<\/p>\n
\n\tUtah-based Angel Studios<\/a>, the company founded by three Mormon brothers attempting to upend the Hollywood system by allowing under-served audiences to help build a slate of faith-based and value-centric films, including 2023 sleeper hit Sound of Freedom<\/em>, has found a new nesting ground.<\/p>\n \n\tOn Thursday, Angel founders Neal, Daniel and Jeffrey Harmon rang the closing bell of the New York Stock Exchange in celebration of becoming a publicly trading company under the ticker symbol ANGX, the result of a long-gestating SPAC merger that will infuse the company with cash as it seeks to disrupt the Hollywood establishment.<\/p>\n \n\tThe company\u2019s share price rose by 10%, suggesting an eagerness from the public to buy into their vision.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cHollywood is out of touch with mainstream audiences,\u201d Neal Harmon told The Hollywood Reporter<\/em> in an interview. \u201cThis is a step in the process for us. We have 1.5 million Angels Guild members who are deciding what content we release, and then we have almost 70,000 investors to provide the liquidity. We have a mission that we\u2019re trying to reach, and we need to fill up the gas tank. That\u2019s what this process has done for us.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAmong the company\u2019s digital marketing and crowdfunding innovations is, as Harmaon noted, its Angel Guild program, in which its members pay a monthly fee for access to the studio\u2019s releases as well as a vote in the greenlight process of future films and TV series. Angel is also a pioneer in using crowdsourcing to raise money for marketing costs.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cNow that we have the tank full, it\u2019s all about execution as long as we execute and we continue to grow the Guild, we had planned to list that when we had 1 million Guild members, now we have 1.5, so we\u2019re ahead in that respect, but we now need to grow the Guild to 5 million Guild members and 10 and a hundred,\u201d Harmon adds.\u00a0\u201cThat\u2019s what we intend to do is to grow this community and reach more people and the price of the stock will take care of itself. We\u2019re not worried about it in the short term. There\u2019ll be a lot of volatility in the short term, but this is a long term company.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe outfit has endured its share of challenges, however, and was involved in an acrimonious breakup with the The Chosen <\/em>filmmakers (the series was an early victory for Angel\u2019s digital platforms).<\/p>\n \n\tAngel Studios opted not to go the traditional IPO route when deciding to go public. Rather it completed a SPAC merger with Southport Acquisition (SPAC stands for special purpose acquisition company) after securing a $100 million credit facility with Trinity Capital. The combined entity is valued an $1.6 billion in pro forma enterprise value. <\/p>\n \n\tNeal Harmon, co-founder and CEO, will continue to lead the company post-merger. Jordan Harmon is president, and Jeffrey Harmon is chief content officer.<\/p>\n \n\tAngel doesn\u2019t turn out just faith-based fare. Its overall mission is to build a home for stories that \u201camplify light\u201d and promote value-driven storytelling, such as Sound of Freedom<\/em>, which earned north of $250 million at the global box office in summer and made Angel a household name. And its online platform carried the hit series The Chosen<\/em>. To date, the company has released 36 films and 21 television series, whether in cinemas, on television or on its digital streaming platforms.<\/p>\n \n\tMost recently it released the 2024 comedy fantasy film Sketch<\/em>.<\/p>\n \n\tAccording to the Harmons, Angel had the highest per-release domestic box office average of any independent studio from 2023-2025, including A24, Focus Features and Searchlight Studios. After Sound of Freedom<\/em>, its biggest office win was this year\u2019s animated The King of Kings<\/em>, which earned north of $77 million globally. And in summer 2023, Angel became the talk of the town when Sound of Freedom <\/em>outgrossed such event pics as Indiana Jones at the Dial of Destiny<\/em>.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThe SPAC doesn\u2019t exist anymore now that we\u2019re a publicly traded company,\u201d said Neal Harmon. \u201cThis vehicle allowed us to have control of the company in the public markets so that we can make sure that the Guild continues to call the shots and greenlight our films. Rather than being acquired or having some kind of a hostile takeover of Angel\u2019s mission, we get to control the mission moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tEarlier this year, Angel was among the official studios presenting its slate to theater owners at CinemaCon. Upcoming Angel theatrical releases include The Senior<\/em>, starring Michael Chiklis (Dec. 19) and the December release Zero A.D.<\/em>, starring Jim Caviezel and directed by Alejandro Monteverde, who directed Sound of Freedom<\/em>.<\/p>\n \n\tAngel inked a 10-year deal<\/a> with Monteverde last year.<\/p>\n \n\tAnd the company is beginning to pursue a more aggressive international strategy<\/a>, taking its films around the world.<\/p>\n