Director Casper Kelly’s horror comedy “Buddy” captured the 2026 zeitgeist through a subversive marketing campaign that convinced audiences the murderous unicorn was a forgotten 1990s television mascot. Producers, writers, and marketing executives behind the project detailed the behind-the-scenes work at IndieWire’s Future of Filmmaking Summit in Los Angeles.
Building a Three-Dimensional Mascot
The film was originally conceived to translate Kelly’s distinct brand of comedy from Adult Swim projects like “Too Many Cooks” into a feature film format. Co-writer Jamie King joined the project to help ground the story with emotional depth, working alongside Kelly to ensure the title character possessed humor, charisma, sadism, and remorse.
“He was always very clear that Buddy was not one of those mascot horror movies you’ve seen before, where Buddy is just a fuzzy version of a slasher villain… He’s someone who could be a good person, but he’s just gone down the wrong road,” King said of Kelly’s vision. Producer Tracy Rosenblum added, “He has depth, and he has shame, and he’s not a good guy, but I think that’s what makes him special.”
Launching a Viral Marketing Campaign
Roadside Attractions head of digital marketing Melissa Yerou utilized the character’s thorough development to mount a unique campaign that created a false memory of a cancelled TV show. Yerou’s team had Buddy interact with classic 1990s brands on social media by inserting the unicorn into conversations with properties like Care Bears and Barney.
“At first we were responding to every single comment. We really wanted to heighten the engagement, and at a certain point people were commenting just because they wanted Buddy to respond,” Yerou said.
