What Hollywood Gets Wrong About Creativity, According to a Hazbin Hotel Songwriter

The state of Hollywood is… weird right away. Calling it “disastrous” doesn’t seem accurate, but with the constant onslaught of major industrial mergers, an industry still recovering from COVID-related industrial shutdowns in 2020, the necessary WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes in 2023, the horrific Southern California fires in 2025, the constant threat of AI, the fact that TikTok has completely changed the way a new generation absorbs media, and the disappointing performance at box office, everything just seems… off. It seems like we’re on the precipice of massive change in the entertainment industry, but Or Things will evolve, it’s anyone’s guess.

On the one hand, it’s obvious that studio heads and media conglomerate CEOs are looking to play it safe, with sequels, reboots, remakes, revivals, franchises, and recognizable IPs continuing to dominate the release slate each year. The goal is to attract as many consumers (ugh) as possible, but in doing so, it seems the public is turning away from mainstream offerings and looking for anything that could turn the tide. And every time this happens, the industry’s so-called “tastemakers” scratch their heads and wonder where these unexpected success stories come from.

That’s precisely what happened with the adult animated series “Hazbin Hotel” and the juggernaut that is “Five Nights at Freddy’s.” Musician Sam Haft is one of the songwriters of “Hazbin Hotel” and contributed music to both “Five Nights at Freddy’s” films on behalf of his electronic rock band The Living Tombstone. I recently sat down with Haft and he shared his theory about what Hollywood could learn from so-called “underground” properties like “Hazbin Hotel” and “FNaF.” It’s simple: Hollywood must find a niche.

“It’s no coincidence to me that two of the biggest licensing and spinoff properties of the last decade are ‘Hazbin Hotel’ and ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s,’ because those are two things that are writer-driven, they’re weird, and they’re not ashamed of being weird,” Sam Haft tells me. “I think one of the biggest factors driving this is that the niche is no longer a niche.” Haft is entirely accurate in his assessment. Throughout the 2010s, Hollywood was dominated by adaptations of comic book superhero stories, an interest that has always existed outside of the status quo. But now superhero movies are the status quo.

“In reality, the four quadrants don’t exist,” says Haft. “Four or five years ago, I saw a lot of people complaining about monoculture, and I think that idea is basically dead.” It’s hard to disagree. Culture is more fragmented than ever, and with endless options to watch anything, anytime, anywhere, it’s less likely than ever that audiences will be united in watching the same thing. With the inclusion of algorithms, this is even less likely. “Algorithms have destroyed the monoculture,” says Haft. “Everyone is in their own little fishbowl, so your whole goal if you want to be successful [project] it’s about being niche.

This may sound ridiculous, but Haft is right. When everything that comes out feels like a plug-and-chug rehash of the same story with the same beats and same actors, audiences then look for what seems most relevant to them. less like what is produced. As a result, so-called “niche” shows and films are gaining popularity. This is precisely why “Heated Rivalry” became one of the most-watched shows of the year despite the little fanfare that preceded it.

Both “Hazbin Hotel” and “Five Nights at Freddy’s” enjoy fans so passionate they border on evangelical, which is exactly the type of viewer/consumer Hollywood is desperate to tap into. And what they both have in common is that they are fandoms born from raw art that is unlike anything else created by the general public. This is why a film like “Lisa Frankenstein” became a cult hit immediately after its rejection by the general public. If everyone is in their own little algorithmic bubble, the goal should not be to burst the bubble, but to involve as many people as possible. Or, if we continue with Haft’s aquarium analogy:

“You want to have superfans. You want to have that group of people who feel like they have a community on your property, and you just want to grow your aquarium as much as you can. But if you try to be this broad thing that everyone likes, you’re not going to please anyone.”

I’ve always liked the expression that the more specific something is, the more universal it seems, and this line of thinking is what should be applied by Hollywood when greenlighting projects across the board. When you’re too concerned about who you are could If you isolate yourself, you lose sight of who might be drawn to it. When you’re focused on attracting as many people as possible, you give up on finding the people who like something. SO so much so that it becomes their entire personality.

“You have to be specialized, otherwise what you make just won’t be available to people anymore,” Haft says. “It’s all this strange landscape that makes me think [studios] I haven’t really caught up yet.”