Global Road film arm files for Chapter 11

US producer and distributor Global Road Entertainment has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for its feature film division.

Global Road has listed Open Road Films as the debtor in its filing and released a statement emphasising that the action does not affect its sales or television divisions.

The company’s film operations have been under severe pressure in recent weeks after owner, Donald Tang’s US-Chinese finance and development firm Tang Media Partners (TMP), failed to raise capital this year following a run of disappointing theatrical releases.

According to the Chapter 11 filing, there are between 1,000 and 5,000 creditors with between US$100m and US$500m in liabilities. Among the creditors are Viacom, The Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal, Google, Facebook, Snap and Twitter.

Global Road issued this statement yesterday: “Today’s filing for bankruptcy protection for Open Road Films solely encompasses domestic related film operations and does not include Tang Media Partners, Tang Media Entertainment, IM Global Television (both scripted and non-scripted) and IM Global.

“IM Global Television and IM Global were re-branded earlier this year as part of Global Road Entertainment. Those entities will continue to operate as ongoing concerns, working with existing and future partners.”

TMP, which aims to act as a gateway between Hollywood and China, took a controlling stake in US producer and distributor IM Global in 2016, going on to launch an unscripted division led by veteran content creator Phil Gurin.

Stuart Ford, who founded IM Global over a decade ago, left his role as CEO at the company last year after reportedly disagreeing with shareholders about the firm’s strategy. He was replaced by former Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chairman Rob Friedman.