Meet the YouTubers remaking Hollywood, one Gen Z box-office smash at a time

Some of the most promising young filmmakers in the movie business are arriving in Hollywood already experts at entertaining audiences and going viral. The twin sensations of “Obsession” and “Backrooms” — both by 20-something You Tubers-turned-filmmakers — has put a new spotlight on an increasingly well-trod path to the director’s chair. Hollywood executives are scouring platforms like You Tube, Tik Tok and Instagram to find the next Steven Spielberg. There, young aspiring filmmakers are not only working on their craft but building a relationship with audiences that can transfer to the box office. “These filmmakers are in a dialogue with their audience from the word ‘Go’. Their subscribers have direct input in each iteration of these things,” Mike De Luca, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group co-chair, said at a conference last month. “By the time you get to the movie, they’ve had a billion test screenings.” “Obsession” and “Backrooms” aren’t the first of their kind. Issa Rae and Bo Burnham are among those who began on YouTube. But more and more of today’s indie filmmakers began online. Here are some of the digital creators who have already broken through, and some who may soon. Kane Parsons Known online as “Kane Pixels,” the 20-year-old Parsons is the director of the A24 horror hit “Backrooms.” The Petaluma, California, native began publishing videos online at the age of 9. His video series based on the creepypasta Backrooms meme led to his feature film debut, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve. It’s made $250 million worldwide at the box office. A sequel is already in development. Curry Barker The 26-year-old Barker, who grew up in Mobile, Alabama, attended film school in Los Angeles for a year before he began making videos for a YouTube sketch series and eventually the horror short “The Chair” and a found-footage horror film made for $800, “Milk & Serial.” After Tea Shop Productions saw “The Chair,” the company financed Barker’s $