- Backrooms director Kane Parsons is the latest YouTuber to helm a big-screen project
- The online video sharing platform has become a breeding ground for new horror filmmakers
- Parsons has offered his thoughts on why that that is
The filmmaker of A24's Backrooms movie has offered his thoughts on why YouTube has become a breeding ground for a new golden generation of horror creators.
Kane Parsons, who makes his feature film directorial debut with one of this year's most interesting new movies, is no stranger to the online video sharing platform. Indeed, the 20-year-old made a name for himself with a series of viral, small-budget videos based on The Backrooms, aka the popular internet horror legend that this A24-produced flick and his own YouTube series are heavily inspired by.
The burgeoning moviemaker isn't the only YouTube graduate that Hollywood has recently taken a gamble on, though. From the Philippou brothers (Talk to Me, Bring Her Back) and Zach Cregger (Barbarian, Weapons), to Michael Shanks (Together) and Curry Barker (Obsession), the world's biggest studios are using the Google-owned social media platform to uncover the next generation of nightmare-inducing storytellers.
They're not the only ones, either. Let's players — the collective term for content creators who record or livestream themselves playing video games — like Markus 'Markiplier' Fishbach have also found success with their film adaptations of horror games, such as Iron Lung. Furthermore, some YouTube-based movie reviewers, including Chris Stuckmann, have turned their hand to making their own crowd-funded horror flicks like Stuckmann's Shelby Oaks.
With YouTube set to turn 20 years old later this year, you've got to wonder why entertainment giants have slept on the platform as a place to find the next great group of talented creators. After all, it's not only the most popular online video sharing service around, but also viewed by many as the only outlet to pursue their ideas and bring them to life.
So, what are Parsons' thoughts on studios taking a punt on horror-minded YouTubers — and why has it taken them so long to view YouTube as this hotbed of untapped talent?
"I haven't gained the necessary industry insight to speak to the true depth of that conversation," Parsons exclusively told me. "But, I like to talk about YouTube as a means in and of itself, rather than a means to an end.
"Creatively, I am very content financially [on YouTube], but you have to appreciate that these [YouTube and the wider entertainment industry] are separate entities. You can't grow the same self-sustaining engine on YouTube as you can in Hollywood, especially if you want to make stuff with the kind of budget we had on this movie.
"If you don't have those resources, the next best place to get visibility for a lot of people, myself included, has frequently been YouTube," he continued. "It gives a very strong, immediate sense of having your finger on the pulse, you can engage with your audience in real time as soon as you've put something online, and it's been a very fun place to grow my understanding of my own art and build a relationship with my community.
"And I think big studios are wising up to that," Parsons added. "A common trait shared by a lot of these YouTube filmmakers is having an established contract with their audience, and treating fans like they're a little more intelligent and cognizant than the average entertainment fan. So, I can't speak to why studios are finally taking notice of us, but I'm glad they are."
Backrooms is out now in theaters worldwide. Before you watch it, check out our Backrooms review and see why Parsons thinks some movie and TV adaptations have failed in their duty to fans of their source material.
