Online creators draw Hollywood deals after horror box-office wins
Young filmmakers who built audiences on YouTube and social platforms are landing studio projects after recent horror hits.
By Hana Yoshida · Markets Reporter
3 min read
A wave of filmmakers who first built followings online is moving into studio movies, helped by recent box-office success for “Backrooms” and “Obsession.” The shift matters because Hollywood is treating YouTube, TikTok and Instagram less as promotional outlets and more as proving grounds for directors with ready-made audiences, according to The Associated Press.
The Associated Press reported that studio executives are looking across social platforms for young filmmakers who have already learned how to hold viewers’ attention. That online work can give creators a direct feedback loop before they make a feature film.
Mike De Luca, co-chair of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, said at a conference last month that these filmmakers are in conversation with audiences from the start. He said subscribers influence the development of their work, adding that by the time a film reaches theaters, the creators have effectively had “a billion test screenings,” according to The Associated Press.
The path from online video to film is not new. The Associated Press noted that Issa Rae and Bo Burnham both began on YouTube before broader entertainment careers. The current run is drawing attention because several online creators have quickly turned low-cost or internet-born concepts into theatrical projects and studio deals.
Kane Parsons
Kane Parsons, known online as Kane Pixels, directed the A24 horror film “Backrooms,” The Associated Press reported. Parsons, 20, is from Petaluma, California, and began posting videos online when he was 9.
His work grew out of a video series tied to the Backrooms creepypasta meme. The feature version, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve, has earned $250 million worldwide, according to The Associated Press. A sequel is already being developed.
Curry Barker
Curry Barker, 26, grew up in Mobile, Alabama, and spent a year at film school in Los Angeles before making YouTube sketches, The Associated Press reported. He later made the horror short “The Chair” and the found-footage film “Milk & Serial,” which cost $800.
After Tea Shop Productions saw “The Chair,” it financed Barker’s “Obsession” for $750,000, according to The Associated Press. Focus Features bought the film for $15 million after its Toronto International Film Festival premiere. The movie is expected to pass $300 million in global ticket sales.
Barker has already completed “Anything But Ghosts” for Blumhouse Productions, The Associated Press reported. A24 has also brought him in for a reboot of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
Other creators getting studio attention
Mark Fischbach, known as Markiplier, built a major YouTube audience through videos of himself playing indie games, according to The Associated Press. The 36-year-old has more than 38 million subscribers and made his directing debut this year with “Iron Lung,” a sci-fi horror film based on a 2022 video game. The film cost less than $5 million, was self-distributed and grossed more than $50 million.
Jordan Firstman, 34, first drew wide attention with short Instagram Live skits during the pandemic, The Associated Press reported. He later appeared in HBO’s 2025 series “I Love LA” and worked as a consulting producer on “Big Mouth.” His directing debut, “Club Kid,” premiered at Cannes in May and was acquired by A24 for $17 million after a bidding contest.
Dylan Clark, from northern Virginia, has posted horror shorts on YouTube for eight years, according to The Associated Press. His short “Portrait of God” is being developed as a feature with Jordan Peele and Sam Raimi producing, and Lionsgate and Blumhouse have chosen him to direct a new “The Blair Witch Project.”
Sam Evenson is set to direct a feature version of his 2014 short “Mora,” The Associated Press reported. Neon announced the project in April. The 12-minute film has drawn nearly 5 million views on Evenson’s Grimoire Horror YouTube channel, and Roy Lee, producer of “Weapons,” is producing the feature.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.