\u201cTalk to Me,\u201d a 2022 film by twins Danny and Michael Philippou, was the first notable horror movie to be made by YouTube filmmakers. The supernatural thriller, about a group of teens who contact spirits using a mysterious embalmed hand, grossed $92.2 million worldwide against a $4.5 million budget. Their next movie, 2025\u2019s \u201cBring Her Back,\u201d had triple the budget.<\/p>\n
Since then, studios have realized they can benefit from filmmakers who already generate authentic online buzz \u2014 especially with Gen Z audiences, whose theater attendance rose 25% in 2025, according to Cinema United, a trade organization that represents more than 31,000 movie screens in the U.S.<\/p>\n
\u201cYoung people want stories that feel authentic to them,\u201d said Kori Adelson, president of North Road Films. She produced \u201cBackrooms\u201d and brought the film to A24. \u201cThey also want to go to theaters with their friends, so it\u2019s on us to give them something they want to see.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both \u201cObsession\u201d and \u201cBackrooms\u201d outperformed Disney\u2019s latest \u201cStar Wars\u201d installment, \u201cThe Mandalorian and Grogu,\u201d at the box office this weekend \u2014 a sign that audiences may be increasingly drawn to original stories over familiar franchise fare.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s not always an easy path for a creator to transition from having full control to going through the studio system, and coming from the internet world still sometimes carries a stigma in Hollywood.<\/p>\n
In the past month, as Parsons\u2019 \u201cBackrooms\u201d generated buzz online, many naysayers began to speculate \u2014 without any concrete evidence \u2014 that the young director was actually not the one calling the shots on set.<\/p>\n
The rumors were so rampant that Mark Duplass, an experienced filmmaker and one of the movie\u2019s stars, weighed in to shut down skeptics.<\/p>\n
\u201cHmmm, with all due respect I don\u2019t remember seeing you on set,\u201d Duplass wrote in a post on X on Tuesday<\/a>, responding to someone who had said \u201cParsons absolutely didn\u2019t direct this movie.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was there, Kane was 100% in control. More so than many directors 3x his age,\u201d Duplass added.<\/p>\n He added to his comments in a video on TikTok, telling his followers<\/a> he suspects he was brought onto the film in part because he \u201cmentors a lot of young filmmakers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI was prepared to help out, and what happened was is he didn\u2019t need any of us,\u201d Duplass said, adding that Parsons was \u201cintensely prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n Even as Hollywood becomes more eager to capitalize on YouTubers and their original IP, that doesn\u2019t mean creators will always opt for the traditional theatrical path.<\/p>\n After all, being an online creator \u2014 particularly in recent years \u2014 has become a moneymaker in its own right.<\/p>\n As filmmaker and commercial director Luke Covert said in a YouTube video last year<\/a>, \u201cYouTube has a massive audience and people do make tons of money. The truth is if I get enough views, I do make decent money.\u201d To monetize on YouTube, a channel needs to have 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of annual viewing time, according to YouTube\u2019s monetization policy.<\/a><\/p>\n In a recent interview with NBC News, Barker said that he actually almost put \u201cObsession\u201d \u2014 which was made for $750,000 and acquired by Focus Features for $15 million \u2014 on YouTube.<\/p>\n Before the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival in September, Barker was primarily known on the Google-owned video platform for projects like \u201cMilk and Serial,\u201d a thriller that follows a duo of YouTube pranksters. He and his collaborator Cooper Tomlinson have amassed more than 1 million followers to their \u201cthat\u2019s a bad idea\u201d channel.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of discoverability on there,\u201d Curry said of the platform. \u201cI mean, it would have done well on YouTube probably, and word of mouth would have spread.\u201d<\/p>\n But ultimately he said he is happy with how things turned out \u2014 \u201cObsession\u201d has opened up new doors for him in Hollywood, where he now counts horror genre giants like Jason Blum as one of his biggest advocates. He has another film, titled \u201cAnything But Ghosts,\u201d in the works. A24 recently tapped him to helm a reimagining of 1974\u2019s \u201cThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre,\u201d which is itself a touchstone in low-budget horror history.<\/p>\n Adelson said on the studio side, she has seen at least 20 spec scripts from new voices, an indication that there is a big opportunity to have more projects like \u201cBackrooms\u201d on the horizon.<\/p>\n \u201cThese YouTube creators have been building their own worlds that producers are all starting to pay attention to,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd they start to bring [the projects] to the studios to make. We\u2019re seeing that broader trend expand.\u201d<\/p>\n