439 - Daril Fannin - The Wild Story Behind A24's Acquisition of Undertone and the New Rules of Independent Film in 2026

This episode is brought to you by Anthropic. Claude is the AI for minds that don’t stop at good enough—it&#39;s the collaborator that actually understands your entire workflow and thinks WITH you, not for you. Ready to tackle bigger problems? Sign up for Claude Pro when you use our link – www.claude.ai/makeitThis episode is brought to you by our e-book Mastering Film Marketing. Get your copy today at https://themakeitpodcast.com/products/mastering-film-marketingHello, Hello! In this episode, we welcome back Daril Fannin, founder and CEO of Kino Studios, to celebrate the major milestone of his horror film Undertone being acquired by A24 and its theatrical run, which generated over $9 million in opening weekend box office on a $500,000 budget. Daril shares the journey of bringing Undertone from the Fantasia International Film Festival to Sundance and ultimately to wide release, while discussing A24&#39;s unique and authentic marketing approach that helped the film connect with audiences in a meaningful way. The conversation also dives deep into the independent film ecosystem, the economics of filmmaking, the role of social media and AI tools in modern content creation, and what it truly means to &#34;make it&#34; in Hollywood.We also talk about:The debate around Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic and how much critical scores actually influence moviegoers&#39; choices, including an audience poll revealing that 56% of viewers say critics don&#39;t influence their decisions at allThe viral social media post by an art director on the film Obsession, who expressed frustration about her low pay despite the film&#39;s massive financial success, and what that reveals about systemic economic inequity in the independent film industryThe rise of Neuralink and the broader philosophical conversation about AI integration into human life, including comparisons to Brave New World, social media data harvesting, and the future of human creativity and autonomyWhy horror is the new comedy in 2026, and how films like Undertone, Obsession, Iron Lung, and Backrooms are proving that audience-first, word-of-mouth driven indie horror is the most viable path for independent filmmakers todayThe power of resilience in the creative journey, with Daril sharing personal reflections on bouncing back from failure, surrounding yourself with the right people, and the importance of not sharing your biggest ambitions with those who can&#39;t understand the artist&#39;s pathPeople, Places, Products, and Websites Mentioned:Platforms, Tools &amp; ServicesClaude / Claude Pro (Anthropic)Cowork (Claude&#39;s agentic desktop app)Rotten TomatoesMetacriticIMDbLetterboxdNeuralinkGeminiCollection Account Management Agreement (CAMA) FilmChain Films Undertone (Kino Studios / A24) Obsession (Curry Barker) Iron Lung Backrooms (Kane Parsons / A24) The Matrix Raiders of the Lost Ark Gladiator Dumb and Dumber <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w