Mark Duplass is shutting down claims that Kane Parsons was secretly being ghost-directed on Backrooms. The actor recently pushed back against online speculation, insisting the 20-year-old filmmaker was fully in charge of the upcoming A24 horror movie.

The discussion emerged after social media users questioned whether Parsons, who first gained attention for creating the viral Backrooms YouTube series as a teenager, was truly directing the feature himself, especially with heavyweight producers like James Wan, Shawn Levy, and Osgood Perkins attached to the project.

But according to Duplass, there was zero confusion on set about who was actually running the show.

Mark Duplass publicly shut down claims that Kane Parsons was not really directing Backrooms, responding to an X user who claimed that Kane Parsons did not direct Backrooms. insinuating that the young filmmaker had been secretly ghost-directed behind the scenes despite being credited as the movie’s director.

“Hmmm, with all due respect, I don’t remember seeing you on set...When I was there, Kane was 100% in control. More so than many directors, 3x his age.”Duplass wrote on X Tuesday.

  The actor also revealed that he had originally expected to mentor Parsons during production, given his experience working with younger filmmakers. But according to Duplass, the Backrooms creator quickly proved he hardly needed guidance.  

“I suspect one of the reasons I was hired was because I mentor a lot of young filmmakers and I was prepared to help out,” Duplass wrote, before adding that Parsons “didn’t need any of us.”

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Duplass went on to describe Parsons as intensely prepared, praising the filmmaker for spending years building Backrooms mythology while remaining “sensitive, calm, and smart” in how he worked with actors. The defense also highlights why Parsons’ involvement matters so much, especially for a filmmaker who became A24’s youngest feature director after building a horror phenomenon online.

Kane Parsons’ role on Backrooms has been central to the project from the beginning. After launching the unsettling found-footage horror series on YouTube in early 2022, the filmmaker developed an expansive mythology around the eerie liminal-space concept that quickly evolved into one of internet horror’s biggest phenomena.

Speaking at CCXP Mexico, Parsons recently revealed that the production built nearly 30,000 square feet of practical backrooms sets, even carrying out around 50 wallpaper tests to perfect the movie’s unsettling yellow aesthetic. He also explained that the film explores loneliness through its characters, describing it as a story often centered on isolated individuals.

The conversation around Parsons also reflects a broader debate about creators transitioning from YouTube to mainstream filmmaking, a stigma that content creator Markiplier recently discussed after independently releasing and distributing his horror film Iron Lung, which made more than a $50 Million on a mere $3 million budget.

With Backrooms set to hit theaters Friday, Parsons now finds himself carrying one of A24’s most unusual horror bets — adapting a viral internet phenomenon into a full-scale feature film at just 20 years old. But if there were lingering doubts about who was steering the ship, Duplass has made his position clear: from his experience on set, Backrooms very much belonged to Kane Parsons and still does.

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Do you think Kane Parsons can successfully bring Backrooms from YouTube horror to the big screen? Let us know in the comments.