Like any good proselytizer, Angel Studios is also globalizing Good News.

Utah-based upstart combines a focus on faith-based audience with crowdfunding and digital marketing innovations to deliver independent hits Voice of freedom and King of Kings, Its international operations are being rapidly expanded ahead of the planned IPO.

Jeffrey Harmon, co-founder and chief content officer of Angel Studios, held an episode of the event in London this week willThis is a new Bible-inspired British series, and Angel is launching alongside its UK partner Kova release.

Directed by Paul Syrstad will It is modern London, adapted the fifth book of the New Testament, The Apostle's Conduct, which tells the early history of the Christian church. This is a recently announced contract with Kova, the latest Angel Studios release King of Kingsan animated film about the life of Jesus Christ, which includes the voices of Kenneth Branagh, Uma Thurman and Mark Hamill; and Bonhoeffera biography of German Lutheran pastor and anti-Nazi dissident Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Earlier this year, Angel unveiled similar outputs reached with distributors in Europe, Latin America and Asia, including Saje distribution in France, Kinostar in Germany and Rialto in Australia and New Zealand. The company has now reached distribution agreements for most of the world, from Brazil (with Paris movies) to English-speaking West Africa (filmmakers) to Sri Lanka (Skyline Entertainment).

Most of Angel's business is still in the United States, but like The voice of freedom, The international box office totaled over $66 million, with more than $66 million King of KingsTo date, international issuances have revenues of more than $6 million, including $1.5 million in Brazil, demonstrating the global potential of the studio model. On June 16, Angel Studios will receive the first “Distribution of the Year” award at the Cineeurope Industry Conference and recognize the company’s index impact on the drama industry on the drama industry through its firm authenticity, thus producing content that resonates with its audience. ”

“It’s the rhythm of the world,” Harmon told Hollywood ReporterSpeaking of faith-based audiences. “It shouldn’t be likelihood of an allergic reaction to the belief in Hollywood. King of KingsSo far, the box office has been $67 million. Watch (Bible TV series) David's Housethis is the first show on Amazon Prime. The Faith Market is a large market, which is why we are a faith-friendly studio. ”

Harmon, along with his brothers Neal, Daniel and Jordan Harmon, and cousin Benton Crane, launched Angel Studios in 2023 as a "family friendly" alternative to mainstream distributors.

“We’re just trying to build a system to create that kind of product that we want to create for the family,” said Harmon, who is a Mormon like his brother. "I have six kids and I want them to grow up from the kind of movies and TV series that Hollywood no longer makes. We created studios to make those movies exist."

The company’s independent innovation is its Angel Guild program, where members pay monthly for access to studio distributions, as well as the green light for future movies and TV series and the vote for Angel Funding, a regulated crowdfunding platform for approved projects. In many territories, viewers can also use the company’s paid booking system, where people can buy it and then donate movie tickets for others to use.

At the end of 2023, the Angel Guild calculated about 250,000 members and now has 1.2 million people from 155 countries. "All of them voted on all the projects that went into Angel Studios and funded them," Harmon said.

Compared to the buyout model common on Netflix and other streaming media, Angel Studios’ model includes standard backend deals for filmmakers, which includes a percentage of revenue earned on their website, based on monthly viewing time or performance viewing time, i.e., the percentage of the entire viewing time of all available content.

For Angel Studios, this is not all going well. The company was born out of the collapse of Harmon Brothers' previous effort Vidangel, which released a version of the Hollywood studio film edited as "Family Friendly." In 2016, professionals including Disney, Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox and Lucasfilm filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Vidangel, alleging copyright infringement. After Vidangel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the studio won $62.4 million in damages, which eventually dropped to $9.9 million in settlement.

The company renamed it Angel Studios in 2021, and he focuses on producing and distributing original content through stock crowdfunding. Despite this hub, Angel Studio has encountered further legal disputes, especially with the producers of the Bible-themed TV series SelectedThis led to an arbitration award that Angel Studios breached the contract and was ordered to pay $5 million in fees and fees. Earlier this year, Slingshot Pictures filed a lawsuit against Angel Studios for alleged breach of contracts related to animated films David.

Angel Studios plans to release eight movies in theaters this year. Currently issued King of Kingsyes The last rodeofrom Fried green tomatoes Neal McDonough, starring directors Jon Avnet and Neal McDonough, has $11 million in the country; and Rule BreakerBill Guttentag's real life story tells the team of all-girl robots from Afghanistan, which has released $3 million in dramas so far.

Upcoming features include Zero adsnext movie Voice of freedom Director Alejandro Monteverde is a retelling of the biblical stories of Mary and Joseph, and the first in Monteverde's overall deal with Angel, which will allow him to directly play 5 to 10 theatrical films for the studio over the next decade.

Zero ads Besides that, angel slate is an open religious theme. Seth Worley’s Invisible Bible Course sketchAt last year’s Toronto Film Festival, people loved the audience, which bowed in August. Angel's Christmas release, A stranger's casefrom The lonely survivor Producer Brandt Andersen is a pediatric surgeon and daughter’s story, amid the Syrian civil war. Only mineAngel, who will release the theater in February next year, is Rom-Com, starring Kevin James, a groom who was left on the altar and decided to hold his planned Italian honeymoon alone. Young Washington, The early biopic of the first president currently shooting in the UK will bow on July 4.

"We have less than half of the faith element of our movies and TV series," Harmon said. "We are primarily a family-friendly platform with a faith-friendly side."

Harmon said Angel is revising its international distribution strategy based on demand in the local market, noting the “big differences” in global audience demographics compared to the U.S. and its evangelical audience of its large Protestant people.

"For example, Europe is a more secular market, for example, a market where the population is more faith-oriented than Brazil," he said. "There are they even prefer faith films to the United States."

Angel Studio's international partners include faith-based distributors such as Kova in the UK and Saje releases in France, as well as anti-trends including Kinostar in Germany and Spain.

“In a meaningful market, the people who perform best are based on faith, which is great, but in a market with different types of distributors, we do that,” Harmon said. “For us, it’s mostly about performance.”

The same focus is also brought to Angel's small screen slate, ranging from post-apocalyptic dramas home - Recently renewed its second season - Fantasy Series Pathfinder,feature Pirates of the Caribbean Actor Mackenzie Crook, Irish Comics Tuttle Twinsarrive scholarshipFrom the Will Director SyrstaldLord of the Rings) and CS Lewis (Narnia's Chronicle).

“We have faith titles in our slate, but Pathfinder Not faith, Tuttle Twins Harmon pointed out. "There must be a strong, broad and generally appealing story."

While not giving up on its religious roots, Angel Studios is “100% focused on growth” as it is ready to be publicly public, Harmon said. Last year, the company announced its IPO plan through Southport Aquisition Corp, a blank check SPAC worth $1.6 billion. IPO still has no date.