Angel Studios, Inc.

Early years as VidAngel

The company was founded in 2013 by brothers Neal, Daniel, Jeffrey, and Jordan Harmon and their cousin Benton Crane. It was originally named VidAngel, and its filtering service launched in 2014. The service allowed viewers to skip or mute selected content in films and television programs, including profanity, nudity, sexual content, and graphic violence.

In June 2016, Disney Enterprises, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Fox, and Warner Bros. sued VidAngel, alleging that the company had copied DVDs and Blu-ray discs and streamed filtered versions of their films without authorization. VidAngel argued that its filtering method was protected by the Family Movie Act of 2005. In August 2017, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a preliminary injunction against the company, finding that the studios were likely to succeed on their copyright claims.

VidAngel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 2017 and completed its bankruptcy reorganization in 2020. The company reached a settlement with the studios that year and agreed not to decrypt, copy, stream, or distribute Disney and Warner Bros. content without permission.

Following the reorganization, the founders shifted their focus toward producing and distributing original content through equity crowdfunding. The filtering-service assets were sold to a separate company, VidAngel Entertainment, while the original company was renamed Angel Studios in March 2021.

Equity crowdfunding

In October 2016, while copyright litigation against VidAngel was pending, the company launched a Regulation A securities offering. It offered a minimum of $5 million and a maximum of $11.25 million in Class B nonvoting common stock. The offering circular allocated between $2 million and $3 million of the proceeds to legal fees and expenses, with the remainder intended for research and development, advertising, promotion, and working capital. By November 2016, VidAngel reported raising approximately $10.1 million from more than 7,500 investors.

In December 2016, the company announced the creation of VidAngel Studios, its original-content division. Its first project was Dry Bar Comedy, a series of clean stand-up comedy performances filmed in Utah; the first episode was filmed in January 2017.

In late 2017, VidAngel partnered with The Chosen, LLC to develop and distribute The Chosen, a television series created by Dallas Jenkins about the life of Jesus and his disciples. The Chosen, LLC conducted a Tier 2 Regulation A offering with a maximum offering amount of $13 million to finance the first season. VidAngel provided consulting, technology, public-relations, marketing, and coordination services for the offering. By January 2019, the offering had raised approximately $10.3 million from 15,000 investors, making it the largest crowdfunded film or television project at the time.

Launch of Angel Studios

In March 2021, VidAngel was renamed Angel Studios after the company divested its film-filtering assets. It shifted its focus toward producing and distributing original films and television programs financed partly through equity crowdfunding.

Under the company's early business model, investors who financed individual productions were called "angels". Selected productions were made available free on the Angel streaming platform, and viewers could make optional "Pay It Forward" contributions to support continued production and access for other viewers. In 2021, the company acquired the domain name angel.com for $2 million.

Crowdfunding offerings for productions were made through the Angel Funding Portal. According to Angel's annual report, the company had sold VAS Portal, LLC, the portal's operator, in 2019. The portal subsequently operated independently, and Angel Studios retained no ownership interest in it.

Productions financed through crowdfunding included Tuttle Twins, which raised $4.6 million, and The Wingfeather Saga, an animated adaptation of Andrew Peterson 's fantasy novels. The latter raised $1 million during its first 48 hours and reached its $5 million funding goal in June 2021.

In January 2022, Angel Studios announced that it had raised $47 million in a financing round led by Gigafund and Uncorrelated Ventures. Alta Ventures and Kickstart Fund also participated, and $5 million of the round was raised from individual investors. In May 2022, the company announced a slate of 12 titles that it said represented more than $100 million in original content.

On September 10, 2025, Angel Studios completed a business combination with special-purpose acquisition company Southport Acquisition Corporation. Although Southport was legally the acquirer, the transaction was accounted for as a reverse recapitalization, with the original Angel Studios company treated as the accounting acquirer. The combined company had an implied valuation of approximately $1.6 billion. Its Class A shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ANGX on September 11, 2025, and closed 8.4 percent higher on their first trading day.

Launch of the Angel Guild

Angel Studios launched the paid Angel Guild membership program in the second quarter of 2023. Guild members review and vote on submitted film and television projects. If a project receives a sufficiently high score, Angel may conduct further due diligence and seek a licensing or distribution agreement with the filmmaker.

As of March 31, 2026, the company reported 2.22 million paying Guild members. Membership fees help finance future film and television projects, while members can vote on submissions and receive early access to some content and other membership benefits.

In a May 2023 company post, Angel identified His Only Son and Sound of Freedom as early films supported through Guild voting. The films grossed approximately $13.8 million and $250.6 million worldwide, respectively.

In July 2026, Angel stated that Guild membership had grown to 2.6 million paying members.

International expansion

In February 2025, Angel Studios signed a slate distribution agreement with Kova Releasing covering the United Kingdom and Ireland. Later that month, the company announced additional output agreements covering France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and markets elsewhere in Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia.