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26 years old. A YouTuber who wrote a horror script at his coffee shop job. He shot it for $750,000. It made $522 million. Then he reportedly turned down $2 million to change the ending. Curry Barker started out making horror shorts for YouTube. His first feature, he put online for free. His second, Obsession, sold at the Toronto film festival for $16.2 million. A24, Neon and Netflix wanted it too. It became the highest-grossing movie ever made for under $1 million. This Halloween, its main character was one of the most-searched costumes in America. Now A24 has him directing a new Texas Chainsaw Massacre. What he says got him there: 1. Make the idea that won't leave you alone. "I have ideas all the time and I write them in my notes. But when you have an idea that you just can't stop thinking about, that's when you should make it." 2. Read the comments. "YouTube taught me through the comments that people are really smart." 3. Keep it small. His budget: "seven hundred and fifty thousand, max." 4. Don't sell the part that makes it yours. He reportedly passed on $2 million to make the villain a hero. In the video below, he explains the idea behind the movie. Listen for what he says you have to earn. Try this: pick the one idea you keep coming back to, and put a rough version in front of people this month. Here's the lesson. You don't need permission anymore. You need proof people want it. Would you have taken the $2 million? I post one money story like this every day.