Indie Financier Bron, Which Backed ‘Joker’ And ‘Licorice Pizza’, Files For Bankruptcy

Patrick Hipes
·3 min read

Bron, the finance and production company that backed films including Joker, Licorice Pizza, Bombshell and Judas and the Black Messiah, has filed for bankruptcy, its co-founder Aaron J. Gilbert said Wednesday.

In a letter to “friends, partners, team members and backers,” Gilbert wrote today that Bron — the parent company of Bron Studios and Bron Digital — had filed for creditor protection with the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Canada, where it is based, concurrent with Chapter 15 in the U.S.

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The Chapter 15 designation deals with cases involving more than one country.

“Having explored many options for many months, Bron had no choice but to take this step in light of its financial circumstances,” Gilbert wrote (read the full letter here). “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 added, “During the CCAA proceedings, which are expected to be completed by late Fall, there are financial resources in place to support the Company’s modified business operations.”

No other details about those operations were revealed.

There had been rumblings of instability at Bron. In October, the financier, which previously had slate deals with Warner Bros and MGM, confirmed it had downsized and shed staff as it looked to focus on “our core business as creative producers as it has always been about the content: animation, gaming, live-action film, tv, and non-scripted. There has been some turnover and some resetting as we focus our energies firmly on our content.”

It added at the time however that “we have amazing creative partners and are excited to continue building our IP moving forward.”

Bron had produced or executive produced more than 125 productions since it was founded by Gilbert and his wife Brenda in 2010. Its recent projects included HBO’s The Idol, the Sundance-debuting Americana with Paul Walter Hauser and Sydney Sweeney, the Adam Driver-starring 65, and the Thai cave rescue drama Thirteen Lives.

Over the past couple of years, the pandemic hampered the company, and projects such as Ghostbusters: Afterlife and House of Gucci didn’t perform as well as hoped at the box office. The MGM and Warners deals had also run their course.

“From Brenda and I, thank you to our many friends who have been there to support us,” Gilbert wrote today. “Thank you to the BRON team, and to our incredible creative, production, and business partners. Thank you to the many production financing partners and our corporate backers for support these many years. Thank you to our various representatives, and the many service providers for all the support and patience through a very tough few years at BRON. Your continued support and patience will remain critical during this restructuring process, and we will continue to keep you informed as we move through this process.”

Andreas Wiseman contributed to this report

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