VANCOUVER — The ongoing screenwriters’ strike has pushed the B.C. production company behind Hollywood blockbusters such as Joker and House of Gucci into creditor protection, after it struggled to cope with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the entertainment industry.

Vancouver-based Bron Media has produced or executive produced more than 125 films and TV series, earning six Oscars from 38 Academy Award nominations. According to an affidavit from CEO Aaron Gilbert filed in the Supreme Court of British Columbia July 18, “the company is in dire need of creditor protection.” Gilbert cited Bron’s liquidity issues, debt and other concerns.

The company did not immediately respond to The Logic’s request for comment. 

While Bron’s struggles began with the pandemic, according to the filings, the final blow was the ongoing screenwriters’ strike, in which the Writers Guild of America is at odds with the hundreds of film and TV studios that make up the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. 

The writers are striking over issues including compensation from streaming and the potential use of material written by artificial intelligence. When the guild took to the picket lines in May it delayed or completely shut down some of Bron’s productions.

Bron has about US$148 million in assets—mostly equity investments, intellectual property and amounts due between its group of companies. Meanwhile, it has accumulated roughly US$419 million in loan liabilities, including interest. It owes about $850,000 in payroll, taxes and dues for government programs and said some of its bank accounts have been frozen. It is also facing litigation from one of its secured creditors, among other lawsuits.

Gilbert and his wife Brenda Gilbert, founded Bron out of Burnaby, B.C., in 2010. Six years later, they opened a Los Angeles studio and started working with major Hollywood studios, according to the filings. 

By 2018, Bron was also making money selling third-party films globally, started a non-scripted production business that created a Nicki Minaj documentary series and had launched a venture division to invest in production startups, investing in the studio behind The Morning Show as well as that behind Unpregnant. 

Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Bron was preparing to distribute several “exciting film productions” to be released in 2020, according to Gilbert’s affidavit. The company projected its highest ever financial results for that year and 2021, ramping up its operations and increasing investments. But during the pandemic, as movie theaters shuttered and production activities halted for many months, “The company experienced immeasurable loss,” the affidavit reads.

Bron found itself unable to make money as its significant debt accrued interest. The company’s staff—it had about 115 people across Canada and the U.S. as of July 5 with about 76 of them furloughed—continued to work, but took home smaller salaries.

As theatres re-opened and movies once again started making it to the big screen, audiences didn’t immediately come back, and sales at the box office reflected that. Bron had projected 20 movies it was involved in between 2020 and 2021 would make about US$4 billion globally, but instead they earned roughly US$1 billion.

Bron had been looking for lenders to get more money to fund its work. It talked to New York investment firms and others who had shown interest, but was unable to lock down a deal.

A B.C. judge granted Bron’s application for an initial order July 19. A U.S. bankruptcy court has also granted it relief south of the border. (Bron has what it calls a “complex” corporate structure that includes more than 100 entities, including ones in Canada, the U.S. and other countries.) Bron is planning to create a restructuring plan.