Kane Parsons behind the scenes on the Backrooms set and Mary in Backrooms
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The assistant who discovered Kane Parsons got absolutely nothing from Backrooms’ massive success

'One of the many downsides of being an assistant'

Daisy Phillipson
3rd June 2026, 15:19
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As the creator of his Backrooms world, Kane Parsons is responsible for the film’s success, but a new report reveals a Hollywood assistant played a crucial role in getting it made.

Since landing in cinemas on Friday, May 29th, the A24-backed Backrooms movie has made a whopping $126million at the global box office, a rare feat, especially given its reported $10million production budget. 

Even more impressive is that Kane – who started posting his viral Backrooms shorts at the age of 16 – is only 20 years old now, making him the youngest director to top the North American box office.

This, coupled with Obsession’s global success (another breakout horror hit helmed by a young content creator), represents a changing of the guard in Hollywood, proving there’s a thirst for original, indie produced cinema as opposed to major studio-backed IP. 

Under the YouTube mantle Kane Pixels, the Backrooms creator had been building his fandom for years before his feature-length adaptation hit the big screen. 

But according to a new report from entertainment journalist and Puck News founder Matt Belloni, the road from YouTube horror sensation to A24 director may not have happened – or at least not for a long time – if it weren’t for one 27-year-old assistant. 

Despite spotting Kane’s potential almost immediately, Lucas Ford ultimately received no credit or compensation for his role in launching the project.

Lucas was working as an assistant at Shawn Levy’s production company 21 Laps in early 2022, where part of his job involved scouting promising creators online. “My niche was finding new talent, the ‘short of the week,’ stuff like that,” he told Belloni.

In January that year, he discovered a Reddit link to Kane’s original short, ‘Backrooms (found footage)’, which had been posted that month. 

Lucas added, “When I started watching, it blew me away. It was so immersive and interesting, Kane’s vision was there. So I messaged him on YouTube.” 

What makes this even more amazing is that at this stage, the video – which now has more than 82million views – hadn’t been seen by many people. 

But the assistant saw the potential and that year, set up a meeting between the 16-year-old content creator and Levy’s partner, Dan Cohen.

That meeting ultimately set off a chain reaction that would transform Backrooms from a viral YouTube horror sci-fi webseries into a major film production.

After being introduced to industry figures, Kane quickly secured representation and attracted the attention of producers who began developing the project as a feature film. 

Following a lengthy pitching process, the adaptation eventually landed at A24, which greenlit the movie with Kane attached as director.

By then, however, Lucas was no longer involved. He left 21 Laps in early 2023 to launch his own company, Ford Films, and is now searching for the next breakout creator.

As Belloni pointed out, that’s one of the harsh realities of working as an assistant in Hollywood. 

Belloni summed it up, “Hopefully he can re-create that magic result because one of the many downsides of being an assistant is that he got zero credit or compensation for his role in discovering a potentially billion-dollar franchise.”

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Featured images credit: Instagram/A24