Meet the 19-year-old director who just got an A24 deal
Kane Parsons will direct the sci-fi/horror concept The Backrooms for A24, with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve set to star.
Variety described the upcoming film as "based on the world of Parsons' viral YouTube horror universe."
So who is Parsons, you might ask? The young filmmaker describes himself on his YouTube page, Kane Pixels, as a "19 Trillion-Year-Old Director and VFX artist." He can now add A24 director to that biography.
We'll see if Parsons is the next major talent to emerge from the A24 pipeline once his first feature is complete. Early returns seem quite promising with one of the most popular distributors in the world by his side.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Meet the 19-year-old director who just got an A24 deal

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CNBC
3 hours ago
- CNBC
CBS canceling Colbert begs the question: Are more late night shows next?
There are two schools of thought around CBS' decision to end "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert." The first says the cancellation is a one-off exit from the storied time slot — that Paramount was trying to push through the red tape to finally merge with Skydance Media, a deal that was approved by the Federal Communications Commission Thursday after more than a year in limbo. The other says it signals the beginning of the end of late night TV. The entertainment industry will have a better sense of where the truth lies next year when Disney decides the fate of Jimmy Kimmel's late night show, "Jimmy Kimmel Live." While NBC recently extended the contracts of its two late night hosts, Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, into 2028, Kimmel's contract is set to lapse in 2026. "Jimmy Kimmel Live" has been a late night staple since 2003, acting not only as a typical talk show on the circuit, but as a valuable marketing hub for Disney's slate of theatrical and television content. In addition to traditional one-on-one interviews, Kimmel will also frequently host several stars from the same project, often for blockbuster titles from Marvel, Star Wars and the company's animated franchises. Clips from these chats are fed onto Kimmel's YouTube channel, which has more than 20 million subscribers, and across social media, helping to generate buzz for upcoming Disney projects. For comparison, Fallon's show account has around 32 million subscribers, while Colbert's stands at 10 million and Meyers' at just over 5 million. Kimmel is also a frequent host of the Academy Awards, which airs on Disney's ABC, and is currently the host of ABC's celebrity edition of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." These ancillary assignments, as well as his annual job closing out Disney's Upfronts presentation for advertisers, may make Kimmel more important to Disney's long-term future than Colbert was for Paramount or CBS. Still, while the next test of media's commitment to late night is months off, the end of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" is calling attention to the mounting pressures on traditional TV and raising questions about the whether the time slot can survive the evolving viewing landscape. The cost of producing late night programs has risen as the media industry has been upended by streaming and shifting consumer habits. The traditional pay TV bundle has lost millions of customers in recent years, and as they've disappeared, so too have advertising dollars. The shifting equation has forced media companies to rebalance. At a large scale, companies like Comcast's NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery have opted to split off their cable TV networks into separate corporate entities. At the programming level, big shows are increasingly greenlit for release on streaming services rather than traditional networks. Salaries of highly paid news anchors have moderated, with some stepping away from traditional networks entirely and starting out their own ventures. And much of the money spent on bulking up both linear TV networks and streaming services is earmarked for live sports. That leaves familiar titles in flux. "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" employed around 200 people and recorded annual losses of around $40 million, according to a person familiar with the matter, who declined to be named speaking about nonpublic matters. "Jimmy Kimmel Live" employs around 250 people and loses roughly the same amount, according to a person familiar with that show's finances. While the pay-TV bundle still rakes in the highest share of profits for legacy media companies – much of which stems from the fees that pay-TV distributors hand over to the networks to be included in the bundle – that figure is in decline. Linear TV advertising revenue has also been on a steady downward slope. Industry analysts and experts expected the ad market to stabilize in 2025 after tumultuous streaming-centric years, but macroeconomic uncertainty has hampered the recovery. In quarterly earnings that were reported in May, Paramount, NBCUniversal and Disney each reported lower ad sales on a year-over-year basis. Paramount reported in May that its first-quarter TV advertising revenue was down 21% to $2.04 billion, mainly due to comparisons to the prior-year period when the company had the Super Bowl. That championship beckons the most ad dollars of any live event on TV. Without the Super Bowl, ad revenue would have been flat, the company said. Overall revenue for Paramount's TV segment was down 13%. Of the traditional TV ad spend that does remain, the biggest share has gravitated to live sports, which draw the biggest audiences. NBCUniversal recently touted its record ad sales volume during the most recent Upfront cycle due to an upcoming slate of NBA, the Super Bowl, Winter Olympics and other sports. Disney reported in May that quarterly revenue for its domestic linear networks was down 3% to $2.2 billion, attributing the decline to lower ad revenue. Still, Disney noted ad revenue for ESPN and sports in general saw an increase in ad revenue. These headwinds help legitimize Paramount's decision to cancel "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," but the timing of the program's end has raised suspicions. The announcement that Colbert's show would take its final bow in May 2026 came just days after the tenured host publicly called out Paramount for its $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump over the editing of a "60 Minutes" interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris. Colbert called the settlement a "big fat bribe" during one of his show-opening monologues, referencing the then-pending merger between Paramount and Skydance