Netflix’s new three-episode series, Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult, exposes the alleged cult-like environment surrounding TikTok dancers signed to 7M Films. While watching the docuseries, you might have questions about what happened, including who is Robert Shinn and where Miranda Wilking is now.
Dancing for the Devil centers on Miranda Wilking, a dancer and content creator who had a popular TikTok channel with her sister, Melanie, called the Wilking Sisters. Thanks to their popular dancing videos, the siblings accumulated millions of followers and lucrative brand deals.
Miranda started growing distant from her family after being introduced to her now-husband James (BDash) Derrick and signing with Los Angeles-based 7M Films, a talent management agency owned by Robert Shinn, a pastor at the Shekinah Church. (In 2022, 7M Films released a statement that it “operate(d) separately and apart” from Shekinah Church.)
Beneath perfectly choreographed TikTok videos, lavish Hollywood homes, red carpet appearances, and performing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, dancers in 7M were cutting off their families, reportedly brainwashed and influenced by the religious leader. “Both former 7M employees and church members have accused Shinn of controlling behavior,” according to Netflix’s Tudum.
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In Dancing for the Devil, Miranda’s sister, Melanie, and their parents, Kelly and Dean, dive into what it was like losing Miranda and their desperate attempts to re-establish contact with her. On February 24, 2022, they released an Instagram video speculating that 7M was a cult and that Miranda was being manipulated. The Netflix documentary also features testimonies of other dancers who have since left 7M Films and are now trying to get justice against Shinn, including Konkrete, Kailea Gray, and Kylie Douglas.
“My hope is that people will continue to dig into the story and ask questions—some of the questions that you’re even asking—in hopes to reunite these families,” executive producer Jessica Acevedo told Glamour.
She continued, “To bring justice to people, while also maybe even having a little more patience and understanding of where people are. I think we’re really quick to want to label people and put them in these little boxes and categories when it’s not a one size fits all. Let’s have some grace, let’s have some patience and be understanding.”
Who Is Robert Shinn, And What Happened To Him?
Robert Shinn is an LA pastor at the Shekinah Church in Los Angeles, California, who also founded the 7M Films talent management company. Shinn started Shekinah as a religious community for Korean Americans. Two of those Korean immigrants were Melanie Lee and her sister Priscylla, who both joined in 1999. They lived in a house with the other church members until Melanie left, causing her to lose contact with her sister for a decade.
“There were maybe 15 people, and that included his family and his sister Catherine’s family,” Lee explains in the series. She said that Robert and Catherine “promised” her and Priscylla all of the love the two of them “never really experienced.” According to Time.com, “Shinn opened several businesses, including a café, two mortgage companies, two real estate companies, and two flower shops.” Lee said that the employees were church members who were not paid much.
Shinn — whose son, Isaiah Shinn, was filming the Derricks’ content — started 7M Films in 2021 and signed a bunch of successful dancers on social media, including Miranda and her husband James Derrick. The dancers in the agency lived together in a house to create their content, which had a focus on modern choreography to old hits — including some songs that were specifically chosen by Shinn.
According to CNN, Shinn filed a lawsuit in 2022 claiming defamation and trade libel against several former church members, including the Lee sisters, alleging the defendants made “false statements” by calling Shinn’s organizations a cult and launched a campaign to “cancel” Shinn “through flagrant, defamatory attacks on social and other media.”
In 2023, Davis, Fisher, Douglas, and others joined a cross-complaint with the former church members against Shinn, his wife, their entities and other affiliated individuals. “The claims accuse them of fraud, forced labor and human trafficking, as well as Robert of sexual battery. The case is scheduled to go to trial in July 2025 in Los Angeles; to date, no criminal charges have been filed,” per CNN.
No criminal charges have been filed against Shinn.
Why Did 7M Members Have To Cut Off Their Families?
According to interviews from former 7M members and audio recordings of Shinn’s sermons, 7M members were asked to “die to” themselves and their families. This means completely cutting contact with them to ensure that they and their loved ones go to heaven in the afterlife.
“Dying to yourself means that whatever you want or whatever you need, you have to ‘die to it,’ because whenever you die to something, it’ll come back to life and resurrect,” one former member explained in Dancing for the Devil.
Another former 7M dancer said that they were taught to “die to your family in order to save them,” and heighten their chances into “getting into heaven one day.”
Where Is Miranda Wilking Now?
Miranda Wilking, who goes by Miranda Derrick, is still a member of 7M Films and frequently posts dancing videos on social media. She and her family speak to each other occasionally, under the condition that they aren’t allowed to ask or talk about 7M or the Shekinah Church.
Miranda has posted several pictures with her family on Instagram, including a recent photo at Melanie’s wedding, a video with her mom for Mother’s Day in 2024, and another video dancing with her mom and sister in April.
The docuseries alleges that these posts are mainly for show and that Miranda is still close to Shinn. Meanwhile, Melanie called her interactions with Miranda “superficial” and said they were orchestrated for her sister’s social media presence.
“I am not held against my will and I’ve never been a hostage,” Miranda said in a public statement about the allegations that she is in a cult. “I go to church and I have faith in God. If one day I wish to pursue my faith elsewhere, I will and feel completely free to do that. As far as my career, my time at 7M Films has been one of the most exciting years ever and if one day I wish to partner with a different management company or start my own company, I will.”
Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult is streaming on Netflix.
