Even director Derek Doneen and producer Jessica Acevedo didn’t know exactly what they were getting into by taking on 7M Films and the Shekinah church for Netflix’s new docuseries Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult.
“I think every project comes with some nerves. You’re entering into a two-year commitment and this one, especially, the nerves I think double as excitement because it was an ongoing situation. We were thrust into something,” Doneen told Us Weekly in an exclusive interview with Acevedo ahead of the Wednesday, May 29, release, noting it’s “rare” to be able to “capture the action” as it was unfolding.
“In the cult sort of genre, it’s generally retrospective or looks back. We had this opportunity to sort of shift the perspective [and] to immerse ourselves in these families’ lives and say, ‘What does it feel like to be someone who desperately wants to get your son or daughter or sister, brother out?’ and to tell the story from that perspective. And then as we started shooting, members started leaving, dancers started leaving,” Doneen continued. “When we started the project, the dancers that you see in the show we’re still in. Priscylla was still in.”
Throughout three episodes, cameras follow several dancers and their families, namely the parents of Miranda and Melanie Wilking, as they search for answers about pastor Robert Shinn and his TikTok dance management company. In recordings from his church services, Shinn is heard influencing members to cut ties with their family members who do not belong to the organization. He is also accused of taking financial advantage of the social media stars, mandating in some cases that they donate up to 70 percent of their earnings to Shinn and Shekinah.
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“I think most leaders of highly controlled groups like this have a very similar playbook,” Doneen said after Us noted potential similarities to the Church of Scientology. “The tactics that Robert uses are not unique to him. I think everybody has their own spin on how to do it, but it generally comes down to, ‘I have this singular message that only I can provide. I can lead you to salvation and only me.’ And the tactics of sort of separating you from your family and friends and isolating you within the group, creating a climate of fear that if you sort of disobey that someone else within the group might tell on you, that you will be rebuked or you will be withheld favor within the group. Financial control is always a part of it. In this case, unfortunately, there’s a sexual component as well, you see that a lot with these male leaders.”
In addition to the dancers telling their stories of feeling manipulated emotionally and financially by 7M, sisters Priscylla and Melanie Lee come forward in the film to share their experiences with Shinn that began before he started working with the TikTok dancers. The Lee sisters detail allegations of sexual abuse and financial fraud, with Priscylla claiming she was given just $80 every two weeks out of her paycheck.
“As they started coming out, the perspective of the film changed,” Doneen told Us. “It sort of became what does feel like a sort of complimentary piece to the family story. What does it feel like to get out from a situation like this and try and reconnect with your family, try and rebuild your life, sort of deprogram the brainwashing that has taken place over the years? [We’re] really stoked that Netflix took the risk on that. I think you see that less and less in today’s world. In today’s market to say, ‘We don’t know what the ending’s gonna be, but we trust you. We love the story and we’ll support that vision.’ That was huge for them and really exciting for us.”
Acevedo learned about Shekinah through a director and dancer studio owner in L.A. after the Wilking family went live on Instagram in 2022, looking for help to get through to Miranda. (Miranda and Melanie Wilking were gaining traction through their joint social media account when Miranda met now-husband James Derrick, known as BDash, who introduced her to 7M.)
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“I watched the Live and was like, ‘Wait, what is this?’ I ended up getting on the phone with the Wilkings later that evening and we ended up talking for three hours and kickstarted that investigation deeper,” Acevedo explained. (7M denied the claims at the time of the Live, telling the Daily Mail in a statement that read in part: “It is pathetic and contemptible to try to turn her private family matters into a tawdry public scandal for clicks and clout. While the recent portrayals of Dr. Robert Shinn and 7M Films have been wildly offensive and riddled with inaccuracies, those false claims will not deter 7M from supporting Miranda in whichever endeavors she chooses to pursue next.”)
The series includes footage of the Wilking family trying to get in contact with Miranda in any way that they could, including visiting the streets in L.A. where 7M dancers appeared to film their TikToks. “A lot of that footage was already shot from them. That was their footage from before that they shared with us,” Acevedo explained.
The family would identify where to go by the background of the videos, tracking down the water towers or street signs. “They started recording because they were doing outreach to Miranda [and] they weren’t able to get through to her. And they weren’t sure what was being communicated and what wasn’t,” Acevedo said. “And so they wanted proof that they were putting in the effort that they were trying everything that they could, including driving around town and finding water towers. It was all real.”
Doneen added that the family’s “participation in the film, in many ways, was out of desperation” and a last-ditch attempt to get through to Miranda “because they tried everything else.”
Viewers see Miranda eventually start to speak with her family — after Shinn warned the members that the distance he encouraged raised questions about the church. Miranda would agree to see her parents and sister as long as they agreed not to ask about 7M, which brought up the natural concern that she might shut down the line of communication again because of the doc.
“My hope is that Miranda will watch this and she will see that it was all done out of love,” Doneen told Us. “The experience that we both had with that family was absolutely coming from a place of love and desperation. Of course they expressed fear about how she would take it and I think that is ongoing.”
Doneen explained that Miranda was aware that her family participated in Dancing for the Devil, but she hadn’t seen the footage at the time of the interview. “I know there was a lot of thought that went into how to tell her, but they did have that conversation and we, of course, reached out to Miranda a few times inviting her to participate and tell her the story from her perspective,” he said. “I think those emotions run high and are probably still present, but we don’t wanna speak for them.”
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Days before the release of Dancing for the Devil, Miranda attended Melanie’s wedding to NFL star Austin Ekeler. While it feels like a big win after watching Melanie struggle with inviting Miranda to her big day, social media users have pointed out that the photos Miranda posted did not include Melanie. Other followers are commenting that she only attended to save face after Shinn’s concerns about families who aren’t followers of his.
Acevedo told Us that it took “months” of building the relationships with the survivors who opted to film for the series, including Kevin “Konkrete” Davis, Aubrey Fisher and Kylie Douglas. “There are a couple dancers who left who declined to participate and that’s fine,” Doneen added. Outside of the dance community, he pointed to the Lee sisters’ scenes — including how Priscylla initially stayed in the organization and denied Melanie’s attempts to leave alongside her — as some of the most emotional to film.
“I think the perception that I had coming into a project like this is you leave a situation like that ’cause you’re ready to leave and you sort of run back into the open arms of your family. And that’s not the reality,” Doneen said. “You’re sort of day one of a very long journey of healing. And then that’s what I sort of had to learn and what I hope the audience will learn in watching this. They had never had that conversation. They tried a couple times, but they were both really scared to have it. And so to sort of be in the room when they had a very real conversation, even though it was difficult, it brought them so much closer together and was quite healing for both of them. And I felt really honored and privileged to have been able to capture that and have been in the room when it happened.”
Shinn filed a libel lawsuit against multiple former members, including the Lee sisters, in 2022.
While he did not participate in the film, Netflix included a statement at the end of the series that read: “No criminal charges have been brought against Shinn. He has previously denied sexually abusing any member of Shekinah or any client of 7M. The civil lawsuit is ongoing. Robert and his codefendants deny the claims against them. The case is set to go to trial in 2025.”
Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult is streaming now on Netflix.
