Kane Parsons, the 22-year-old director whose YouTube series Backrooms became a global blockbuster, is telling everyone he had nothing to do with the movie’s success. Speaking at the Zurich Film Festival Summit, Parsons said the film’s marketing plan was essentially nonexistent, and that the audience’s curiosity was sparked by a trailer rather than any calculated campaign.
The panel was titled “The Theatrical Box Office Resurgence! How to Get Audiences’ Attention in the Era of Social Media and Online Platforms?” Parsons joined Academy CEO Bill Kramer, Mattel President Robbie Brenner and Sony Pictures Classics co-president Michael Barker to discuss how young audiences are returning to cinemas.
Parsons Says the Horror Label Is Accidental
Parsons made a striking admission about how he sees his own film. “I didn’t direct it like a horror film,” he said. “I don’t view it as a horror project. I think that’s just naturally the path of least resistance from a marketing perspective, and it’s what seems comfortable to people as a framing device.”
“I’m going to try to stay as oblivious to those labels as possible, and just focus on [what] think I have greater control now with future projects, so those sort of structures [should] probably be a little less forceful, I think.”
The film stars Renate Reinsve and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Parsons launched the Backrooms series as a teenager.
The Trailer Sparked Curiosity
When asked about the marketing and distribution approach, Parsons said there was no clear vision before the film’s release. “There wasn’t a real sense of what it would be prior to the actual release of the film,” he recalled. “I don’t think there was a feeling for what this would really be tapping into with people… all these people who were familiar with [Parsons’ YouTube series] the Backrooms for years in some vague way.”
As soon as the trailer came out, he said, it activated a desire to see how Hollywood handled the IP. “Or it was just a curiosity at the very least. And I like to think we did the core idea that they were familiar with justice.”
The film went on to gross $401 million globally upon its May release.
Kramer’s Surprise at the YouTube-Movie Connection
Bill Kramer was frank about how surprised he was by the film’s reach. He said he didn’t realize YouTube and movie-going were so well-connected, in a way that he didn’t think was possible. “That for me was a big takeaway of this summer,” he said.
Kramer pointed to the Academy Museum’s numbers as proof. “More than half of our ticket buyers [at the Academy Museum] are under the age of 40, and we sell out every screen. So people love seeing movies in movie theaters. We just needed to attract new fans, and you helped do that, this summer,” he told Parsons.
The 22nd Zurich Film Festival runs Sept. 24-Oct. 4.
Parsons Pushes Back on Short-Form Stereotypes
Parsons pushed back on the idea that young audiences prefer short-form content. “I think the notion that people around my age gravitate towards short-form material is…” he started to say, before Kramer jumped in: “Reductive.”
“Yeah, it’s reductive,” Parsons agreed. “I hear that come up a fair bit. [It might be] statistically truthful, but I feel like the sentiment is more that [short-form content] is weaponized, algorithmically incentivized, and it’s not really something I think most people enjoy about their own wiring. They don’t love that their attention spans are being sucked into the spiral of mostly consuming stuff that is that short.”
The Sequel Question
Parsons was coy about a potential follow-up. When asked about the prospect of a sequel, he simply told the festival: “We’ll see.”
The Big Picture
The panel’s title says it all: the theatrical box office is coming back, and social media is part of the formula. Parsons’ success is built on a pre-existing online following, a trailer that teased Hollywood’s incompetence, and a film that broke records despite his director insisting he didn’t know what he was doing.
His response to the sequel question shows he’s thinking ahead. Instead of confirming plans, he left the door open. That’s a measured approach from someone whose film just grossed $401 million.
The bigger picture is that young people are still going to the movies. Kramer’s museum data shows that more than half of his ticket buyers are under 40, and the screens are selling out. Parsons’ film is cited as a prime example of that shift.
The Backrooms phenomenon was a perfect storm of factors, and Parsons is smart enough to recognize that. He doesn’t need to take credit for something he didn’t control, and he isn’t pretending the marketing plan was anything other than a mystery until the trailer landed.
The film’s success was curiosity, pure and simple. The trailer asked a question — how did Hollywood mess this up? — and the audience showed up to find out.
Parsons’ film honored the original IP, and the numbers followed.
- The trailer activated curiosity about a known online IP
- The audience wanted to see how Hollywood handled it
- Parsons says the marketing plan was nonexistent before release
- Kramer was surprised by the YouTube-movie connection
- The film grossed $401 million globally upon its May release
Parsons’ humility is the story. He’s not celebrating a marketing masterstroke; he’s describing a mystery that turned into a record.
Source material: “Kane Parsons Recalls ‘Backrooms’ Trailer “Activated a Desire to See: How Did Hollywood Mess This Up?”,” The Hollywood Reporter.
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