Production company for popular werewolf romantasy filmed in Vancouver placed under creditor protection

Jason Proctor · CBC News

· Posted: May 30, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

Fantasy werewolves are acceptable to haunt Shiver — the much-anticipated film based on the archetypal caller successful the Wolves of Mercy Falls romantasy series which wrapped filming successful Vancouver late last year.

But the fiscal wolves astatine the doors of the movie's producers person enactment Shiver connected ice — forcing the accumulation institution formed to marque the movie into insolvency and leaving hundreds of Canadian creditors retired millions of dollars.

A B.C. Supreme Court justice placed Mercy Falls B.C. Inc into creditor extortion this week aft proceedings which laic bare a conflict betwixt the film's producers and the U.S.-based workplace which allegedly pledged $20 cardinal to marque the movie.

"Shiver was a large accumulation successful British Columbia," says James Joyce, who is owed much than $24,000 for his enactment delivering the snowfall and crystal needed to crook Lower Mainland sets into the movie's Minnesota setting.

"They enactment a batch of people to work, and those people — you cognize what it's like — you've got to wage your bills," Joyce says.

"You paid for your state to spell to work, oregon you paid for your groceries to spell to work, oregon if you're successful the catering company, oregon you supply porta-potties oregon whatever. You've enactment that wealth retired and present I conjecture (the producer) can't wage anybody."

'An imminent crisis'

The ineligible filings supply a model into a fiscal fight as pitched — if not rather arsenic supernatural — arsenic the interplay betwixt humans and werewolves successful writer Maggie Stiefvater's best-selling young big fabrication books.

The cardinal characters successful the tribunal conflict are Jeanette Volturno, president of Mercy Falls BC Inc., the institution incorporated to produce Shiver and Ryan Hamilton, manager of the Wyoming-based workplace which owns the rights to marque the publication into a movie.

In an affidavit, Volturno claims arsenic of May 8, the workplace had only paid $11 cardinal of the $20 cardinal it agreed to provide and what cash it had given "frequently, if not always, came late, and was sent successful piecemeal advances from assorted sources."

"The nonaccomplishment by the workplace to conscionable its backing obligations has caused an imminent crisis," writes Volturno — an American who has worked connected much than 95 diagnostic films, including The Hunger Games and Academy Award winners Whiplash and Get Out.

"The (production company) has nary entree to the currency required to wage its vendors and commercialized creditors, which has enactment the accumulation astatine a standstill."

Shiver stars American histrion and singer Maddie Ziegler arsenic quality Grace Brisbane and Australian histrion and exemplary Levi Miller arsenic her werewolf fellow Sam Roth, who tempers his lupine manner with shifts arsenic his quality aforesaid astatine a section bookstore. 

The tribunal documents say production began connected the movie successful August 2024, with main photography wrapping up successful aboriginal December, erstwhile a deficiency of funds crushed accumulation to a halt.

"The accumulation is present successful the post-production phase, which dwell of movie editing, dependable editing, audio and music, ocular effects, creating a trailer and promoting and selling the movie to imaginable purchasers," Volturno's affidavit reads.

"The movie was primitively scheduled to beryllium released to the nationalist successful July 2026. If (the accumulation company) is capable to wage its creditors and resume work, it intends to proceed the accumulation to completion successful bid to decorativeness the film."

Studio wants to implicit film

The creditor extortion process is intended to springiness a debtor breathing abstraction by preventing immoderate ineligible enactment from going up without the support of the tribunal portion a institution restructures oregon finds financing to wage disconnected its debts .

The justice overseeing the lawsuit besides appointed a third-party show to oversee the accumulation company's finances.

Last week, Hamilton filed an affidavit objecting to the connection for creditor protection, accusing Volturno of substituting "substandard unit connected the production" and refusing to stock accusation connected the presumption of millions of dollars worthy of provincial movie taxation credits.

Hamilton says his workplace — not Volturno's accumulation company — owns the intelligence spot rights to immoderate portion of Shiver already in the can.

He says the workplace "has ne'er sold, given, oregon different relinquished immoderate of its broad rights successful the film," meaning any deals "premised upon the ownership oregon merchantability of the movie by (Volturno's accumulation company) would represent misappropriation of workplace property."

"It is (the) studio's volition to implicit and merchantability the film," Hamilton wrote, calling connected the justice to fto the parties settee their differences "through regular concern negotiation" alternatively of the Canadian courts.

"(The) workplace is besides the lone realistic root of specified financing successful the future."

'Shame connected you all'

According to the tribunal filings, the accumulation institution owes $6.6 cardinal to a assortment of creditors successful the US. and Canada — including much than $42,000 to the City of Vancouver and $17,500 to the Canada Revenue Agency.

Even award-winning Australian manager Claire McCarthy is out $22,480 — money Volturno says has to beryllium paid "before Ms. McCarthy volition proceed to enactment connected the film."

The tribunal documents see lengthy email chains from creditors similar Wendy Cohen — the caput of a New York-based institution which handles clearance and merchandise placement.

"I've been told this $2,000 is forthcoming connected 5 abstracted occasions now," she wrote Hamilton earlier this month.

"In each my years successful the movie concern I person ne'er travel crossed specified blatant lying and stealing. Shame connected you all. You should find different tract to enactment successful arsenic you evidently don't cognize however to fund oregon nutrient a film."

Mark Hirschi, the proprietor of Salmon's Transfer, is owed much than $43,000 for the enactment his institution did packing, temporarily moving and unpacking the contents of houses utilized arsenic sets during filming to "make it look similar cipher was there."

He says the fiscal problems surrounding Shiver person had a immense interaction connected the section movie industry.

"It raises the hairs connected the backmost of your neck," helium says.

"It makes you mode much hesitant to enactment with the movie industry, due to the fact that there's a consciousness of trust. When you're moving with different companies, we each person a consciousness of trust. You privation to trust connected that idiosyncratic to wage the bill. You've done the service, you wage the bill."