Controversial Influencer Company 7M Films Examined In HBO Max Docuseries From Campfire, Rolling Stone, Nile Cappello & Chrissy Teigen

Peter White
·2 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: 7M Films, a management company that represents social media stars and TikTok dancers and is at the center of a controversy accusing it of being cult-like, is set to be the subject of a new documentary series.

Rolling Stone magazine dove deep into the company for a long feature in March centered on two dancers Miranda and James Derrick and this story is now being used as the basis for a docuseries that is in the works at HBO Max.

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The streamer is working with the team behind its recent hit docuseries The Way Down: God, Greed and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin on the project. Ross Dinerstein’s Campfire Studios, Huntley Productions, which is run by Chrissy Teigen, who has over 37M followers on Instagram herself, 3Arts’ Luke Dillon and investigative writer and producer Nile Cappello have teamed up with the PMC-owned brand to develop the project.

Liza Mandelup, the filmmaker behind Hulu’s documentary Jawline, is set to direct and executive produce.

At the center of the story are Miranda Derrick (née Wilking) and her new husband James Derrick. Miranda was one part of a TikTok dance crew with her sister Melanie that had millions of followers and was popular for their pandemic dances. However, in early 2021, she stopped this and started posting more high-quality videos with James Derrick, who featured on NBC’s World of Dance, that were produced by 7M Films.

The company has been accused of isolating clients from their friends and family with Melanie Wilking saying that Miranda had begun attending a church that would not allow her to contact her family. Miranda and James have issued public statements denying they are part of a cult.

The owner of 7M Films is Robert I. Shinn, who also the founder and pastor of Shekinah Church and family and friends of those represented by the company have voiced concerns and raised questions, including its ties to the church. The series will look into all of this.

“This story has very rapidly been gaining attention,” said Campfire SVP, Nonfiction Rebecca Evans. “As new events continue to unfold, we intend to cover the conflict from all angles and, ultimately, get to the reality of the situation. There are still a lot of unanswered questions, so we were very eager to dive in with the HBO Max team.”

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