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Sometimes, a film seems to be out of nowhere and captures the zeitgeist immediately. In 2026, one of those movies was “Buddy.”
Casper Kelly’s horror comedy about a ’90s TV show mascot with a dark side captures the nostalgia that made his Adult Swim projects like “Too Many Cooks” viral hits. But what separates “Buddy” from so many other films about fragile lies is the emotional depth that hides beneath the surface. The many facets of Buddy the Unicorn—his humor, his charisma, his sadness, and his remorse for his actions—allowed Roadside Attractions to create a unique marketing campaign that introduced audiences to the character before letting them know he had a murderous streak. The campaign created a false memory that had many of us wondering if “Buddy” was a canceled TV show we had forgotten. He made sure we were invested in the character before we even knew what the movie was about.
At IndieWire’s Future of Filming Summit in Los Angeles, “Buddy” producer Tracy Rosenblum, co-writer Jamie King, and Roadside Attractions head of digital marketing Melissa Yerou joined us for a chat about the years of behind-the-scenes work that lead to overnight success.
The project was originally conceived as a way to inject Kelly’s unique brand into a feature film. King was brought in as a co-writer to help Kelly channel his wild emotions into film form, and he used his recent experience writing Disney films to ground the story with enough heart to reach a wider audience.
“I knew, as a fan of Casper’s work and all of his Adult Swim work, that he would make it really funny. And I knew that my friends at BoulderLight would make it really scary. So I thought if I can help bring in that element of heart, that will check all three boxes, and that’s what makes a great movie,” King said, adding that he and Kelly worked hard to make sure that Buddy came across as a light and three-dimensional character. “It was always very clear that Buddy wasn’t one of those mascot horror movies you’ve seen before, where Buddy is just a vague version of a slasher chain … he’s somebody who could be a good guy, but he’s just gone down the wrong path.”
“I worry you’re a suicidal maniac,” Rosenblum said with a laugh. “He has depth, and he’s ashamed, and he’s not a good person, but I think that’s what makes him special.
The character was developed so much that Yerou and her team were able to proceed with a marketing campaign. They quickly found success by having Buddy interact with classic ’90s brands on social media, as audiences fell in love with the voice that King and Kelly worked so hard to refine.
“We followed Care Bears and Barney and all these authentic properties. We just thought ‘What if Buddy had entered the conversations, how would they react?'” said Yerou. “At first we were responding to every comment. We really wanted to increase the engagement, and at a certain point people were commenting just because they wanted Buddy to respond.”
Watch the full panel in the video above.
IndieWire Future of Filmmaking Summit 2026 is presented by AT&T Untold Stories, an award-winning multi-year collaboration between AT&T and the Tribeca Festival that provides $1.2 million dollars, mentorship, and extensive support to the next generation of filmmakers who want to bring their films to the big screen. For more information, visit here.
