EXCLUSIVE: AITA Films, the production company behind the beleaguered Simon Pegg film Angels In The Asylum, is to fold amid an ongoing financing dispute.
AITA Films has been in administration (a process equivalent to Chapter 11 bankruptcy in America) for more than a year since the film halted its shoot in February 2025, but the company will now be shut down, owing creditors £3.8M ($5M).
In a statement, a spokesperson for Angels In The Asylum blamed the closure on the film being unable to resolve financing issues with John Cairns and his company, Parkland Pictures. Cairns maintains his company had no agreement to finance Angels in the Asylum beyond its work as a sales agent.
“Production was paused because expected funding from Mr Robert John Cairns and Parkland Pictures, which had been promised several months earlier, did not materialise,” the spokesperson said. “When shooting was due to start, Mr Cairns then personally guaranteed a bridging loan from Brandhouse Global Limited, whilst maintaining that the promised funding would arrive imminently.”
They continued: “That bridging loan has since created a complex situation around the production’s intellectual property which has prevented the project from moving forward. We have made proposals to Brandhouse Global that would allow the IP to be released so that the film can be completed, but unfortunately those discussions have not yet led to a resolution, and this has left the administrator no choice but to allow the company to fold.”
Cairns told Deadline: “Parkland Pictures’ agreement was as sales agent to the film Angels In The Asylum. Neither I, nor Parkland Pictures, had an agreement to fund the film. The producers went ahead and started the film without the full funding in place.”
The Angels In The Asylum spokesperson said the financing and bridging loan were “facilitated by a former colleague who is no longer connected with the project.”
They did not specify who this individual was. Rob Sorrenti, the sole company director at AITA Films, served as producer and director of Angels In The Asylum. Sorrenti worked closely with Heather Greenwood, who co-produced Gavin & Stacey: The Finale.
The spokesperson added: “The only viable path to complete the film is for this IP to be in production. We have done everything in our power to make this happen and remain fully committed to doing so.”
Deadline revealed last month how the British government’s Redundancy Payments Service had stepped in to repay some of the roughly £600,000 ($800,000) owed to people employed on the indie feature.
Angels in the Asylum workers are not getting the full amount owed. One crew member said they expected to receive around a third of what they should have been paid. They were furious that more had not been done to support those who lost money when the film collapsed.
“It’s absolutely outrageous,” this person said. “The government is paying up for the mistakes of the producers. This is not why I pay my taxes. Pegg and the executive producers could write this off in a second and pay everyone off.”
Inspired by true events, Angels in the Asylum co-stars Katherine Waterston, Minnie Driver, Lesley Nicol, Rose Williams, Aurora Perrineau, and Alex Jennings. It centers on women who were forcibly confined in isolation at Surrey’s Long Grove Asylum in the 1930s after being deemed to be typhoid carriers.
Pegg starred in the film and served as an executive producer, but was not involved in its finances and was not paid for his work.
Full ‘Angels in the Asylum’ Spokesperson Statement:
“We have today been notified that, despite our efforts to preserve the company, the administrator intends to wind down AITA Films Ltd. “Angels in the Asylum has been 18 years in development, and since we were forced into hiatus, we have worked extensively to secure new financing, complete the film and meet our obligations to creditors. “Production was paused because expected funding from Mr Robert John Cairns and Parkland Pictures, which had been promised several months earlier, did not materialise. “When shooting was due to start, Mr Cairns then personally guaranteed a bridging loan from Brandhouse Global Limited, whilst maintaining that the promised funding would arrive imminently. “Both of these agreements were facilitated by a former colleague who is no longer connected with the project. “That bridging loan has since created a complex situation around the production’s intellectual property which has prevented the project from moving forward. “We have made proposals to Brandhouse Global that would allow the IP to be released so that the film can be completed, but unfortunately those discussions have not yet led to a resolution, and this has left the administrator no choice but to allow the company to fold. “The only viable path to complete the film is for this IP to be in the production. We have done everything in our power to make this happen and remain fully committed to doing so.”
