7M Films / Shekinah Church (Robert Shinn)
Los Angeles-based Shekinah Church and its 7M Films talent management business, led by Robert Shinn. Subject of Netflix's 'Dancing for the Devil' (2024) documenting how TikTok dancers under 7M contracts were severed from family.
CLCI radar
BITE breakdown
+1 for documented financial control of TikTok dancer talent and family-severance pattern.
In context
Robert Shinn's Shekinah Church and the 7M Films talent agency were exposed in Netflix's 2024 documentary as a coordinated control system: young TikTok dancers signed 7M management contracts, moved into Shinn-controlled housing, severed contact with non-member family, and turned over substantial earnings. Multiple ex-dancers and concerned parents filed civil suits. The case is one of the most heavily documented modern social-media-era high-control cases.
History
Shinn established Shekinah Church in 1994 and pivoted to talent management with 7M as TikTok dance content boomed in the early 2020s.
Key control doctrines
- Shinn as anointed prophet
- Total financial submission via talent contracts
- Severance from non-believing family
Notable public ex-members
- Melanie Wilking
- Miranda Wilking (subject of family campaign)
- Aubrey Fisher
- Multiple Netflix doc interviewees
Legal cases & controversies
- Multiple civil suits filed by ex-dancers and parents 2022+
- Wilking family public campaign
- Counter-suits by Shinn against critics
Evidence by BITE axis
- Talent contracts bind dancers to Shinn-controlled management
- Members housed in church-controlled properties
- Daily schedule controlled by church / agency
- Romantic relationships and dating reviewed by Shinn
- Outside contact with non-member family blocked
- Members coached on social-media messaging consistent with church narrative
- Aggressive defamation suits against critics
- Shinn presented as anointed prophet with prophetic authority
- Outside concerns reframed as spiritual attack
- Members coached to publicly defend the church
- Severance from biological family enforced
- Members publicly attacked if they consider leaving
- Fear of damnation and lost talent career used as exit barriers
Timeline
- 1994Shekinah Church founded by Robert Shinn
- 20217M Films talent agency launched
- 2022First public family complaints; LA Times coverage
- 2024Netflix documentary releases
Sources
- Netflix 'Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult' (2024)
- Multiple California civil suits against Shinn and 7M
- LA Times investigation (2022)
We cite sources by name and outlet rather than fabricating links. Search the source title plus the group name to find the original.
Recovery resources
- Wilking Family Campaign / public awareness — Documents the pattern publicly to support other families
- ICSA — International Cultic Studies Association
See the full curated list at /resources.