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When the box office grosses started rolling in this summer from Curry Barker’s “Obsession” and Kane Parsons’ “Backrooms,” social media wags predicted what Hollywood would do next: raid every Reddit thread and low-budget
YouTube channel for the next big digital creator turned auteur.
In rapid succession, the major studio players greenlit splashy genre projects based on internet lore and the fables that kept Gen Z awake at night as kids. The leadership at Verve, a talent and literary firm that has given its three-letter rivals a run for their money for almost 20 years, couldn’t help laughing.
“We joke about it sometimes, how novel it became to activate fan bases and appreciate good, artistic horror this year,” says David Boxerbaum, a partner and motion picture lit agent at Verve. “But for us, it’s always been cool. It’s always been an area of specialization and really intense focus for our business.”
They’re dead serious. Co-founders Adam Levine and Bryan Besser, along with agent Michael Bitar (formerly head of development at Sony’s Screen Gems), have quietly stacked a deep roster of spooky superstars — negotiating dozens of deals and media rights sales in 2026 alone. The founders disclose
that transactions around horror for writing, producing, directing and acting clients have helped grow
revenue nearly 20% for a second consecutive year.
Most prominent was the heated auction for the film and TV adaptive licenses to the “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” franchise. Representing the rights holders, Verve fielded offers from 101 Studios, Amazon MGM, Blumhouse, Neon, Netflix, Paramount, Sony and Universal. Indie studio A24 defeated them all, attaching “Obsession” helmer Barker to direct a film and Glen Powell to produce a TV series inspired by the “Chainsaw” serial killer Leatherface.
Clients Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein shot to fame in 2025 for co-directing “Final Destination: Bloodlines” — a revival that cost $50 million for New Line and netted almost $320 million at the worldwide box office. Verve has set up 12 development projects for Lipovsky and Stein across town (including “Gremlins 3” at Warner Bros. and “Metal Gear Solid” at Sony, where the pair now enjoy a first-look deal courtesy of their agents). Canadian illustrator and world-builder Trevor Henderson, a Verve client, was one of the first creatives to benefit from the “Backrooms” boom. That was in July, when Henderson’s macabre digital-first story “Siren Head” sold to Warner Bros. as a feature film to be co-written by “Weapons” mastermind Zach Cregger.
Meanwhile, Verve talent agent Josh Rahm rebooted the career of “Scream” favorite Matthew Lillard, carving a new path for the star via the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” franchise and Amazon’s hit series reboot of “Carrie” from Mike Flanagan. Boxerbaum also helped producer Scott Glassgold establish 12:01 Films, a company dedicated to creator content; 12:01 has been a leader in the booming market for short stories adaptable to film and TV. Glassgold even has a specialty imprint at Simon & Schuster, adding publishing to 12:01’s robust pipeline.
The secret, top Verve brass say, is embracing their adoration for horror (and other genres too; the agency has a similar foothold in the animation space). It’s also having the foresight to know that their multi-hyphenate clients aren’t just genre stars — they’re versatile storytellers who can take on any quadrant they please.
“An ongoing theme for years in the horror business is that these projects are concept driven, not star driven,” says Bitar. “These filmmakers are becoming the stars more so than the faces in front of the camera.” Verve’s agents devote just as much energy to growing with their talent, lest they lose them to the corporate agencies promising crossover abundance. Disloyalty, after all, is an agent’s true horror story.
