Sometimes, a movie appears seemingly out of nowhere and instantly captures the zeitgeist. 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 subversion that made his Adult Swim projects like “Too Many Cooks” into viral hits. But what separates “Buddy” from so many other movies about cuddly villains is the emotional depth lurking below the surface. The many facets of Buddy the Unicorn — his humor, his charisma, his sadism, and his remorse for his actions — allowed Roadside Attractions to mount a unique marketing campaign that introduced audiences to the character before letting them know he had a homicidal streak. The campaign created a false memory that led many of us to wonder if “Buddy” was actually a cancelled TV show we had forgotten about. It ensured that we were invested in the character before we even knew what the film was about.

At IndieWire’s Future of Filmmaking 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 conversation about the years of behind-the-scenes work that goes into an overnight success.

The project was originally conceived as a way to put Kelly’s distinct brand of comedy into a feature film. King was brought in as a co-writer to help Kelly fit his wild sensibilities into a movie format, and used his recent experience writing Disney movies to ground the story with enough heart to reach a wider audience.

“I knew, as a fan of Casper’s and all of his Adult Swim work, that he would make it really funny. And I knew my friends at BoulderLight would make it really scary. So I thought that if I can help bring that heart element, that checks all three boxes, and that’s what makes a great movie,” King said, adding that he and Kelly worked hard to ensure Buddy came across as a three dimensional character who contained both light and darkness. ““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.”

“I resent you calling him a homicidal maniac,” Rosenblum said with a laugh. “He has depth, and he has shame, and he’s not a good guy, but I think that’s what makes him special.”

The character was so thoroughly developed that Yerou and her team could hit the ground running on 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.