YouTube directors are beating Disney — and saving Hollywood
By Peter Kafka
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Chief Correspondent covering media and technology
'Backrooms' and 'Obsession' are made by YouTube directors. They're crushing the Hollywood competition.
If you're a young movie director, you get your start on YouTube. Next: graduating to movie theaters, and crushing the competition.
TL;DRAI
YouTube-native directors Kane Parsons ("Backrooms", ~$60M projected) and Curry Barker ("Obsession", $74M) outgrossed Disney's Star Wars on their theatrical debuts. Studios now treat YouTube as a director farm team — pre-built audiences cut theatrical risk on small-budget films.
568 words~3 min read
