Variety’s inaugural Hollywood & Horror event brought together notable producers, executives and creators Wednesday at the Trophy Room in Los Angeles to discuss the genre’s influence on storytelling. The event began with a keynote speech from Blumhouse CEO Jason Blum, who spoke at length about his career in celebration of Blumhouse’s 15th anniversary.
Other panel discussions included a discussion with Samuel Zimmerman, Shudder’s VP of Programming, a conversation with Nick Novisky, founder of the Easter Seals Disability Film Challenge, and a roundtable with leading industry experts in the world of musical horror.
Featured Keynote Speaker: Jason Blum
Blum began his career as a cable TV salesman and real estate agent, and in the early days of Blumhouse he introduced himself as a film producer. “There’s a clear line between the aspirations I had for myself and our business model. It’s not about paying me, but if the movie does well, I want them to pay me and everyone involved with the movie, and if it doesn’t, we move on to the next one,” Blum revealed in a retrospective conversation with Variety’s senior entertainment and media writer Matt Donnelly to mark the company’s 15th anniversary.
As Blumhouse prepares to release Blackphone 2 in theaters, Blum reflected on his love for the genre and working with major production companies to distribute it to a wide audience.
“You can trick the Hollywood machine into releasing insane, subversive, crazy movies. That’s why I’ve always been interested in making studio movies with horror, because horror is the only genre where you can only do the craziest things. And they’re not released independently, and yet studios are releasing horror,” Blum said. “There are a lot of reasons why I really love horror, but what I love the most is the way it takes independent films and makes subversive, crazy films that are released by mainstream release companies.”
Behind the scenes of horror
While working as an intern and editor at Fangoria, Samuel Zimmerman gradually found his way to AMC Networks as it began plotting the blueprint for a new horror on-demand service called Shudder. Ten years later, Shudder has grown into a prominent showcase for emerging genre filmmakers from around the world, with a selection of thrillers, physical and psychological horror, and more.
“Some of the movies that we’ve released and produced may not be considered successful or commercially widespread by conventional wisdom or conventional wisdom, but we love it and we think other people will too,” Zimmerman said in a conversation with Variety’s executive digital editor William Earle. “We’ve seen that reflected, especially in international films.[Shudder]released films like ‘Terrified’ and ‘La Llorona,’ which had a real impact, whether they were incredibly harmful and abnormal or socially and politically conscious. It’s about trusting our own instincts, trusting the instincts of the audience, and seeing where it takes us.”
Zimmerman spoke about the platforming director, who has gone on to find success on the big screen across a variety of media, along with some of Shudder’s past collaborators. “We’re honored to be on stage with filmmakers working on their debut or second feature, and we get to see them welcoming the world and making amazing, amazing work. We made ‘Revenge’ with Coralie Fargeet, she made ‘The Substance’ and we’re lucky enough to work with Issa Lopez on ‘Tigers’. We were able to work on ‘Don’t Be Afraid’ and then she appeared on ‘True Detective.’ We’re in a position where we can not only make a statement like this with the filmmakers and introduce them to the world, but we can be your favorite band, and that sets a trend[for us].”
Revolutionizing horror storytelling
In a recent collaboration with Blumhouse, Mehta entered the world of “M3GAN” and “The Black Phone” through virtual reality. “They are completely different in nature,” said Rick Ray, head of Meta Content Entertainment. “They offer different kinds of opportunities. With ‘M3GAN,’ you, as a viewer, can experience what it’s like to have M3GAN vision. It’s not just a situation of feedback effects. We’re actually scanning the room environment in real time, highlighting objects, and leveraging the sensors and cameras onboard the device to make it feel personal.”
“We’re a technology company. We’re committed to developing technology that allows creators and creatives to actually create these kinds of experiences at scale. We’re excited to see different variations because it just opens up the door in terms of what the creative power actually is. It’s about empowering the creators, developing a toolset, and making sure we get that to the studios, the developers, the creators, the filmmakers, to make sure they can unleash their creative power.” ”
Easter Seals Disability Film Challenge: Spotlight on Suspense
Nic Novicki, founder of the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge, originally created the contest with friends as a one-time event. “Approximately one in four people identify themselves as having a disability,” Nowicki revealed. “Ninety-five percent of those roles are actually played by people without disabilities. I came up with the idea as a challenge to disability films, and soon casting directors and film festivals approached me. In 2017, I partnered with Easter Seals, the largest disability services organization in the country, and to date 850 films have been produced.”
The 2025 theme for this year’s challenge is Thriller and Suspense, and Nowicki praised the entries for exploring different paths into the horror genre and showcasing people with different disabilities throughout filmmaking.
“Thriller and suspense, they’re cousins. When you hear the word disability, it intersects because there could be someone with a disability. Disability is part of every religion and sexual orientation. Horror intersects, too,” Nowicki said. “There were 123 films[this year]and many of them are going to be screened in the horror section[of the festival]. Every year there’s a set genre and challenge, and everyone has their own interpretation of what that film is. It’s so fun to see that there are 123 different versions of what a thriller and suspense is. I think that’s really what horror films are, too,[because]there’s not just one type of horror film.”
Featured Speaker: Masters of Horror Music
In a conversation led by Variety’s chief music critic Chris Willman, five creators working in the music industry talked about their work on various horror projects released in 2025. Alien: Earth composer Jeff Russo reveals the challenges of scoring a series based on one of the most beloved horror franchises and how it influenced the creation of the soundtrack. ”
“One of the things that me and[Noah Hawley]talked about was that we needed to figure out what the underlying material felt right to the audience,” Russo said. “I wanted to pay homage to Jerry Goldsmith’s score[for Alien]and use the same kind of harmonic structure and the same feel that he brought out.”
Chanda Dancy, who composed this year’s “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” spoke to the audience about her past experiences as a composer for various films that helped inspire her musical compositions. “When I started, I loved those million Lifetime movies where you stab people and cut people. Whenever I think of ’90s-style horror, I think of huge orchestras with lots of brass. It’s very bombastic and has a lot of melodic motifs.”
“The music supervisor’s vision lends itself to our show and the director’s vision, and where that trust applies can be different in very different types of working relationships,” said Amanda Krieg Thomas, who served as music supervisor on “American Horror Story” and “Monster: The Ed Gein Story.” “I think the trust between the creatives and what we do is what makes the collaboration so powerful.”
