The exec is the third of nine Harmon children raised in a Mormon family on an Idaho dairy farm.
This year, Angel Studios plans to release six wide-release films, including period biopicCabrinion Friday.
Comedy and sci-fi are two of the many other genres in the mix.
Angel Studios CEO Neal HarmonSlaven Vlasic/Getty Images for Angel Studios
The companysdistributionof sanitized versions of Hollywood titles drew a lawsuit from Disney, Warner Bros. and other studios.
The following transcript has been edited for clarity and length.
DEADLINE: Before we get to any present-day stuff, I want to ask about your origins.
From left, Neal Harmon, Jeff Harmon and Jordan Harmon attend the L.A. premiere of ‘The Shift’ in November 2023. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for ‘The Shift’)
I read that you grew up in Idaho, but can you fill out the picture a bit?
NEAL HARMON:About 12 miles outside of Burley, Idaho.
Our closest neighbors were more than a quarter-mile away.
We had to put a hanger on the antenna to get it just right to get three channels.
DEADLINE: What were you experiencing in terms of pop culture?
Those three TV channels?
HARMON:We worked a lot.
I started moving pipe when I was 9 years old.
I bought a calf when I was 11, and we did anything we could to make ends meet.
My dad lost his farm when I was probably 5 or 6.
I dont remember if it was on TV or if it was on VCR.
DEADLINE: Did you have an entrepreneurial bent early on?
I only ever made it to 9 cows, and my first calf was a bull.
It was not heifer twins, which was part of the plan.
DEADLINE: In college, did you end up studying anything related to business or marketing?
HARMON:I served as a missionary.
When I was young, I was very interested in business.
I was interested in money and helping my family get out of our circumstances.
And I dont want to live my life not answering that question.
We failed spectacularly on the first business.
Then we ran out of capital.
DEADLINE: Rough timing with the financial crisis.
So, it took me about seven years to pay off.
I had taken money from family and friends, and I paid everybody back.
How did that lead to VidAngel?
HARMON:We started an agency before VidAngel.
DEADLINE: Did you have kids at that point?
HARMON:I had a 9-year-old boy, and I had younger daughters.
DEADLINE: Were you watching things with them and suddenly something you didnt anticipate would be on the screen?
That moment was so powerful that I just wanted him to see that moment.
Its a very provocative thing to alter someones work.
DEADLINE: Eventually, VidAngel was successfully sued and you decided to change direction and launch Angel Studios.
This is not unusual.
That was the only motivation at that time.
The company started a year later [in 2014].
But we got sued before we hit 200,000 customers a month.
So, what were doing today was the original goal.
DEADLINE: And did you see it as pushing back against the major studios?
I think that our audience also had a lot of anti-Hollywood messaging and that they resonated with that.
And they love their craft, theyre very good at it.
The only issue is the people who are deciding what stories should be told.
DEADLINE: Has Hollywood been receptive?
HARMON:Were working right now with the Screen Actors Guild.
We have a good relationship with them.
During the strikes, they gave us interim agreements and we were able to keep our productions going.
DEADLINE: WasCabrinione of those?
HARMON:It was done before the strikes.
They had projects that they were working on that they thought were right for Angel.
DEADLINE:Sound of Freedomwas such a phenomenon last summer, but it confused a lot of people.
There was the pay-it-forward model.
And there was also the way it was marketed.
I dont think people truly understand that or believe it, and over time, they will.
Theyll understand because I think well outperform the rest of the market because of their knowledge.
Theyll understand because they know that they can join as a guild member.
So, when you ask why did we take onSound of Freedom, how does that amplify light?
Well, the definition of light is actually, the ones who identify it are those 250,000 people.
Now, would we do it again?
Now, would we choose to politicize a movie?
DEADLINE: And when you say the guild refines films, do you mean in test screenings?
So, Ill give you a good example of a film thats coming out May 24.
Its calledSight, which stars Greg Kinnear.
That movie came to us as a finished film.
It scored 55 in the guild, which is not high enough for us to release the film.
So, we said, We cant take this film.
We said, it’s possible for you to recut the film.
We think that the film has good potential.
Theres a set of feedback.
And sure enough, thats what happened.
DEADLINE: What form does that feedback take?
DEADLINE: Are these films done as acquisitions?
HARMON:We dont acquire projects the way that the industry thinks of it.
DEADLINE: The filmmakers compensate cast and crew out of their share?
HARMON:Thats right.
Then the distribution costs were about $4.4 million, and then Angels portion was $17.8 million.
DEADLINE: So these are not rent-a-system deals.
We partnered with Sound of Freedom LLC.
DEADLINE: What about the IP for filmmakers you partner with?
Does the arrangement of the partnership contemplate any of the IP that is part of that universe?
HARMON:It is a partnership.
To other windows, to ancillary and derivative rights and such.
DEADLINE: Whats your view on episodic series?
Youve had this huge hit withThe Chosen.
Do you intend to kind of go down that path and do more?
In the streaming era, theres a logic to emphasizing series given the economics.
HARMON:Our very first show was a series,Dry Bar.
We believe that they are economically viable, that they provide benefit.
Yeah, 250 of it was fromSound of Freedom, but 50 was from three other films.
And there are smaller-budget projects.
Like, we just did an incredibly risky move, launching a sci-fi retelling of the story of Job.
Hollywood has learned over and over that the audienceisntalways right, that distributors can betoobeholden to audience feedback.
HARMON:The guild is 250,000 members today.
Its up 50% from last year.
It has members from 155 countries, all different types of cultures.
It is the most diverse group that you could test with in the world.
Anybody can join the guild and put in their vote.
But I think that the results, you know, show for themselves.
I think Christopher Nolan couldve used a little feedback loop, to be honest.
DEADLINE: What kinds of returns have there been for investors?
Thats an important part of the model.
That needs to be an important part of our story.
DEADLINE: Are these all individuals or do you have funds or companies also investing?
Everybodys got their money, and theyre getting a return.
DEADLINE: How do people join the guild?
HARMON:Just go to Angel.com/guild, and it has all the information there for how to join.
DEADLINE: Do you choose who gets to be in the guild?
Is there a vetting process?
DEADLINE: Where do you see Angel Studios in three to five years?
Do you have specific goals or benchmarks youre looking to achieve?
HARMON:Theres a business answer to that and then theres a personal answer to that.
DEADLINE: Ill take them both.
On the business side, we want to double our guild members this year.
We are required [under SEC rules] to be a public company by April 30.
At some point, were going to have to list our stock.
Wed like to build to 12 releases in a year, but not at the expense of quality.
We want the Angel brand to always stand for excellence in the kind of storytelling.
