Bright Sun Films

Bright Sun Films Ltd. is a Canadian film production company known for its TV series' Abandoned, Cancelled, and Bankrupt, and its documentary, Closed for Storm.

Bright Sun Films
Bright Sun Films
TypePrivate
IndustryFilm
FoundedJune 12, 2020; 6 years ago (2020-06-12)
FounderJake Williams
Websiteshopbrightsunfilms.com

Bright Sun Films Ltd. is a Canadian film production company known for its TV series' Abandoned, Cancelled, and Bankrupt, and its documentary, Closed for Storm.

History

The studio was founded by Jake Williams in 2012 as the YouTube gaming channel Bright Sun Gaming. In 2014, Williams refocused the channel's content towards abandoned locations, causing him to later rebrand it to Bright Sun Films in 2016.[‡ 1]

In 2020, Williams announced and released his first documentary, Closed for Storm, on November 7, 2020 during the New Orleans Film Festival.[1] The film focused on Six Flags New Orleans, an amusement park that has abandoned since its flooding during Hurricane Katrina.[2][3] It was released on the streaming platforms Tubi and VOD.[4]

In March 2025, the studio partnered with White Lake Productions[5] to announce the documentary, Stolen Kingdom, directed by Joshua Bailey, which was released during the Florida Film Festival on April 11, 2025.[6] The film covers the 2018 theft of Buzzy,[7] an animatronic from Walt Disney World's Epcot ride, Cranium Command.[8][9]

In 2026 or 2027, the studio is slated to release a documentary on the decline of American malls; It was filmed at the Chesterfield Mall in Chesterfield, Missouri, which was chosen among a list of many malls that were being demolished at the time.[10][11]

Shows

Abandoned

The studio covered Disney's Discovery Island in an episode of Abandoned.

Bright Sun Films is known for their show, Abandoned, which focuses on the topic of abandoned locations; they have covered notable places such as Disney's Discovery Island,[12][13] Disney's River Country,[14] Vancouver's McBarge,[15] Circuit City,[16] Schlitterbahn Kansas City,[17] Kmart,[18] and Geauga Lake.[19]

"It's the unprecedented and truly surreal sight of seeing something that had been enjoyed by so many people just decay away." - A statement Williams made to Iowa Public Radio in 2022.[20][14]

Cancelled

Jake has covered the partially collapsed Hard Rock Hotel New Orleans before.

The studio also created the show, Cancelled, which covers cancelled and failed projects such as Titanic II[21] and Carnival's Project Pinnacle.[22]

Explore

An episode of Explore on a home with an infinity pool

Another series created by the studio is Explore (formerly known as Abandoned Adventures).[‡ 1] The show focuses on urbex, in which Williams documents himself exploring abandoned locations. Places that were covered include sites such as a former Days Inn, an abandoned a power center, City View Center, with Walmart as an anchor, and[23] the SS United States.[24][25]

Awards

Bright Sun Films was nominated for Best YouTube Ensemble during the 11th Annual Shorty Awards in 2019.[26]

See also

References

  1. ^ "#NOFF2020". noff2020.eventive.org. Retrieved 2025-11-03.
  2. ^ MacCash, Doug (2020-05-15). "Rise and fall of Six Flags New Orleans is topic of documentary by 22-year-old YouTube star". NOLA.com. Retrieved 2025-11-03.
  3. ^ Billington, Alex (2020-05-19). "Explore an Abandoned Theme Park in 'Closed For Storm' Documentary | FirstShowing.net". www.firstshowing.net. Retrieved 2025-11-03.
  4. ^ Shaw, Gabbi. "Haunting photos show a Six Flags in New Orleans that has been abandoned for almost 2 decades". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-11-03.
  5. ^ "Joshua Bailey's Doc Feature "Stolen Kingdom" Announced As Opening Night Film at the 2025 Florida Film Festival". Celluloid Junkie. Retrieved 2025-11-03.
  6. ^ "2025 Florida Film Festival". 2025floridafilmfestival.eventive.org. Retrieved 2025-11-03.
  7. ^ Shahan, Lauren (2025-02-14). "Trailer Released for 'Stolen Kingdom' Documentary About Buzzy Theft and Urban Explorers at Walt Disney World". WDW News Today. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
  8. ^ Meier, Cameron (2025-04-09). "Disney documentary 'Stolen Kingdom' plumbs the weird psychology of theme park explorers". Orlando Weekly. Retrieved 2025-11-03.
  9. ^ Osorio, Mateo (2024-12-30). "'Stolen Kingdom' documentary about Epcot's Buzzy animatronic premieres in 2025". Attractions Magazine. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
  10. ^ BROWN, LAURA (2024-11-04). "Chesterfield Mall is the 'every mall,' says documentary crew". West Newsmagazine. Retrieved 2025-11-08.
  11. ^ "Filmmakers document Chesterfield Mall for film about death of the American mall". spectrumlocalnews.com. Retrieved 2025-11-08.
  12. ^ Olito, Frank. "Disney World mysteriously closed an island 20 years ago and left it in ruins. Take a look inside". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-11-08.
  13. ^ "Man Camped on Disney World Island at Shuttered Park, Police Say". Archived from the original on 2020-06-03. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
  14. ^ a b Benestante, Brigit (2022-08-01). "What we've lost — and what we've found — in abandoned theme parks". NPR. Retrieved 2025-11-08.
  15. ^ Danyluk, Adam (2021-10-13). "This new doc gives an update on the iconic McBarge, Vancouver's floating McDonald's (VIDEO)". Curiocity. Retrieved 2025-11-08.
  16. ^ James, Andrea (2016-10-04). "Why Circuit City abandoned its 700 stores". Boing Boing. Retrieved 2025-11-08.
  17. ^ Holliday, Doc HollidayDoc (2024-09-01). "The Now Abandoned Missouri Waterpark That Never Should Have Been". 1070 KHMO-AM. Retrieved 2025-11-08.
  18. ^ Burlingame, Russ (2022-04-12). "Former Kmart Shoppers Mourn That the Once Retail Giant Only Has Three Stores Left". ComicBook.com. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
  19. ^ Wiley, Chelsea (2020-03-05). "This Video Of The Abandoned Ruins At Geauga Lake Will Hit You Right In The Feels". Columbus Navigator. Retrieved 2025-11-08.
  20. ^ Benestante, Brigit (2022-08-01). "What we've lost — and what we've found — in abandoned theme parks". Iowa Public Radio. Retrieved 2025-11-08.
  21. ^ Engineering, Interesting. "The Titanic II? Here's why nearly every attempt to build it utterly failed". Interesting Engineering. Retrieved 2025-11-08.
  22. ^ "Revisiting Carnival's Forgotten Pinnacle Project". TravelPulse. Retrieved 2025-11-08.
  23. ^ "Urban Explorers Give Modern Ruins a Second Life (Published 2020)". 2020-07-27. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
  24. ^ "Bright Sun Films: Exploring the SS United States". SS United States Conservancy. 2021-07-26. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
  25. ^ Cloud, Brady (2023-07-05). "Brady Cloud: "I Love The Big U!"". SS United States Conservancy. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
  26. ^ Staff, T. H. R. (2019-05-05). "Michelle Obama, Noah Centineo, Marie Kondo, John Mulaney Win 2019 Shorty Awards". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2025-11-11.

Primary sources

In the text, these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):

  1. ^ a b Bright Sun Films (2016-02-28). THE CHANGE. Retrieved 2025-09-27 – via YouTube.

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