Media, which required the approval of the Trump administration to proceed. Paramount and CBS executives released a statement last week saying the cancellation was "purely a financial decision against the challenging backdrop in late night." "It is not related in any way to the show's performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount," the company continued. While ratings for Colbert's show have declined over the last decade, the program has consistently achieved the highest views of any show in the 11:35 p.m. hour, outdrawing ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and NBC's "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," according to Nielsen. Still, Colbert's ratings have been declining each season. For the most recent September-to-May time period, Colbert averaged roughly 1.9 million viewers, with the majority of viewership coming in the age demographic of over 65, according to Nielsen — a telling data point about the state of TV viewership. Kimmel's viewership paints a similar picture, with viewership dropping from the September-to-May time period in 2019-2020 to the most recent in 2024-2025, when the average was nearly 1.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen. When Paramount listed its slate of highly rated TV shows during its last earnings report, including "Tracker," the top rated series and "Matlock," the highest rated new series, it also listed Colbert's "The Late Show" as the highest rated broadcast late night show. "The Daily Show," also from Paramount, was the top late night show on cable TV. Some industry experts have questioned whether CBS could have explored other ways to save money — or save late night — besides outright canceling "The Late Show." NBC cut costs by eliminating the band on Meyers' late night show and shifting Fallon to four nights a week instead of five. CBS tried to bring a younger demographic into the hour with "After Midnight," a late night show that ran after Colbert. The show was hosted by comedian Taylor Tomlinson and was centered on viral internet phenomena. Though CBS intended to renew the show after its first two seasons, Tomlinson decided not to extend her contract, and the show was canceled.


New York Post
5 hours ago
- New York Post
David Letterman hurls fiery rant at ‘gutless' CBS over Stephen Colbert's ‘Late Show' cancellation
David Letterman delivered a fiery rant against CBS and parent company Paramount for cancelling Stephen Colbert's 'Late Show,' calling the decision 'gutless' and 'pure cowardice' as he labeled his successor a martyr of the network. Letterman, who hosted CBS's late-night talk show for 22 years, passionately defended Colbert during his conversation with former 'Late Show' producers Barbara Gaines and Mary Barclay on Friday — just over a week since the show was axed. 'The fact that they killed the franchise and told Stephen to go,' Letterman said in a video posted to his YouTube channel. 'Now, for Stephen, I love this. He is a martyr. Good for him.' 6 David Letterman speaks out against CBS canceling the 'Late Show with Stephen Colbert' on July 25, 2025. Letterman/YouTube The 78-year-old comedian says Colbert had immortalized himself as the face of the network since he took over the iconic talk show in September 2015. '10 years ago, I quit and left,' Letterman said. 'Then Stephen Colbert comes along, and pretty quickly established himself as a precise, crisp, witty political satirist, and often his target has been the current administration. 'Based on that and just the overall entertainment quota of the show, drew a great audience and people became not addicted to but always looking forward to political satire from Stephen Colbert, he was very good at it. For 10 years, I think became the face of the network.' On July 17, CBS announced that it would cancel Colbert's show in 2026 due to financial reasons. The show was losing between $40 million and $50 million a year, The Post learned. 6 Letterman speaks with his former 'Late Night' staffers Barbara Gaines and Mary Barclay during a conversation posted to YouTube. Letterman/YouTube 6 Stephen Colbert sits at his desk during a shooting of 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' inside the Ed Sullivan Theater on June 25, 2025. Scott Kowalchyk/CBS Letterman didn't believe the financial hardship claims were the reason for the cancellation, instead blaming the company executives who feared Paramount's sale to Skydance wouldn't go through. 'If they were losing this kind of money, you're telling me losing this kind of money happened yesterday. Yeah right,' he said. 'I bet they were losing this kind of money six weeks ago, or they have never been losing money.' The comedian called out the network's news branch, saying CBS News doesn't make money for the company and is still around. 'Take a look at CBS News, it's still in business and I'm not certain that that's a profit center,' he said. 6 The Ed Sullivan Theater in Manhattan where 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is recorded on July 22, 2025. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post 6 Paramount and CBS News signs at the Paramount offices on Broadway in Manhattan, NY on June 13, 2025. Christopher Sadowski 'I think the idea that they're hiding behind money and they're giving him another 10 months. That's a huge chunk of money they're gonna lose,' Letterman said. Colbert's cancellation came as CBS-Paramount Holdings finalized the sale of the network to Skydance Media for $8.4 billion on July 24. 'The f–k is Skydance? Honest to Christ. Is it a discount airline?' Letterman joked. 'I think one day, if not today, the people at CBS who have manipulated and handled this are going to be embarrassed because this is gutless,' he added. 6 Stephen Colbert during his opening monologue for his 'Late Show' on July 21, 2025. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert The purported $8.4 billion sale comes in light of CBS settling a lawsuit with President Donald Trump after the commander in chief accused CBS News' '60 Minutes' of deceptively editing an interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris in the weeks leading up to the 2024 general election. Letterman called the settlement 'pure cowardice' as the lawsuit targeted the network's 'pinnacle of journalistic integrity.' Colbert, 61, has also called himself a 'martyr' as he blamed his show's demise on Trump, telling the commander in chief to 'go f–k yourself' in his opening monologue on July 21. Letterman wished the cancellation had happened on his watch as he now has to kiss 'Colbert's ring.' The comedian had already commented on the shock ending to the long-time show. 'You can't spell CBS without BS,' Letterman captioned a YouTube video of his old jokes against the Turner network.

