Declaring bankruptcy helped City Lights Media CEO recover after economic downturn
In 2008, Danny Fisher was owner and CEO of City Lights Media, one of the world’s largest independent film and television producers. By 2009, his 27-year-old company, which had once employed over 400 people and produced 63 successful television shows, had folded. The economic downturn sweeping the nation was simply too much for it to bear. Fisher was left with about $1,700 in his bank account, zero savings, and over $15 million in personal business debts. Like many of his colleagues, Fisher was left with a bleak and uncertain financial future. Fortunately, he realized that declaring bankruptcy could provide a path to a better future.
Benefits of Declaring Personal Bankruptcy
Although Fisher’s debts were related to his business, he was personally responsible for repaying them because he had signed a personal guaranty when receiving the loans. This meant that business bankruptcy alone was not enough to fully discharge the loans. In order to eliminate his own personal responsibility for that $15 million debt load, Fisher had to declare personal bankruptcy.
If you have personal business debts, you may be able to escape their crushing weight through Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Chapter 7 allows for the complete and immediate discharge of all unsecured debts, including credit card debts, medical debts, and business debts. Chapter 13 provides an alternative by which individuals with larger assets can eliminate non-priority unsecured debts and repay their other debts at a reduced rate on a court-determined schedule.
Rebuilding After Bankruptcy
Declaring bankruptcy gave Fisher what he called “a breath of fresh air.” With his overwhelming business debts discharged, he was then able to begin focusing on the future. Fisher began connecting with other media professionals over social media as well as blogging about his experiences with bankruptcy and the failure of his company. He discovered many other professionals in similar positions.
One of the people who contacted him via his blog, Alan Klingenstein, soon became his partner in launching a new media company. Learning from the past, Fisher made sure this new company would focus on doing one thing really well instead of branching out into too many different aspects of distribution and production. Even more importantly, he resolved not to take out large loans for his new business. As a result, his new venture, FilmRise, is a sleek film distribution company that relies heavily on social media and his extremely adaptable to changing industry trends. Today FilmRise has successfully recouped its initial $200,000 infusion of startup capital, acquired 5,000 titles for distribution, and is now enjoying annual growth at nearly 1,000 percent. And it’s all thanks to one man’s decision to make the most of the possibilities offered to him by personal bankruptcy.
