A Content Creator Says Bank Refused Her Loan After Learning How She Makes Her Money

A content creator and reality show producer says a bank refused to lend her 2 million Canadian dollars she had invested in a reality show after learning about her occupation.

Canadian creator Isla Moon, 25, is producing and hosting a reality fishing show called “Reel Rivals,” which features adult content creators. The show will premiere on Amazon Prime in the United Kingdom on September 3rd. She runs her own production company, hires over 60 employees, and funded the series herself.

Moon said the funding request was poorly timed.

“On the day before shooting, I needed more funds,” Moon said. “I had around two million Canadian dollars invested and wanted to borrow against those investments instead of selling them.”

It’s a regular practice to borrow against investments instead of selling them. That’s how you can get cash without selling.

“But the bank asked what I do for work and my investment advisor was honest. Usually I say ‘safe for work’ version because I know what can happen if they learn the truth,” she said.

According to her, the bank reacted quickly.

“They said, ‘We can’t do anything. We can’t invest your money.'”

Moon said there was nothing else but to sell her investments, including her retirement funds, to pay the production expenses.

“I had to liquidate everything to pay my crew,” she said. “They’re all on payroll, and I had to send at least $250,000 for payroll. I also had to pay half of the deposit for the house we were filming in that day, so there were a lot of expenses.”

“I liquidated it all, my retirement, and I paid my crew on time.”

Moon didn’t name the bank. She said she had problems with banks before.

“I’ve had banking issues before. This wasn’t the first time,” she said. “People don’t realize this is a legal business. I pay my taxes, I pay my crew, I pay my invoices, and I fund the production myself.”

She said she faced similar resistance when creating the show in Florida, where she tried to get some local production tax credits for hiring local workers.

“I wanted tax credits because they benefit productions that hire local crew,” she said. “But Florida said no because the show features OnlyFans creators, so I didn’t get those benefits.”

The money-related problems occurred amid the market downturn and the loss of the filming location.

“It was the day the stock market crashed. It was the worst timing,” she said. “And the day before shooting, the house we planned to film in for the month suddenly wasn’t available anymore.”

Moon found a new house, but it was costly.

“I found another house, but it cost about $250,000 for the month. I thought, ‘That’s a down payment on several houses.'”

She eventually lost her security deposit because of the dispute with the house owner.

“I took photos before we moved in because something seemed off. I could’ve gone to court, but I didn’t have time while running a production. So I said, forget it. Keep the money. But the budget kept going up.”

Moon said she was already in too deep to stop and kept funding the production herself to keep her crew paid.

Moon said this case is an example of bias against people in the adult industry who can’t run serious businesses.

“Some of my friends have trouble getting their business expenses approved,” she said. “People don’t realize you can have legitimate business costs – things like lingerie, toys, tripods, extra phones.”

Some creators have been struggling for years to get those expenses approved, she said.

“The moment she said she’d go to court, they accepted all her expenses,” she said. “They know it won’t hold up.”

“So it’s really just men unhappy with what we do for work.”

Moon said creating and directing came from her long-time passion.

“I’ve always liked making films. I didn’t go to school for it, but in high school I spent my lunch hours making silly horror movies with my friends,” she said.

She invested more than $4.5 million of her own money in “Reel Rivals”, hiring and paying a production team and managing budgets and other financial aspects as any other producer does.

The goal of the show, she said, wasn’t to prove anything to the people in it.

“Reel Rivals was never about proving that sex workers are intelligent. They already are. It was about giving them a chance to be seen beyond the narrow perception of society.”

The show introduces viewers to the people behind the work.

“They’re adult entertainers, but that’s only one aspect of their personality, not the whole story.”

“Reel Rivals” premieres on Amazon Prime in the United Kingdom on September 3rd.