Curry Barker: Movies Let Gen Z Hang Out Silently — SkimNews
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Curry Barker received IndieWire’s inaugural Future of Filmmaking Award at its Los Angeles summit on Saturday, October 17, after writing and directing “Obsession,” one of 2026’s biggest box-office hits.
- Curry Barker moved from Alabama to Los Angeles, met Cooper Tomlinson and dropped out of film school with him to make shorts for their That’s a Bad Idea YouTube channel.
- Anything But Ghosts had already wrapped before “Obsession” took the box office by storm, and Barker identified both films as original ideas.
- Curry Barker said “Obsession” demonstrates that audiences crave good stories, rejecting the idea that a failed original proves originals do not work or that studios should automatically return to IP.
- Curry Barker offered a personal theory that Gen Z’s growing theater attendance reflects fatigue with phones at home and the appeal of a collective human experience without an expectation of conversation.
- AT&T and Tribeca Festival’s multi-year Untold Stories collaboration provides $1.2 million in awards, mentorship and comprehensive support through the summit for filmmakers seeking theatrical releases.
Why it matters: Emerging filmmakers gain a concrete creative thesis and tangible support: Barker says story quality, not the original-versus-IP label, is the lesson from “Obsession.” The summit’s AT&T–Tribeca Festival collaboration awards $1.2 million and provides mentorship and comprehensive support to filmmakers seeking theatrical releases.
Ask SkimNews
