Curry Barker to Receive IndieWire's First Filmmaking Award — SkimNews
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- Curry Barker will receive IndieWire's inaugural Future of Filmmaking Award at the outlet's Future of Filmmaking Summit on October 17, the article announcing the honor states.
- "Obsession" grossed over $500 million worldwide, the highest total in specialty studio Focus Features' history, making it the sixth-highest-grossing horror film of all time and the most profitable original film of the 2020s, per the article.
- "Obsession" premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival and earned a Critic's Pick from IndieWire before Focus Features acquired distribution in what the source describes as a highly competitive sale.
- Barker wrote, directed, and edited "Obsession," and is now reteaming with Focus Features and Blumhouse Atomic Monster on "Anything But Ghosts," which he again directs, edits, and co-wrote with longtime partner Cooper Tomlinson.
- "Anything But Ghosts" co-stars Aaron Paul, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Violet McGraw alongside Barker and Tomlinson, the source states.
- The Future of Filmmaking Summit will be held at Penske Media's Lumen West LA headquarters and will feature a keynote from Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the directors of "Project Hail Mary."
Why it matters: IndieWire is making its inaugural award for a filmmaker who went from a Toronto Film Festival premiere to a $500 million worldwide gross in roughly a year, writing, directing, and editing the picture himself — a concrete data point that auteur-driven specialty horror can clear blockbuster-scale numbers and land major studio reteams.
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