Backrooms and Obsession changed the rules of filmmaking – now the tools are finally catching up
(Image credit: A24 / Focus Features ) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter For years, the dream of making a big movie has come with a pretty…
(Image credit: A24 / Focus Features ) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter For years, the dream of making a big movie has come with a pretty intimidating checklist: money, connections, studio backing, expensive cameras, huge crews… then along came Backrooms and Obsession, films that started smaller and proved audiences will be eager to see new ideas, new aesthetics, and different voices. These are ambitious, strange films built outside the traditional system, using Blender and other low-cost tools, and that might be exactly why they connect. Backrooms has made $367 million globally on a $10 budget, so it definitely connected.For Eliot Mack, CEO and co-founder of Lightcraft Technology, these films are a sign of where things are heading. “The key movies in every generation are the ones that rewrite the rules,” he says. “What you are seeing now is the speed at which new talent gets a shot at rewriting the rules.”It’s a pretty big claim, but Mack believes the next shift in filmmaking won’t just be about making things cheaper; it’ll be about making the entire process more open. Instead of spending years trying to convince people that an idea could work, creators will be able to build, test and show those ideas much earlier.That’s where Lightcraft Spark comes in: the AI-assisted filmmaking platform, with new features set for a reveal at SIGGRAPH 2026 next week, is designed to bring the screenplay, creative decisions, and production planning into one shared 3D space, giving filmmakers a way to explore their worlds before cameras roll, making the process easier and more affordable. Moreover, its script-first focus means writers and creatives new to filmmaking can explore how their ideas work in 3D, which is ideal for pitching.Below, Mack talks about why Backrooms could be a glimpse of a new kind of Hollywood, how Spark could change the relationship between creators and studios, and why the future of filmmaking might belong to the people who can show their ideas rather than just pitch them.CB: With films like Backrooms and Obsession proving that micro-budget ideas can punch far above their weight, are we witnessing a genuine shift in the kinds of films people want to see?Eliot Mack: The key movies in every generation are the ones that rewrite the rules. What you are seeing now is the speed at which new talent gets a shot at rewriting the rules. Twenty years old is very quick for a big break, and you are going to see more of this, not less, as the tools become more powerful. Horror is the established on-ramp, but what audiences are really looking for in entertainment is to be transported. The usual tricks of the trade are story and spectacle, and spectacle is easier to scale.This led Hollywood to pursue projects that were safe from an accounting perspective; the deep work required for story breakthroughs was too scary. But what people actually want hasn’t changed much since the Greeks. I think people have always wanted to see stories that have heart. Emerging toolsets are going to make it much easier to make these types of movies. The layers and budget needs are about to shrink so much that the classic barriers are just going to go away. And this is going to allow a new creative class to finally make the stories they want to make, not what a financial class wants to finance.Source: Creative Bloq AI — Published — Category: Image AI