EXCLUSIVE: A year on from Simon Pegg film Angels in the Asylum collapsing and leaving crew out of pocket, some are now being paid a slice of what they are owed — but not by producers.
The British government’s Redundancy Payments Service has stepped in to repay some of the roughly £600,000 ($800,000) owed to people employed on the indie feature, which halted midway through its month-long shoot in February 2025.
Angels in the Asylum was housed at special purpose vehicle AITA Films Limited, with first-time feature director Rob Sorrenti serving as producer and director, alongside Heather Greenwood, who co-produced Gavin & Stacey: The Finale. 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.
Some crew members have been notified to expect payment from the Redundancy Payments Service, which is funded by National Insurance contributions. Run by the Insolvency Service, it provided financial relief for nearly 70,000 victims of distressed businesses last year.
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.”
An AITA Films spokesperson said: “Crew payments are being handled through the standard insolvency process.” AITA Films filed for administration in April, a process equivalent to Chapter 11 bankruptcy in America. Sorrenti and Greenwood initially said this was a precautionary and temporary measure, but nearly a year on, around £3.8M ($5M) is owed to creditors.
They have previously apologized to angry crew. At the time of the collapse, Pegg told colleagues: “We’re making something really special here, something important. This is a crisis, but it’s also an opportunity, and we’ll be back soon.”
In December, Kallis Insolvency Practitioners, AITA Films’ administrator, said the company was in “detailed” talks with a prospective rescue investor. This sparked speculation that Sorrenti is looking to remount the film over the summer. “That is not currently the case,” an AITA Films spokesperson said.
Among the creditors are Brandhouse Global Limited, which provided £486,966 in interim financing after “anticipated funding from Parkland Pictures did not materialise,” per a July report by administrators. Parkland CEO John Cairns has previously told Deadline that his company had no agreement to finance Angels in the Asylum beyond its work as a sales agent.
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.
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