Bron Media has obtained creditor protection in Canada and filed for bankruptcy in the U.S., amid continued financial challenges for the Vancouver-headquartered film finance and production company.

Bron CEO Aaron L. Gilbert (pictured) issued a letter to “friends, partners, team members, and backers” on Wednesday (July 19) stating that the company had obtained creditor protection from the Supreme Court of British Columbia under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), and filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy in the U.S.

“Having explored many options for many months, Bron had no choice but to take this step in light of its financial circumstances,” wrote Gilbert.

“The last few years have been incredibly difficult for Bron, and things have only gotten more complicated over these past months. Covid and the many other issues affecting the media industry the last few years, most recently the strikes, have made Bron’s ability to continue its existing business impossible,” he continued. “The decision to seek creditor protection was not taken lightly, and was adopted with a view to the best interests of the company and its many stakeholders.”

Accounting firm Grant Thornton is the court-appointed monitor for Bron’s CCAA proceedings. The firm will review the company’s finances and periodically report to the B.C. court, with the proceedings expected to be completed “by late fall,” according to Gilbert, who added that Bron will continue to keep partners and stakeholders updated “during this restructuring process.”

The company announced last October that it was undergoing “some turnover and some resetting” as part of a shift in its business model that was designed to “focus our energies firmly on our content.”

Bron’s divisions include Bron Studios, Bron Releasing, and Bron Digital, with work spanning film, television, animation and gaming. Notably, the company served as a co-financier on a number of high-profile U.S. films, including the Oscar-winning feature Joker, under a $100 million deal with Warner Bros. Pictures.

The company’s co-financing activities were conducted via Bron Creative, a joint venture with Toronto’s Creative Wealth Media. In 2021, both Bron and Creative Wealth were named in a lawsuit filed by New York–based financier Hudson Private LP over unpaid loans for films such as Greyhound and Bombshell.

Creative Wealth is still in litigation with the firm, according to documents filed on May 25 at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and has been ordered to proceed to discovery.