The Horror Section flips the script on movie fandom, leveraging Sui to bring fans closer to the action. Instead of just watching horror films, fans now own pieces of them, going from passive viewers to active stakeholders in the genre they love.

Launched in March 2025 and co-founded by Eli Roth, Jon Schnaars, and Media Capital Technologies, The Horror Section partnered with Sui and Republic to raise funds and share profits directly with the fans who’ve invested in it. During its initial round of fundraising, more than 2,500 people invested in the company in increments of as little as $100, with over $5.5 million raised so far. Accredited investors may still invest in the company’s equity using stablecoins.

“When we first started to explore the possibilities of working with Republic and opening up real investment into The Horror Section and not just a single film, it was immediately exciting," said Roth. "The technology has advanced now to the point where we can offer individuals a chance to own a part of a company, creating the types of films and experiences that we know resonate with horror fans."

Roth—who has been making films for more than 20 years, directing horror favorites like Cabin Fever, Hostel, and Thanksgiving—serves as the company’s creative leader. As CEO, Schnaars brings his expertise in building creative companies in the 21st century to handle the operational side of the business. Schnaars is no newbie to the horror scene either. For close to 20 years, he’s co-hosted a weekly podcast about horror films called Bloody Good Horror, and he’s been a horror fan for much longer, “since younger than maybe was appropriate,” he said.

Working together through The Horror Section, Roth and Schnaars will focus on producing original films. However, the team is also actively working to acquire and distribute films made by others, leaning heavily into more niche horror genres.

“We want to make unfiltered, uncensored, uncut horror movies,” said Schnaars, noting that traditional studios often require filmmakers to tone down certain aspects of their work in order to get a Motion Picture Association rating or to make a film more marketable.

For its first releases, The Horror Section isn’t pursuing MPA ratings, which allows it to release work that is beyond the bounds of mainstream cinema. Going the unrated route might limit the number of theaters its movies can be shown. But theatrical releases are still a major priority for the company, according to Schnaars, who said, “Everything we do will be released in theaters.”

Building a studio for the future

Having the freedom to create uncut films wasn’t the only goal for Roth and Schnaars when they dreamed up The Horror Section. The pair also wanted to build a modern company that would allow them to connect with horror’s most passionate fans in new ways, meeting them on the platforms where they are, and doing so at scale. That meant integrating blockchain technology from inception.

“Our vision is to build a new, independent studio focused on super-serving the horror consumer, while making sure that we’re building a studio for the future,” said Schnaars.

To raise funds and get initial film projects going, they decided to invite fans to invest in the company directly. But unlike with a traditional Kickstarter-type crowdfunding effort, The Horror Section partnered with investment platform Republic to give investors partial ownership of the company they’re helping build. Republic fractionalizes a set number of company shares and manages distribution of profits. 

“Crowd-investing for equity meant that fans could own a piece of the company,” said Schnaars. “We were opening up the idea of selling equity, not just to high-net-worth individuals or accredited investors, but truly, any horror fan on the street with a couple hundred dollars can come in and own a piece of what we’re doing.”

Investors at different price levels were offered potential perks and bonuses, including investor-exclusive film screenings, having their names included in film credits, or the chance to appear as an extra in a film. The Horror Section hopes these same people will also become champions of the studio’s films since they’re now financially invested in the success of the company.

For the facilitation layer, The Horror Section chose Sui as its blockchain partner. “The thing we liked about Sui is their focus around real-world applications,” said Schnaars. “Sui is trying to build technology to power the next version of what the internet and connectivity can be.”

Sui enables The Horror Section fans to own their digital shares in the company as tokenized real world assets, and lets Republic manage equity and returns. Crucially, this manner of participation is open to a global audience, letting The Horror Section find its fans around the world. And fans do not need to know anything about the underlying Web3 technology, as Republic can use Sui technologies such as zkLogin and sponsored transactions to eliminate friction.

As it builds out its website, the company is also incorporating Walrus' decentralized storage capability and Seal's secrets management technology to deliver secure, verifiable access to exclusive content and experiences – pioneering new fan engagement and theatrical marketing strategies.

That suite of technologies is inspiring the team as it considers new ways to engage with investors and exclusive experiences they can provide them in the future.

Around the corner

Through Sui and Republic, The Horror Section is making an important foray into Web3 in Hollywood. As an opening move for Web3 into the entertainment industry, it brings a highly dedicated fan base who will want to be a part of the experience. The success of The Horror Section promises to transform the always fraught subject in Hollywood of funding projects and engaging fans, and other studios will certainly take note. 

The Horror Section’s first release is a film it acquired and will distribute. Jimmy and Stiggs, “a lovingly handcrafted splatter fest,” is scheduled to be released August 15. Meanwhile, the studio’s first original release will be Ice Cream Man, written and directed by Roth himself.

The studio isn’t only planning to release movies. It’s also focused on building out a rich library of intellectual property and parlaying that into other forms of media as well. As of now, pretty much everything creators can dream up is on the table — from live-stage adaptations, fan experiences, and podcasts to video games, board games, and merch.

"Over our first several months, it’s been incredible to meet and hear from so many people who are excited to be invited in to start learning about the process, said Roth.”

At its core, The Horror Section is about acknowledging that horror is far more than just a movie genre. “It’s a lifestyle for a lot of folks,” said Schnaars. The Horror Section’s goal is to not only delight and frighten horror’s most passionate fans, but to give them new avenues to become part of the story themselves.

Check out The Horror Section and become directly involved with the company's film production.