UPDATE, writethru: Kew Media Group’s has collapsed and all of its directors have resigned after the Canadian TV producer-distributor’s lenders called in their debts.
In a statement issued to Kew Media Group’s investors on Friday, the company said it has been placed in receivership under the orders of the Ontario Superior Court. FTI Consulting Canada will manage Kew Media Group’s affairs, including selling off its assets. As a result, the company’s directors have exited, including chairman Peter Sussman and CEO Steven Silver.
The collapse came just hours after Truist Bank demanded the “repayment of all amounts owing under the senior credit facilities” after Kew Media Group defaulted on its credit facility last year because it filed “inaccurate” financial information.
Kew Media Group’s subsidiary, the once-thriving British sales house Kew Media Distribution, has also been placed into administration — the equivalent of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. FTI Consulting will oversee the winding down the of the company, along with Kew Media Group’s other UK subsidiaries: Kew Media Group UK and Kew Media Group UK Holdings.
Kew Media Distribution was facing a court hearing this week, where it is likely that the company would have been forced into liquidation had administrators not been appointed on Friday. Producers, including Leaving Neverland indie Amos Pictures, have been fighting to claw back the royalties they are owed from the international sales of their shows.
Other Kew Media Group subsidiaries have also been fleeing the sinking ship. The latest was Frantic Films today after CEO Jamie Brown bought back the company, which makes HGTV’s Backyard Builds. Others who have left the group include UK producer Two Rivers Media, while Dance Moms executive producer Jeff Collins left Kew-backed Collins Avenue Entertainment in January. Collins Avenue was subsequently acquired by Asylum Entertainment’s The Content Group.