Academy chief Bill Kramer, Mattel Studios’ Robbie Brenner and Sony Pictures Classics’ Michael Barker stepped into Deadline’s Zurich Summit Studio where they touched on the Obsession and Backrooms box office phenomenon, the discovery of talent from non-traditional platforms and the imminent Paramount-Warner Bros. merger.
“It was a really interesting moment this summer with [directors] Kane [Parsons] and Curry [Barker], because we had announced six months earlier that we were moving the Oscars to YouTube,” said Kramer. “Now that’s about a TV show – we still support theatrical films, theatrical exhibition – but I think what it taught all of us is that young filmmakers, young creatives are coming from a lot of non-traditional places, but they’re very eager to create theatrical films.”
Brenner agreed that the discovery of new talent from non-traditional platforms – both Parsons and Barker started their filmmaking careers on YouTube – was encouraging for the indie and studio sectors alike. “We’re always looking to find these fresh and interesting voices, and I think it’s just so encouraging that they can come out of nowhere really. You can find the next big sensation on YouTube, somebody that has a really strong point of view that is doing things so differently, I’m excited by that.”
She continued: “I think gone are the days where you put the ten directors on the list and say one of them is going to direct the movie. It’s just an exciting time because we’re all looking for things that feel unexpected and different and certainly both [Kane and Curry] did that.”
Barker, however, opined that the indie summer hits were not necessarily a “new phenomenon,” comparing the movement to Dennis Hopper’s 1969 hit Easy Rider which at the time, he says, “spoke to the young people in the moment and caused a great transformation in the motion picture business.”
He continued: “The key with really successful films is they do two things: One is that they speak to the moment in time and those two films spoke to this moment in time, especially to people in their twenties, thirties and forties all over the world. But then also you have to think of films that stand the test of time because those are the films that become the evergreens that we remember. So, we’ll see what happens to those two. You just never know.”
Kramer added that Backrooms and Obsession both spoke “to the importance of fandom.”
“Film fans can come from a lot of places,” he said. “So, to have Kane’s fans that were very attached to his world building travel with him into the theatres tells all of us that film lovers come from a lot of different places but a lot of it comes from fandom and that’s really important to pay attention to.”
Barker also weighed in on the imminent $110BN Paramount-Warner Bros. merger, simply stating that he didn’t really see how will affect “the lower-budget, independent world going forward.”
He continued: “What I am concerned about is the Hollywood development process with the big studios is obviously diminishing and I wonder if that affects film culture overall, without having that development school that the studios provided over the many decades. But that doesn’t just speak to this deal, it speaks to what’s going on in the major studios in general.”
The Academy turns 100 in May of next year while March 2028 will see the 100th Oscars ceremony. When pressed about plans for those upcoming milestones, Kramer was tight-lipped.
“Around both of those anniversaries will be some big moments of celebration and stay tuned for a whole series of announcements coming up,” he said. But will Conan O’Brien, who is set to host the ceremony in 2027 for his third consecutive year, be back for the the centennial ceremony?
Kramer said: “We will see. We will see. We love Conan.”
