Kane Parsons went from posting creepy YouTube videos as a teenager to directing the biggest opening in A24 history.
Known online as Kane Pixels with a YouTube following of more than 3 million, Parsons turned his viral Backrooms series into a theatrical horror smash, with Backrooms opening to a reported $81.5 million domestically and $118 million worldwide.
At only 20 years old, Parsons is now being credited as the youngest director ever to top the global box office. Here’s who he is, how he got here, and why he’s become the face of the YouTube-to-Hollywood pipeline.
Who Is Kane Parsons?
Kane Parsons is a 20-year-old American filmmaker from Northern California.
Online, he is better known as Kane Pixels, the name he used while building a following through visual effects, found-footage horror, and internet-driven storytelling.
Parsons was born in 2005, the same year YouTube launched. That detail almost feels too perfect. He belongs to the first generation that grew up with YouTube as part of daily life, and he used the platform as his film school.
Before Hollywood came calling, he was already writing, editing, animating, and building horror worlds on his own.
How Kane Parsons Started Making Movies
Parsons started making videos at a young age, reportedly uploading to YouTube around age 10 and entering his work in local festivals.
His interest in visual effects also came from a personal place. In interviews, Parsons has talked about dealing with arthritis as a young teen, which sometimes made physical production difficult. So he leaned harder into software, animation, and VFX tools.
That became the skill set that defined his work.
Instead of waiting for a studio, a crew, or a traditional Hollywood path, Parsons taught himself how to build impossible spaces on a computer. That DIY approach became the foundation for Backrooms.
The YouTube Short That Made Him Famous
Parsonsâ breakthrough came on January 7, 2022, when he uploaded The Backrooms (Found Footage) to YouTube.
He was 16.
The nine-minute short follows a young filmmaker who falls into a strange, endless space filled with yellow walls, buzzing lights, and empty rooms that feel wrong. It played like recovered VHS footage from a place no one was supposed to find.
The video exploded online and helped push the Backrooms concept even deeper into internet horror culture.
The original Backrooms idea started as a creepypasta tied to a 2019 4chan post. Parsons didnât create the concept, but his version became one of the most famous takes on it.
What Is Backrooms About?
Backrooms is based on the viral horror idea of slipping out of reality and into endless, empty spaces that seem to go on forever.
The concept is tied to âliminal spaces,â the eerie feeling you get from empty offices, hallways, stores, schools, or rooms that should be normal but feel unsettling when no one is there.
Parsonsâ version also leans into the idea of âno-clipping,â a video game term for accidentally passing through a wall or floor and ending up somewhere you were never meant to be.
The A24 movie expands that idea into a full sci-fi horror story, with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve leading the cast. Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, Lukita Maxwell, and Avan Jogia are also listed among the cast.
From YouTube To A24
The Backrooms series became big enough that Hollywood noticed while Parsons was still a teenager.
A24 eventually came aboard for the feature film, with Parsons directing. That alone made him one of the youngest filmmakers ever to lead a major theatrical release.
The movie also didnât throw out what made the YouTube series work. Parsons has said the film keeps continuity with his online version instead of treating it like a total reboot.
That matters because the audience didnât show up for a random horror brand. They showed up for the version Parsons built online.
Kane Parsons Makes Box Office History
The gamble paid off fast.
Backrooms opened with a reported $81.5 million domestically and $118 million worldwide, giving A24 its biggest opening ever.
At 20, Parsons also became the youngest filmmaker ever credited with topping the global box office, breaking a mark previously associated with Josh Trank, who was 27 when Chronicle opened at No. 1 in 2012.
For the full box office breakdown, see our article on Backrooms making Kane Parsons the youngest director ever to top the box office.
Part Of The YouTube-To-Horror Wave
Parsons is not an isolated case. Heâs the biggest example yet of a real shift happening in horror.
YouTube and online creators are becoming a new pipeline for theatrical movies. Curry Barkerâs Obsession has been having a massive run of its own, while Markiplierâs Iron Lung also showed the power of creator-driven horror.
The Philippou brothers made the jump from YouTube to theaters with Talk to Me. Now Parsons has taken that jump even further.
Hollywood used to search festivals for the next horror director. Now it has to watch YouTube, TikTok, and online fan communities.
It’s the trend that has Jason Blum talking about a new generation of directors and his goal of building “the Disney of horror.” For a genre built on fresh voices and low budgets, YouTube has become one of Hollywood’s most valuable talent sources.
Whatâs Next For Kane Parsons?
Parsons has already made it clear that he is not done with the Backrooms concept.
The movie is built with room to grow, and Parsons has talked about continuing the world beyond one film. A TV series has also been mentioned as a possibility.
After this opening, it would be a shock if A24 and its partners didnât want more.
The bigger question is whether Parsons sticks with Backrooms for the long haul or uses the success to launch something completely new.
Either way, he now has Hollywoodâs attention.
The YouTube Generation Has Arrived
Kane Parsons is the clearest proof yet that the path to Hollywood has changed.
He didnât come out of the studio system. He didnât need a giant franchise. He built an audience on YouTube as a teenager, turned internet horror into a full movie, and delivered the biggest opening in A24 history before turning 21.
Backrooms may be about people falling into a strange hidden space, but Parsons has done the opposite.
He came out of the internet and landed right in the middle of Hollywood.
