“Godmother,” an independently produced and financed horror feature from YouTubers Sean McLoughlin (Jacksepticeye, 31.2 million subscribers) and Alanah Pearce (684,000 subscribers), is set for its film festival premiere, according to TheWrap. McLoughlin personally financed principal photography, while Helmstreet Productions funded post-production.

The film is directed by John Veron, who co-wrote the script with Pearce and began developing the project roughly a decade ago before the latter joined. Pearce also produces through her own company, Charred Pictures, which she launched in March, and McLoughlin serves as executive producer. The cast includes Paige Evans, Cameron Cuffe, Riley Dandy, Dee Wallace and Bruce Davison. 

Drawing on “Rosemary’s Baby” and “The Return of the Living Dead,” the story follows a woman named Theo who travels to a desert vacation rental with her boyfriend and sister and encounters an elderly couple with unsettling designs on her.

Pearce said traditional financiers pushed the production toward a different film than the one she and Veron wrote. “Most of them required us to attach A-list actors in order to mitigate financial risk, one company even specified that we cast J.K. Simmons in Bruce Davison’s role, which would have made it a completely different movie from the one on the page,” she told TheWrap. “We could have pursued those options further, but in doing so, we would not have made ‘Godmother.'”

Creator Cinema’s Box Office Numbers Are Drawing Studio Interest

Both Pearce and McLoughlin said Hollywood outreach has picked up following the commercial success of two other creator-made horror films, Kane Parsons’ “Backrooms” (grossed more than $393 million and became A24’s highest-grossing release) and Curry Barker’s “Obsession” (grossed more than $495 million and now holds the record for highest-grossing film made for under $1 million). Mark Fischbach’s self-financed “Iron Lung,” which made $50 million, is also part of the pattern the pair pointed to.

“There has been a lot more outreach from companies and executives. All eyes are on the creator space now to see if there’s more diamonds to be found,” McLoughlin said, adding that he has fielded a number of project pitches since the two films’ releases. Pearce said she has met with several studios that seem “very eager to onboard content creators,” a shift she attributes partly to the built-in audiences creators bring and to skills, writing, editing, and marketing that traditional media has often overlooked.

Pearce noted “Godmother” was shot in December, before “Iron Lung,” “Obsession” and “Backrooms” were released. “I suspect there’ll be a huge, overwhelming wave of content-creator-led features funded by Hollywood over the next couple of years,” she said. “I’m glad we’re set to come out ahead of that, not only because it’s easier to stand out, but also because I fear quality will drop.”

McLoughlin, who has now produced both “Godmother” and the upcoming “Bloodborne” adaptation, said he is open to directing his own film. “I think directing has always been a goal of mine,” he said. “We’ve had such an amazing year for horror, and it’s very inspiring.”

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