Curry Barker

Curry Barker (born September 22, 1999) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, and YouTuber. He is known for the sketch comedy YouTube channel "that's a bad idea", which he co-created with Cooper Tomlinson. He directed and wrote the horror films Milk & Serial and Obsession (2025), the latter of which grossed over $505 million worldwide, making it one of the highest grossing independent films of all time.

Early life Barker was born on September 22, 1999, and grew up in Mobile, Alabama. His mother is a graphic designer, and his father was a psychiatric nurse practitioner who later became a professional screenwriter. He has two brothers named Riley and Jeffrey, both of whom have collaborated on his films.

Career Aspiring to be an actor, Barker left home at 18 to study at the New York Film Academy (NYFA) campus in Los Angeles. During his first week, he met fellow student Cooper Tomlinson, and they soon began making videos together on YouTube, which they described as "our film school outside of film school", forming the sketch comedy duo "that's a bad idea". Barker and Tomlinson soon dropped out, moved in together, and began publishing comedy sketches and short films on YouTube and TikTok, while Barker worked at Starbucks.

In 2023, Barker wrote and directed the horror short film The Chair and uploaded it to YouTube, where it was watched more than 10 million times.

Barker directed the $800 found footage horror film Milk & Serial (2024). After spending a year trying to get distribution, Barker ultimately decided to release the full film on YouTube. The film went viral, The film is set to be released by Focus Features.

On a $750,000 budget, Obsession became a sensation, grossing over $500 million worldwide. TheWrap compared Barker and Kane Parsons—whose Backrooms (2026) was simultaneously very successful—to David F. Sandberg. All three began by creating YouTube videos before directing Hollywood feature films.

In April 2026, it was announced that Barker would be writing and directing a reboot of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre with A24.

In June 2026, it was announced that Barker would be writing, directing, and producing an original horror film for Universal Pictures. Blum, James Wan, Lee, Schneider, Adam Hendricks and Greg Gilreath will produce through their Blumhouse-Atomic Monster, Spooky Pictures and Divide/Conquer banners, respectively.

In August 2026, Barker appeared in the music video for Weezer's song "C.E.O."

Filmography Feature film Year Title Director Writer Producer Editor Actor Notes Ref. 2024 Milk & Serial Feature directorial debut 2025 Obsession Theatrical debut, cameo as "Man on the phone" Post-production, co-starring with Cooper Tomlinson Meanwhile Outside the Bank Striking Gold

Web series Year Title Role Notes Ref. 2017–present That's a Bad Idea Various, himself Sketch comedy YouTube channel