Horror Impact Report 2025

Richard Brener
President, chief content office
Dave Neustadter
Executive VP, production & head of creative development
New Line Cinema

Thirty-year New Line vet Brener leads New Line while Neustadter oversees the company’s horror hits, including all nine films in “The Conjuring” franchise. The latest, “The Conjuring: Last Rites,” set a record as the biggest opening for a horror film at $194 million worldwide in early September. It beat out 2017’s “It,” which Neustadter also shepherded. Another recent New Line-produced hit, “Weapons,” scored for Warner Bros., as did “Companion.” And “Final Destination: Bloodlines” revived the franchise. Upcoming projects include the anticipated “Mortal Kombat II,” Lee Cronin’s “The Mummy” and “The Revenge of La Llorona.”

Filmmaker
Cregger directed a contender for the year’s best horror film and one of the summer’s most unexpected hits: “Weapons,” grossing over $250 million at the worldwide box office. Cregger slipped onto the horror scene in 2022 with his feature debut “Barbarian,” emerging from comedy — he was one of the lead creators and stars of the sketch series “The Whitest Kids U Know.”

Filmmaker
Coogler’s box office hit “Sinners” was a complex history of the Jim Crow South and the different cultures that combined into a legacy that managed to thrive under societal repression disguised as a banger of a vampire horror pic. It had everything a horror aficionado could want: gore, classic vampire lore, lots of violence and Michael B. Jordan going all Rambo on a bunch of white supremacists.

Filmmaker
Genre films have always dealt in issues that impact marginilized members of society, and DaCosta certainly addresses themes surrounding the Black community and women, and with 2021’s “Candyman,” she jumped into horror. A Black female director is, unfortunately, rare, but DaCosta rode the success of “Candyman” into “The Marvels,” and her own twist on Hedda Gabler with “Hedda.” But fans are really excited about what she’ll bring to zombie thriller “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” part two of “28 Years Later.”

Artistic director & director of international programming, Fantasia Film Festival
Davis is the longest-running genre-festival programmer in North America, racking up respect at Montreal’s massive and influential international Fantasia Film Festival, where he’s been since 1997. The festival slots fiction features, animation, shorts and docs, and also sports juried competition sections and audience awards. Davis is also a director and producer, and has written about genre for several publications and books.

Director, Fantastic Fest
As head of the largest and most influential genre festival in the U.S., Dreyer has a huge impact on horror features, and as the Austin, Texas-based fest celebrates its 20-year anniversary, it has played a huge role in championing independent genre filmmakers. She started at the fest as a volunteer in 2018 and was named director in 2022. Under her watch, such fan faves as “V/H/S/ Beyond“ and “Saw X” bowed, while Dreyer & Co. Continue to champion fresh voices. One new initiative is Fantastic Pitches in partnership with Chroma Pictures in which the winning pitch gets $100,000 to complete their film, a guaranteed world premiere at Fantastic Fest 2026 and global all-rights distribution through Chroma, which is backed by Narrative Distribution.

Journalist
A genre writer who has contributed to publications like Fangoria, BET and Dread Central, Gravity is focused on sharpening a distinctive social media voice showcasing the best of the genre. From interviews to videos to hosting vibrant panels and discussions, Gravity brings an energy that mixes knowledge, professionalism and fan excitement.

Director of programming, Etheria Film Festival
Along with Stacy Pippi Hammon, Honeycutt co-founded the Etheria Film Festival in 2014, and serves as the director of programming. The Kansas City, Mo.-based festival showcases short genre films directed by women. It has been a platform for creatives like Chloe Okuno, Axelle Carolyn and Rose McGowan, and has partnered with Shudder to show selected films.

Writer
King has been writing horror classics for more than 50 years, and his works have been adapted for film, TV and even Broadway almost as long as he’s been writing them. But in 2025, King’s works have been especially popular: on the big screen, there’s “The Monkey” to “The Long Walk” to “The Running Man” and “The Institute” and “It” spinoff “Welcome to Derry” on the small screen. The prolific writer’s works continue to be fertile ground for adaptations.

Archivist, Vinegar Syndrome
Director of operations, OCN Distribution
LaLiberty has been an archivist at Vinegar Syndrome, the distribution company focused on genre, cult and horror films, since 2019. He’s also the director of operations at OCN Distribution, a sister company that handles manufacturing and fulfillment. Vinegar Syndrome has given new life to countless nearly-lost giallo, slasher and exploitation classics, including collections like “Bloodstained Italy.”

Producer
A giant in the genre sector, Lee’s prolific output includes such seminal hits as “The Ring,” “The Grudge” and their sequels, “The Woman in Black” and “Barbarian.” Through his Spooky Pictures shingle, Lee also produced 2024 hit “Late Night With the Devil.” In 2025, he saw “Companion” do brisk business, while “Weapons” was summer’s sleeper hit. Stephen King adaptation “The Long Walk” scored at the box office in a September release. Upcoming projects in development include a remake of the 1978 horror-thriller “Magic,” and a long-in-development “Bioshock” feature.

Chief content officer, Tubi
Tubi has grown quickly by recognizing that niche programming doesn’t mean small numbers. The streamer offers a huge selection of genre features and series (free with commercial breaks) that has created a loyal following among genre fans. Tubi has also been producing original horror content since 2022, including “Great White Waters” and “Please Don’t Feed the Children.” In June, Tubi announced that it hit 100 million monthly active users. “You have to hyper-focus on personalization, and making sure that your viewers are watching what’s really relevant to them,” he said in June at a streaming conference.

Editor-in-chief, Dread Central
A filmmaker, author and critic, McAndrews’ Dread Central is a go-to website for horror fans. There, she has sought to expand the content and writing pool to “provide a platform for underrepresented voices not just in film, but in horror journalism” with a spotlight on minority voices in the genre. She also co-hosts the “Scarred for Life” podcast and has run fundraisers with the site’s “Horror Is Political” merchandise to raise money for such organizations as the Trevor Project.

Filmmakers, producers
The director and producer behind the blockbuster “It” franchise look to expand the Stephen King universe even more with “It: Welcome to Derry” for HBO Max. Bill Skarsgård reprises his role as the terrifying clown Pennywise. In 2021, the brother and sister team launched label Double Dream, with “Attack on Titan” in development

Editor-in-chief, Fangoria
Nobile became Fangoria editor-in-chief in 2018 and under his tenure he evolved the magazine into a prestige quarterly publication, featuring bylines from such auteurs as Paul Thomas Anderson, Jordan Peele and Stephen Graham Jones. He’s also pushed the 46-year-old brand into a more vocally progressive position over the years, both editorially and via initiatives like Fango’s annual Pride shirt fundraiser, which has raised tens of thousands of dollars for local LGBTQ+ organizations. He’s the executive producer of the acclaimed documentaries “Horror Noire” and “Queer for Fear.”

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