The movie studio behind the distribution of surprise smash Sound of Freedom hopes to repudiate the model of Hollywood gatekeeping that has kept the low-budget thriller about the global child-trafficking trade out of theaters for nearly a decade.
Angel Studios, a distribution company based in Provo, Utah, released Sound of Freedom on July 4th to a $14million theatrical debut – besting the Disney/Lucasfilm most recent Indiana Jones and forcing Hollywood to look twice at both the film and its distributor.
The film, which was once passed on by Disney, stars Jim Caviezal in a thriller about child sex trafficking.
Dailymail.com spoke to two of the Angel executives behind the successful release, which was in part crowdfunded by a group of studio loyalists.
‘We’re so excited about the box office success, but what that number actually represents is awareness,’ said Jordan Harmon, who co-founded Angel Studios along with his three brothers.
Sound of Freedom is about agent Tim Ballard, who quits his job working for the feds in order to skirt the bureaucracy that comes along with going overseas to rescue children from human traffickers
The film is based on the true story of former government agent Tim Ballard, who quits his job working for the feds in order to skirt the bureaucracy that comes along with going overseas to rescue children from human traffickers.
The studio had a goal of selling 2million tickets in its opening week to represent the number of kidnapped children across the globe.
On July 4, Sound of Freedom brought in $14million, while the newest Indiana Jones film earned only $11.5million, according to the Post Millennial.
The film, starring Jim Caviezel and Mira Sorvino, is playing at 2,600 theaters across the country, and has earned largely positive reviews, even from critics who are not fully on board with the studio’s apparent cultural alignment.
The movie currently holds an 88 percent fresh score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and 100 percent audience score.
‘Let’s assume that, like me, you’re not a right-wing fundamentalist conspiracy theorist looking for a dark, faith-based suspense film to see over the holiday weekend,’ wrote Variety’s Owen Gleiberman.
‘Even then, you needn’t hold extreme beliefs to experience ‘Sound of Freedom’ as a compelling movie that shines an authentic light on one of the crucial criminal horrors of our time, one that Hollywood has mostly shied away from.’
Part of the early success of the film is owed to the studio’s proprietary pay-it-forward technology, which allows moviegoers to purchase tickets for others who may not otherwise be able to see the film.
Sound of Freedom racked up more than $10million in presale, according to Variety.
R-L Neal, Jordan and Jeffrey Harmon at the premiere of ‘His Only Son’ in Utah
The studio is committed to a crowdfunding model that creates viewer buy-in that executives believe is helpful in building and maintaining a strong audience
Jim Caviezal stars in the film as Tim Ballard, an ex-government official who becomes a fighter in the war against child-trafficking
Based out of Provo, Utah, Angel Studios rose from the ashes of VidAngel, a streaming service that filtered objectionable content out of movies and streamed those films online for customers.
Several major studios, including Disney, sued the company into bankruptcy – the original owners ended up selling it after agreeing to pay the studios $10million.
It was also Disney that passed on the distribution of Sound of Freedom, leading the filmmaker to buy back the rights and approach Angel Studios.
The four Harmon brothers – Neal, Jeff, Jordan, and Daniel – co-founded the studio, which has had several major successes, including ‘The Chosen,’ a serialized drama about the life of Jesus – which raised more than $100million through fan funding to cover several seasons of production costs.
For this film, the studio raised $5million for its print and advertising budget.
The movie’s debut has also helped establish Angel Studios as a hub for not just faith-based content, but a wider variety of stories.
The studio’s projects will always be ‘faith friendly,’ Jared Geesey, the studio’s SVP of Global Distribution, told Dailymail.com.
He added it means ‘any religion.’ But the studio heads want to branch out to a number of other themes, so long as they ‘amplify light,’ the motto the team uses to select and guide their projects.
Angel’s crowdfunding model is integral to what the company’s leaders feel is their core mission – building a community around their content and establishing a committed base of fans who feel connected to the stories and the company.
‘Every major studio wants an IP with a very passionate community – we know the power of community, and can also build one from the ground up. It’s less to do with money and more to do with the community,’ said Geesey.
The studio does not have any plans to back away from the crowdfunding model anytime soon.
There is little reason to ditch the model for a more big-budget studio set-up. Grassroots investors in multiple Angel projects have been paid back amounts worth 120 percent of their initial investments, according to studio executives.
