{"id":2015496,"date":"2025-09-12T00:17:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T00:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2015496"},"modified":"2025-09-12T00:17:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T00:17:15","slug":"angel-studios-utah-based-entertainment-company-goes-public-deseret-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/angel-studios-utah-based-entertainment-company-goes-public-deseret-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Angel Studios, Utah-based entertainment company, goes public \u2013 Deseret News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Angel Studios Inc. has officially gone public. <\/p>\n

The Utah-based entertainment distribution company behind the films \u201cThe King of Kings\u201d and \u201cSound of Freedom\u201d made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker ANGX on Thursday. <\/p>\n

Angel went public via a business merger with Southport Acquisition Corporation, a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC.<\/p>\n

Following the SPAC merger, the combined entity is valued at an estimated $1.6 billion on a pro-forma enterprise basis. Shares of the company rose 8% to $13. <\/p>\n

Neal Harmon, the company\u2019s co-founder, chairman and CEO, will remain at the helm following the merger. His brothers, Jordan Harmon, serving as president, and Jeffrey Harmon, chief content officer, will also maintain their roles. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis marks a huge milestone for Angel and our 1.5 million-plus (Angel) Guild members worldwide,\u201d the CEO said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cOur model and technology are leading a movement to reshape entertainment, empowering audiences as virtual co-producers.\u201d <\/p>\n

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The Angel Studios logo. <\/span>| Angel Studios <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

He continued, \u201cThe Guild selects stories that amplify light and timeless values \u2014 curating a powerful library through greenlighting films and shows for theaters, TV, or Angel streaming \u2014 and we\u2019re just getting started.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s mission \u2014 to build a \u201chome for stories that amplify light,\u201d or values-based content \u2014 remains solid post-merger. <\/p>\n

Arthur Van Wagenen, the head of business affairs and the associate general counsel at Angel, says taking the company public offers an opportunity to \u201cexpand\u201d its mission and \u201cdiversify the types of stories\u201d Angel shares. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe more support we have from the public and from the fans and moviegoers, the more that light will be diversified, and the brighter it will shine,\u201d Van Wagenen told the Deseret News. <\/p>\n

Angel Studios employees, investors and Angel Guild members celebrated the move on Thursday afternoon from their headquarters in Provo, and watched a livestream of Angel executives at the NYSE Closing Bell ceremony in New York City. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exciting to see the fact that Angel\u2019s going to be on the New York Stock Exchange,\u201d said Brett Vance, a member of the Angel Guild and investor in the company with his wife, Sherri Vance, who both joined the celebration in Provo. \u201cI\u2019m happy to be here for this.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Angel Guild\u2019s ongoing role<\/h3>\n

Post-merger, Angel Studios will continue to rely on its Angel Guild as part of its unique distribution model. <\/p>\n

The company\u2019s guild membership is a group of subscribers who get to vote on which projects Angel Studios should produce and distribute. In the last year, the group has grown from 222,000 to approximately 1.5 million members across 180 countries.<\/p>\n

Sherri Vance, a member of the guild and an investor in Angel, said taking part in the voting process makes her feel \u201cimportant,\u201d because \u201cyou get a chance to be part of the decision making process.\u201d <\/p>\n

Members of the guild are provided with sample of potential films or television shows and get to vote on whether or not they believe Angel should move forward with the project. They can also share comments and enjoy other benefits such as a streaming subscription and opportunities to see Angel movie premieres. <\/p>\n

During an appearance on CNBC<\/a>, Neal Harmon credited Angel\u2019s unique use of the Angel Guild as key to the studio\u2019s recent success. Guild members\u2019 votes on content have proven to be an effective method for selecting projects audiences enjoy. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe average audience score for an Angel movie is 93%, which is the highest in the industry,\u201d Harmon said<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The guild is also partly responsible for Angel\u2019s recent increase in revenue, Harmon noted. Angel generated $87.4 million during the second quarter of 2025, compared to $15.3 million earned in the second quarter of 2024.<\/p>\n

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A Trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, in New York. <\/span>| Yuki Iwamura, Associated Press <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The Utah-based entertainment company has routinely found success creating and distributing family-friendly, faith-heavy cinema such as \u201cSound of Freedom,\u201d \u201cThe King of Kings,\u201d \u201cCabrini,\u201d \u201cTuttle Twins,\u201d \u201cSight\u201d and \u201cThe Last Rodeo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSound of Freedom\u201d debuted theatrically in 2023, raking in nearly $20 million at the domestic box office<\/a> during its opening weekend.<\/p>\n

It earned more than $250 million worldwide during its theatrical run and ended the year as the 10th highest earning film domestically in 2023 \u2014 outperforming \u201cIndiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny\u201d and \u201cMission: Impossible \u2014 The Dead Reckoning Part 1.”<\/p>\n

In March this year, the animated movie about Jesus Christ, \u201cThe King of Kings,\u201d broke the record for highest-grossing debut for an animated biblical film, making over $19 million in ticket sales<\/a> during its domestic debut.<\/p>\n

When selecting content to distribute, Angel always considers how the story will impact families, future generations and communities. <\/p>\n

\u201cDeep down, we believe movies can change the world,\u201d Van Wagenen said. \u201cThe community act of watching an consuming cinema can unify people and bring people together in way that other art forms don\u2019t.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re committed to that mission of trying to find films and stories that unify people, especially in today\u2019s world that seems so divisive.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.deseret.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Angel Studios Inc. has officially gone public. The Utah-based entertainment distribution company behind the films \u201cThe King of Kings\u201d and \u201cSound of Freedom\u201d made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker ANGX on Thursday. Angel went public via a business merger with Southport Acquisition Corporation, a special purpose acquisition company, or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[21741,22167],"class_list":["post-2015496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-utah"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2015496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2015496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2015496\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2015496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2015496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2015496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}