Why the ‘Anomaly’ and ‘Surprise’ of ‘Obsession’ and ‘Backrooms’ Shouldn’t Guide Where the Industry Looks Next

This year’s back-to-back phenomenon of “Obsession” and “Backrooms,” two low-budget horrors that have now earned in excess of $900 million globally, sparked a predictable frenzy in the industry as producers and studios began looking for the next YouTube genre stars ready to make the leap to feature film.

But for a group of sales execs and financiers speaking at the San Sebastian Film Festival‘s Creative Investors’ Conference, while it was — of course — something to be celebrated, the success of the two films, described as an “anomaly,” shouldn’t automatically guide where the industry moves to find the next hit.

Raj Singh of Media Capital Technologies described “Obsession” and “Backrooms” as individual “black swan events,” in that they were scenarios that were highly unlikely to happen. “And this was two black swan events happening at the same time, two movies in the same genre, more or less,” he said, adding that it shouldn’t overshadow the “sensibility” in the way the industry considers what projects work and don’t work.

“Nobody saw those two movies coming,” said Sarah Schweitzman of CAA Media Finance. “So next year, when we have something that’s completely different that’s a phenomenal success that nobody saw coming, people will immediately want to go to that place and say, ‘Oh, this is where the film business is moving.’ But it’s about the surprise of it.”

Schweitzman noted that it was simply about finding “fresh ways of telling story so that more people can engage” and warned that “sometimes we get a little bit focused on the tropes that we think work in Hollywood, which is detrimental for local business.”

And finding that fresh way to tell stories doesn’t necessarily mean going down the tried-and-tested horror route. “I just don’t think you can disqualify any genre,” said Black Bear International’s Laura Austin-Little. “I think that there are genres that are incredible true stories that resonate universally, and as long as you are getting the right director and cost in line with the budget, then it can perform.”

Studiocanal and Focus Features’ expected Oscar contender “Elsinore” was highlighted as a potential success story from a genre the industry has tended to malign.

“I think we all get really down about dramas, because they can be difficult,” said Schweitzman. “But look at a movie like ‘Elsinore’. It’s something that people have really responded to. So it’s really about having a great script and great vision from the filmmaker. I think it would be really sad if all of us just wrote off a certain genre because it’s difficult.”