The journey between student project and Hollywood blockbuster is rarely this short.
Just four years after developing the idea that would become 2026’s surprise smash-hit “Backrooms” while attending Marin School of the Arts, Kane Parsons returned to his alma mater on Monday, June 8, as the director of A24’s highest-grossing film to date.
Organized by Parsons’ former film teacher, Philip Chidel, the private event at Novato High School, where MSA is located, drew more than 400 current students, alumni, teachers and community members. For 17-year-old George Pringle, a junior studying under Chidel, Parsons’ success offered a tangible example of where the program can lead…