Hollywood studios are competing fiercely to sign young, internet-native horror filmmakers after two low-budget films aimed at Gen Z audiences, Obsession and Backrooms, became summer box office hits. The most prized target is 21-year-old Kane Parsons, director of A24's Backrooms, whose film began as YouTube shorts and has become the studio's highest-grossing release ever, prompting rival executives to pursue him directly for future projects.

Warner Bros. co-chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy reportedly visited Parsons at his family home in the Bay Area, while HBO's Casey Bloys and Francesca Orsi held a Zoom call with him about a combined film and TV deal; Universal's Donna Langley has also met with him, having already secured Obsession director Curry Barker for his next film. A24, keen not to lose Parsons, is offering him a Backrooms sequel plus an original project, and it emerged the studio had not locked in a first-look deal with him before Backrooms' release, unlike its usual practice with rising talents such as Ari Aster and Celine Song. Backrooms cost around $10 million to make and has grossed $374 million globally; the wider trend of studios chasing online creators dates back to A24's 2023 deal for Talk to Me directors Danny and Michael Philippou.