Troubled Burnaby-based film producer and financier Bron Studios has filed for creditor protection in B.C., and to start Chapter 15 bankruptcy proceedings in the U.S., the company said today on Instagram.
The company known for financing projects such as Joker, Licorice Pizza, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, 65 and others has long been known to be in arrears with creditors.
BIV reported in May that Bron owed tens of millions of dollars to various creditors.
“Having explored many options for many months, Bron had no choice but to take this step in light of its financial circumstances," CEO Aaron Gilbert said in a statement to industry publication Variety.
"The last few years have been incredibly difficult for Bron, and things have only gotten more complicated over these past months.
Gilbert cited the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Hollywood screen writers and actors' strikes, which combine to be the industry's first industrywide shutdown in 63 years.
Gilbert thanked stakeholders and said their "continued support and patience will remain critical during this restructuring process."
Bron last year owed US$11 million to Access Road Capital, LLC, with that debt increasing by about $200,000 per month, according to a B.C. Appeals Court decision this spring.
In March, a B.C. Supreme Court judge granted Access Road’s application to appoint a receiver over Bron if the studio didn’t pay its debts in full by May 1. The BC Court of Appeal later pinned Bron's payments to Access Road as only being about US$151,000.
Creative Wealth Media Lending LP 2016, which was owed US$30 million, was able to appeal the BC Supreme Court's March decision.
The BC Court of Appeal said that if the receivership order were to stay in place, Bron would cease operations, and that would adversely impact other creditors.
It sided with Creative Wealth to stay that receivership order so Bron could continue its business and attempt to make debt payments.
Bron owed a third creditor, Comerica Bank, US$9.4 million.