Business Insider
5 hours ago
- Business Insider
I've become notorious as a 'vertical villain' in Chinese-style mini-dramas. Being evil is fun, but draining.
This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with 32-year-old Sarah Moliski, based in Los Angeles. It has been edited for length and clarity. As an actor on the digital circuit, I usually get cast as the villain. In YouTube giant Dhar Mann 's videos, I was always the mean girl — the evil babysitter, the mean cheerleader, the lesson to be had. I think it's due to having blonde hair and a strong personality. Today, I've made a name as a villain in the vertical mini-drama space, an explosively popular format born in China. At this point, it really does come naturally to me. At ReelShort, I've won awards and have dedicated fan pages, and I'm proud of that. In a lot of verticals, the female lead is sweet and innocent, almost like a Disney princess. But if the villain's not there, there's no story. We bring the spice, the stunts, and the drama. Some of the stories are crazy. In " Hillbilly Girlie Marries a Billionaire," I take a man's sperm and get myself pregnant with it to prove we had sex. Then, it turns out it was the maid's husband's sperm. In " His One and Only Love," I hire a drunk doctor to give someone an abortion. There's a lot of food stuff where I'll throw food at people. Being a villain is fun because there are a lot of different layers to them. They're not just mean-spirited — there's always a reason. I like adding precursor stories about what hurt me, like having an unrequited crush on my enemies, or that my parents didn't love me. The mannerisms and physical comedy are like the fun little frosting on top. @reelshortapp The moment you've been waiting for... 🥁🔥 👑 The crown for Best Villain goes to @sarahmoshow😈 🖤 We loved every second of her wickedness🫦 ✨What was your favorite savage moment? Drop it below ⬇️ #reelshort #bestvillan #reelshortawards ♬ original sound - ReelShort - ReelShort But there are so many times when I feel bad — especially if it's with a greener actor or someone I'm not already friends with — because I'm an emotional person and it's hard for me to be mean to people. I've also gotten hate online for years, especially when I was on YouTube, but nowadays, most people understand that these are soap operas, and I've gotten better about not paying attention to it. Sometimes, I also feel like I have to overcompensate and be everyone's best friend on set. Sometimes I feel drained because there's already so much prep and memorization — we do 17 to 18 pages a day — and then you also want to be really cool and likeable. That can be exhausting — trying to prove that you aren't a villain. When I get home, I need to rot on the couch. I have absolutely no energy to socialize. Pushing for more powerful lead roles for women Being an aspiring actor in New York, you have to have a subway rat mentality. You have to make money to eat. It's a kind of grit and determination unique to the city. I've had other jobs in addition to acting, including as a red carpet host, standup comic, and personal assistant to celebrities. When I let go of achieving superstardom and comparative thinking and embraced the goal of simply making enough money to exist — and having fun while doing it — that's when I fell into verticals, and it changed everything for me. I shot my first vertical two years ago after submitting a self-tape online and booking the role of an 18-year-old bully in " Ms. Swan, Teach Me Love." I wasn't familiar with mini-dramas at the time, but after seeing new casting opportunities continue to be posted and others achieving success, I decided I wanted to try to become a staple in the space. Every actor's biggest dream is consistency. Even today, I'm astonished by the view counts. Even the ones that aren't doing as well are still getting 20 million views. And the fans are so invested. Today, myself and others are pushing for stronger female lead roles. I just wrapped my first lead, the best vertical script I've ever read. It's about a twin avenging her sister's murder. I'd describe the character as a mix of Angelina Jolie in "Tomb Raider" and Rosamund Pike in "Gone Girl." She's really fun and complex. In the future, I would love to help the vertical industry continue to grow. In addition to acting, I work in casting for ReelShort and also created a podcast. I like witnessing how this space is changing so many people's lives.