

Price: I have always been SUPER intentional about that because I feel there is so much talent we tend to overlook. Whether it’s because they don’t have the platform to operate at the highest level or they don’t know that the opportunity exists, sometimes they just need to know there is a possibility set to dream bigger and know their goals are tangible. I love seeing new talent emerge because everyone having the same beat gets boring. I love to shake it up and get some new perspectives going so we can push the culture forward.

QG: Tell us about Kismet and what makes in-person community events different from what you can build digitally.

Price: Kismet is a brainchild I came up with to make organic moments happen in a room full of like-minded, talented individuals. To me, the art of conversation is dying because of the internet. People don’t know how to connect in person anymore! So I wanted to create a room with the intention to not just network but gravitate towards people who feel like a natural connection can “happen”. From the first Kismet event I did, I saw so many people who may have never even interacted with each other connect in an organic way and make magic happen. I just felt like my job was done!

QG: Love @ First Night premiered the day after the Pulse nightclub shooting. That had to be one of the heaviest decisions of your creative life. Walk us through it.

Price: That moment in time felt like an out-of-body experience. The SlayTV team and I had a meeting that day on whether we should even release the show on our original date of June 13th because we had been promoting it heavily prior to that day. Releasing our show felt insignificant in comparison to the shooting that occurred, but ultimately, we ended up sticking to the date, and it ended up being the healing that a lot of people who were grieving at the time needed. I think that decision allowed us to have a deeper connection with our fans, and they really went up for the show. To this day, people still come up to us and say how much they love and connected with the show because of that experience.

QG: Ten years later, you’re bringing the cast and creative team back together for the anniversary special. What does it feel like to revisit something that was so personal at a moment when the conversation around Black queer representation has shifted so significantly?

Price: It feels so right because we are all real-life friends, and we just jumped right back into everything like we never left. So to let the fans see us come together and reminisce about something they’ve been wanting to see for years just felt so healing. Especially with the times we are living in now and the pointed attacks towards the queer community, we all need a break. Everybody is going through it right now, and to know we can bring some joy back into people’s lives from something we created out of love feels amazing.

QG: Jayden’s mental health journey was a central narrative in the series. What did it mean to you to put that story into the world for a Black queer audience?

Price: The mental health narrative was a creative decision from the show’s creator, Terry Torrington, who felt like discussing this topic through Jayden’s character. At the time, a lot of us were trying to figure out the correct language to address mental health, not only in the African American community but also in the queer community, so we can have healthier relationships and heal in ways we never allowed ourselves to before. Personally, from what I learned on the show, it allowed me to start my own journey of healing, especially during the pandemic. Since then, I’ve become a really big advocate for positive mental health practices and healthier relationships.

QG: The long-term vision for “Make It A Moment” includes a physical facility and a mainstream television platform. Where are you on that journey?

Price: I’ve always been inspired by shows on early BET like Teen Summit and Rap City: The Basement, where you have a common space where people can come and share a community that feels light, but also you can hold important conversations that don’t feel like lectures. I’m in the process of creating that space now with my team, but I won’t reveal too much just yet. The largest hurdle I’m facing is funding and sponsorship at the moment, but I believe everything is going to work out in the end.

QG: What do you want the next generation of young Black queer men to know — the ones who are right now where you were before you found your chosen family?

Price: That “It” is possible. Whatever their “It” is, you can achieve it, and you don’t have to compromise yourself or your vision to get it. Also, make sure that you don’t only invest in your work but invest in your genuine friendships. Your community is going to help shape your values and support you when the world doesn’t.

QG: What does it mean to you to be a Black queer man building something in public right now, at this specific political and cultural moment?

Price: It feels empowering! I’m an Aquarius, so anybody trying to tell me what I should or shouldn’t be doing, I’m going to do the exact opposite lol. Seriously, though, I’m getting the same high creating this world as I did with Love @ First Night, so to know that someone can be as inspired by this as they were all those years ago feels really right. So my mission is clear.

The Love @ First Night 10th Anniversary Reunion virtual panel will be posted on the SlayTV YouTube channel on June 26. Stream all three seasons of Love @ First Night at watchslay.tv.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Kyle Price