From $800 Film to Hollywood Deal: What You Can Learn From Curry Barker’s Rise

Obsession was one of the best films we saw at SXSW 2026. Imagine a late-night room full of horror film fans all totally bought into your world, gasping in all the right places, choking out laughter, even crying out, “Hell, no!” That was Obsession in Austin, Texas.

The film originally premiered at TIFF Midnight Madness, promptly sold to Focus Features for $15 million, and then landed its young writer/director/editor two major projects in the pipeline at Blumhouse and A24.

That director is Curry Barker, who got his start as a sketch comedian on YouTube with Cooper Tomlinson (their channel is called “That's a Bad Idea,” which has 700 million views across platforms). They made a found footage feature for $800, Milk & Serial, that went viral and got Barker repped.

Obsession is a stylish, scary story about the hapless Bear (Michael Johnston) and his crush on effortlessly cool Nikki (Inde Navarrette). Except he’s never exactly confessed his feelings. At a loss, he impulsively wishes on a “One Wish Willow” for Nikki to love him more than anyone. This being a horror film, things quickly turn dark.

Barker should inspire all indie filmmakers, because he didn't wait for permission. Every step of the way, he made something and put it out. Here’s what we can learn.

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Make Something with What You Have

Milk & Serial is the obvious example here. The film is a pretty straightforward story about two YouTube pranksters who take things too far. They made it in four months on a shoestring budget, relying on the found footage approach to keep things simple and easy.

Barker has said he writes things low-budget from the start, coming from a background of making short films for $0, working with what he has, and cutting corners to achieve what he wants. Milk & Serial is exactly the kind of guerrilla filmmaking that thrives in horror, and Barker had been building toward it with a string of short films and sketches before it.

Figuring out how to do something with limited resources, without compromising too much, can be extremely creatively fulfilling. Write to your locations and resources.

Release Your Work, Don't Sit on It

It might seem obvious, but if you make something, you should want people to see it. I wouldn't believe there was any other reason to shoot a project, but an actor recently told me shelved projects happen more often than she'd like.

Barker didn't hold Milk & Serial back waiting for a distribution deal. His team put it on YouTube for free. That’s what got him a rep and launched his career. The film attracted an audience through word of mouth, massively exceeding the channel's subscriber count and leaving the orbit of their original fanbase entirely.

'Obsession'Credit: Focus Features

It amassed 1.6 million views and landed him meetings with practically every horror house and producer in town, leading to a UTA signing.

The film became a calling card because people could actually see it. Festivals and distributors are viable paths, but they’re not the only paths.

For what it’s worth, I recently heard filmmaker Alex Heller say something similar at Aspen Shortsfest. She said that being able to point to a body of work, meaning her shorts initially, functioned as proof of her taste and work ethic. Put out that work. Let people see it.

Know the Genre, Then Break It

One reason Obsession is so delightful is that it surprises the audience at several turns, never afraid to lean into a laugh or turn a trope on its head. Barker is a writer/director in command of the genre.

Being a lifelong genre fan is research. Barker approaches horror conventions as a guide for audience expectation, and then uses that knowledge to do the unexpected. I brought this up in a recent conversation I had with him for Final Draft.

“Well, it definitely helps to know the tropes and then break them,” he said. “So that's step one. So you can think of any horror movie as a blueprint as to what we expect ... and not doing the thing that you're expecting it to do.”

He told Den of Geek that the concept for Obsession came from the monkey's paw segment of a Simpsons Halloween episode, and that he was surprised how little had been done with the premise in horror. He said the same in our conversation, even though the Monkey's Paw/wish-fulfillment-gone-bad premise seems familiar.

If you know your genre well, you know what’s been done. And you can zag on your audience based on their expectations.

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Find a Creative Partner and Keep Them

Barker and Tomlinson have made everything together. The YouTube channel, Milk & Serial, Obsession , and the upcoming Anything But Ghosts (which Tomlinson co-wrote and stars in, also for Focus Features).

The pair has a rhythm and chemistry that helps their stories come alive. It’s a major reason for Milk & Serial’s success. Tomlinson shines in Obsession as Ian , Bear’s freewheeling friend.

Not to wax poetic, but when you find a creative partner, it feels like the stars align. A good creative partner gives you a sounding board and a co-conspirator. They validate your taste and push you to be better.

This is especially relevant for emerging filmmakers who might think of collaboration as a compromise of vision. Barker and Tomlinson’s example suggests the opposite.

Know What Your Film Is Actually About

We like to harp on theme around here, but we do it because it’s so incredibly important.

“I think that when you’re dealing with a movie that has to do with forcing someone to love you, yeah, it’s inevitable,” he told Dread Central. “The whole movie is kind of about consent—in the sense of controlling someone to love you, the premise itself, right? And really showing Bear is not necessarily a good guy.”

Obsession is a horror movie. It sees a woman cursed into a relationship with a purportedly good guy who has a crush on her, but sees his romantic dream realized in the most horrible way possible. The idea of consent running underneath the plot is what gives the film weight and keeps audiences talking.

A strong premise gets people in the door and butts in seats. A strong theme is what makes the film stick. Know both before you shoot.