A prominent venture capital firm is leading an investment of $47 million into family-friendly Angel Studios as part of an effort to "remake" the entertainment industry.
The $47 million investment, announced Wednesday, is a major boon to the studio that is behind such mega-hits as The Chosen and Dry Bar Comedy. Gigafund, a venture capital firm that also backed SpaceX, led the investment alongside Bain-backed Uncorrelated Ventures, which invests in infrastructure software.
Neal Harmon, co-founder and CEO of Angel Studios, said the investment could dramatically impact the entertainment industry over the next decade. Unlike Hollywood companies, Angel Studios crowdfunds its projects. For example, Angel Studios raised $5 million from 7,000-plus backers to produce the animated series The Wingfeather Saga.
"This is significant – less because of the money and more because of the caliber of partners and the boldness about where Angel Studios is headed," Harmon told Christian Headlines. "We fully intend that in a decade, that the face of media will be changed and Angel Studios will have played a major, major role in altering how media is funded, greenlit, produced and then distributed to audiences. And we believe that the heart of that change is that the community needs to become owners of the story."
Hollywood, he added, "has lived in a bubble for so long."
"It doesn't match what all creators want to make and what all audiences want to see. The stronger that bubble becomes, and the more the disconnect happens between Hollywood and audiences – then the more opportunities there are" for Angel Studios, Harmon said.
Angel Studios, Harmon said, will produce "stories that amplify light." Harmond defines "light" as "whatever is true, honest, authentic, just, worthy of praise."
Gigafund has invested $1 billion in SpaceX since July 2017. A news release said the investment will "give Hollywood a remake."
"Angel Studios helps creators build a direct relationship with their fans and produce meaningful and compelling content for hundreds of millions of people who have been underserved by the entertainment industry," said Stephen Oskoui, managing partner of Gigafund. "We believe that Angel is on track to rewrite the rules of the media business and have a significant impact on culture."
Photo courtesy: Unsplash/Glenn Carstens-Peters
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
