KPop Demon Hunters Went Viral On TikTok—Screenwriter Says Fans Drove The Film’s Success

Описание: How does one build an enduring fandom? That was the question at the center of Variety and Adobe’s Storytelling for Fans — The Future of Audience Engagement panel at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.

Moderated by Variety’s Angelique Jackson at the Adobe House, panelists included Stacy Martinet, VP of marketing strategy & communications at Adobe; Jason Cassidy, vice chairman atFocus Features; Dawn Yang, global head of entertainment partnerships at TikTok; Mason Gooding, whose latest acting role is in Sundance premiere “I Want Your Sex”; and Hannah McMechan, screenwriter of “KPop Demon Hunters.

McMechan found an enduring fandom with the explosive success of “KPop Demon Hunters,” whose passionate fanbase mirrors the hyper-engaged ecosystems of both KPop stans and anime devotees. Online, the “Demon Hunters” fandom thrives via TikTok edits, fancam-style character clips, lore breakdown threads and fan art that treats the animated characters like real music groups. The film received an Oscar nomination for best animated feature and best original song.

“We believed that the fans would just eat this alive if we did it justice,” McMechan said about tapping into the KPop fanbase. “All of us were KPop fans so the whole time we were like, if this finds the KPop fans, it will blow up. But if it’s buried and it’s not marketed, then maybe no one will see it.”

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