How ‘Backrooms’ producer Peter Chernin thinks Hollywood needs to change

Over the past week, one conversation has dominated Hollywood executive lunches and studio staff meetings: What's the next "Backrooms"? The industry is scrambling to figure out how to replicate the phenomenon of "Obsession" and "Backrooms," low-budget psychological horror films directed by YouTube creators that have dominated the box office over the past two weeks. But "Backrooms" producer Peter Chernin, whose production company cofinanced the film, said he thinks the rush to sign deals with YouTube creators is a "big mistake." "It's no different than making sequels. It's jumping on an existing bandwagon," Chernin said in an interview. " I guarantee you 80% will be failures. It involves no originality, it involves no innovation. Your job is to innovate, and your job is to look for fresh IP [intellectual property] and fresh voices. It's not to just jump on a bandwagon." Chernin has a unique background spanning traditional Hollywood as well as the YouTube creator space. He ran Fox's movie and TV divisions from 1996 to 2009, overseeing box office juggernauts including "Titanic" and "Avatar." Chernin went on to found a private equity firm, The Chernin Group, in 2010, which backed a number of companies in the creator economy space, including Fullscreen and Tumblr. In 2022 he cofounded North Road, a global content studio. Its Chernin Entertainment division coproduced and cofinanced "Backrooms" with independent film studio A24. …