For years, the Wilking sisters were inseparable. Passionate about dance since childhood, Miranda and Melanie found success as a duo on social media, raking in millions of TikTok followers and lucrative brand partnerships. In 2019, however, Miranda started spending more time with members of the church-affiliated talent-management company that represented her, pulling away from her close-knit family. Eventually, she cut off contact with them, leading her loved ones to believe there was more happening behind the scenes.
Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult, a new documentary series directed by Derek Doneen, tells Miranda’s story — and the story of many other dancers who, like her, ended up ensnared in the Los Angeles-based 7M Films management company under owner Robert Shinn. Melanie Wilking and the sisters’ parents, Kelly and Dean, made waves in 2022 when they publicly suggested 7M was a cult and that Miranda was being manipulated and exploited. The Wilking family is featured in the documentary, and their interviews provide agonizing insights into what it’s like to grapple with the sudden absence of a loved one who’s fallen under the influence of a charismatic leader. “I think audiences will be surprised by how easily regular people can get sucked into cult-like groups and how devastating the impact can be on families, friends, and communities,” Doneen told Netflix. “I’m in awe of the families who let us in as they worked tirelessly to rescue their loved ones.”
Dancing for the Devil also includes the testimonies of dancers and others who fled 7M Films and are now working to take it down from the outside. “This series is about exposing the wrongdoers and setting the story straight,” says executive producer Jessica Acevedo, “all with the hope of helping those still under the control of the church.”
While 7M Films was founded as a secular management company, its CEO, Robert Shinn, allegedly treated the organization as an extension of Shekinah, the church he’s presided over for decades. Several dancers who have since parted ways with 7M say that Shinn exercised an extreme amount of control over them, from how their dance routines should look to financial decisions, mandating that they turn over a large portion of their earnings to the church. On a personal level, the dancers were also encouraged to cut ties with the family and loved ones who were not part of 7M and Shekinah.
Robert Shinn is the owner of 7M Films management company, and also a pastor at the Shekinah Church. Both former 7M employees and church members have accused Shinn of controlling behavior.
In addition to Miranda Derrick, other dancers who were involved with 7M include her husband, James “BDash” Derrick, and Nick “Raino” Raiano. Among those who have parted ways with 7M are Aubrey Fisher-Greene, Kevin “Konkrete” Davis, Kailea Gray, and Kylie Douglas.
“For all of us dancers who left, it’s different to go from leaning on someone for approval for things and seeking their guidance on everything you’re doing to ‘OK, now it’s just up to me; I’m making all the decisions again,’ ” Douglas tells Tudum. “It’s almost like you’re relearning how to be you again.”
Beginning in the ’90s, Robert Shinn’s Shekinah Church attracted a number of devotees. “His brand of manipulation and control is typical of many other cult leaders,” Doneen says. Similar to the dancers in 7M, the original Shekinah members lost touch with family members, endured abuse, and handed over exorbitant amounts to the church. “Melanie and Priscylla [Lee] represent the earlier generation,” says Doneen, referring to two sisters who joined the church in 2001, falling under Shinn’s influence nearly twenty years before Miranda Derrick did. Doneen says he sees the Lee and Wilking sisters’ stories as parallels of one another.
“They were in Shekinah for decades,” Doneen says, “And we see the pain they experienced trying to come back together and rebuild their relationship.”
The Wilking family brought Robert Shinn’s machinations into the national spotlight, but it turned out that 7M was just the tip of the iceberg. “When we started, we didn’t even know about the [original] Shekinah group, which included the Lee sisters. We learned about Melanie Lee in real time,” says Acevedo. “There was so much information being reported that we had an Excel sheet with all the names of people tied to the church from the earlier years to today.”
Although Miranda and her family are on somewhat better terms and seeing each other on holidays for slightly stilted visits, she remains ensconced in 7M with her husband.
“I’m hoping that the dancers still in the management group and still in Shekinah will be able to see this documentary,” Douglas says. “I’m not sure if it will be hidden from them. Maybe they’re not allowed to watch it, but I’m hoping that they do and that maybe it will spark some questions in their minds and have them rethink about their lives before, as well as what their lives could be after this group.”
Watch Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult on Netflix now.
