‘Backrooms’ Director Kane Parsons: What to Know About the 20-Year-Old Behind A24’s Biggest Hit

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It’s an exciting time to be a horror fan, especially for the younger generation of filmmakers reshaping the genre.

The talk of the town over the past several weeks has surrounded two breakout hits: Obsession and Backrooms. First to arrive was Obsession, released May 15 by 26-year-old filmmaker Curry Barker. Then came Backrooms, which hit theaters Friday and quickly made box office history, earning $97.7 million domestically and becoming A24’s highest-grossing film ever in North America.

What makes the achievement even more notable is that Backrooms director Kane Parsons is just 20 years old. Produced by A24 and Chernin Entertainment alongside Atomic Monster, Blumhouse and 21 Laps, the psychological found-footage horror film follows Mary (Renate Reinsve), who ventures into an alternative dimension after her patient, Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), disappears there. The movie marks Parsons’ feature directorial debut, and he already has horror leaders Jason Blum and James Wan in his corner, with both recently praising the genre for helping “save our industry.”

Read on to learn more about the rising star behind one of the year’s biggest horror sensations.

• What’s Kane Parsons’ Backstory?

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  Born June 18, 2005, in Petaluma, California, Parsons taught himself video production as a child. He later attended Marin School of the Arts at Novato High School, where he studied film. In 2015, Parsons launched his YouTube channel, Kane Pixels, initially posting Minecraft videos and internet memes while continuing to expand his skills with software such as the 3D animation program Blender.

  “I’ve been a very online person most of my life,” Parsons IndieWire. “I started getting into VFX-driven channels that would help me realize it’s accessible and something that I could go do,” he said. “I started with the resources I had, like a laptop, I would pirate VFX software and stuff when I was 11 or so and started learning After Effects.”

  At 13 years old, Parsons was diagnosed with Arthritis and could barely walk at times, which influenced his filmmaking career, as he built 3-D sets to immerse himself in.