Obsession director responds to crew member revealing shockingly low salary despite film making 400 times its budget

Six months ago, Curry Barker was mostly known as the man behind some pretty hilarious YouTube and Instagram sketches, with his more dedicated fans knowing about his £600 found footage horror film Milk & Serial.

Now though, Barker is the director of one of the most successful horror movies ever made, with his debut feature film having made 400 times its budget.

Barker directed Obsession, a film that follows a young man getting a lot more than he bargained for when he wishes for his crushes’ heart.

The film has been a roaring success, closing in on $300 million at the box office with a budget of just $750,000. This has not come without controversy however, with the film’s art director having spoken frankly about how little they were paid for the film compared to its success.

The film’s art director revealed they were paid less than $7,000 for their intense work on the film

Sally Choi worked on Obsession as the art director, but stated that on such small productions this means wearing far more than one hat and it had a serious effect on their health. In a post on Instagram she said that she made $300 a day, which came out to $6741.36 after taxes, with the production not paying for mileage.

She continued, saying: “I did know the rate beforehand and agreed to it, but [at this point] I was living paycheque to paycheque. This is the reality of most filmmakers especially those who work below the line. We become a line in the budget sheet to keep as low as possible.

“There were also crew on Obsession who were volunteers, getting paid in gas and mileage. This wasn’t even paid on time, so to make a $250M grossing film, some of these amazing people had to come out of pocket to work on set.

“I kick myself every single day for not flipping this production. I was encouraged not to and I naively listened.”

She stated that she also worked as a PA, a set dresser, graphic designer, as a background actor, and several other roles. She continued: “It took such a physical toll on my body that I kept losing weight, weighing 90lbs during this production.

“I say all this to finally have my peace. I know this is bigger than Obsession (or Curry and his team, It’s not about that). I know this is even bigger than the film industry. If you feel called to have this discussion w me, please do so. I’m willing to be wrong bc I know I’m probably missing information and my perspective is just a drop in the bucket.”

Curry Barker was not a producer on the film, but has responded to the criticism from Choi

Barker was the director of the film but was not a producer, which means that he had almost no say in paycheques or structure around performance related bonuses.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter however he was asked about Choi’s post, saying: “I have nothing but respect for the art department, and the work they did was extraordinary. Everybody on this film worked so hard and they deserve to be recognized.

“This movie was made for so little money that it’s typical that the only people who [directly] benefit from its financial success are the people who took on some sort of risk.

“But what I hope is that every person that worked really hard on this film will see opportunities to catapult their careers in ways that can be very financially fruitful for them — like what’s happening for me."

With Barker's next project already being fought over by Hollywood studios (before he has even come up with the concept for it) it's fair to say that if he's right and the other people who worked on the film see the same fruits as him, they will hopefully be rewarded in the long run for their part in the summer's biggest surprise hit.

Obsession is available to watch in cinemas now.