Episode
439 - Daril Fannin - The Wild Story Behind A24's Acquisition of Undertone and the New Rules of Independent Film in 2026
- Podcast
- The MAKE IT Podcast
- Published
- Jun 26, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 6514
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://www.themakeitpodcast.com
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Summary
This episode is brought to you by Anthropic. Claude is the AI for minds that don’t stop at good enough—it'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/makeit This episode is brought to you by our e-book Mastering Film Marketing. Get your copy today at https://themakeitpodcast.com/products/mastering-film-marketing Hello, 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'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 "make it" in Hollywood. We also talk about: The debate around Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic and how much critical scores actually influence moviegoers' choices, including an audience poll revealing that 56% of viewers say critics don't influence their decisions at all The viral social media post by an art director on the film Obsession, who expressed frustration about her low pay despite the film's massive financial success, and what that reveals about systemic economic inequity in the independent film industry The rise of Neuralink and the broader philosophical conversation about A…