Southport Acquisition Conference: Angel Studios CEO details guild-led model, licensing push, path to profit

Key Points

• Angel Guild is the company’s audience-driven approval system — with about 2.2 million members who vote on projects, a >70 score threshold to greenlight titles, and a revenue‑sharing model that Harmon says yields a global Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 93.
• Angel is pushing toward profitability, guiding to an adjusted EBITDA loss of less than $25 million this year versus a $138 million loss last year, and views theatrical releases primarily as break‑even community builders while relying on guild-driven revenue as the core monetization.
• The company plans to double its library and expand into third‑party licensing with partners such as Lionsgate, Samuel Goldwyn and StudioCanal, noting $360 million in guild revenue and $228 million in cumulative royalties paid, with international expansion to follow after U.S. scale and profitability.

Angel Studios CEO and co-founder Neal Harmon used a discussion at a Roth Capital event to outline how the company’s audience-driven model differs from traditional streaming platforms, why it is expanding its content mix, and how management is thinking about profitability, theatrical releases, licensing, and eventual international growth.

Audience-led programming and the “Angel Guild”

Harmon said Angel Studios was created as “a response to Hollywood getting increasingly out of touch” with mainstream audiences. Instead of relying on traditional industry gatekeepers, he described Angel’s central differentiator as the “Angel Guild,” an audience community that votes on which projects the company can distribute.

Harmon said the Angel Guild has 2.2 million members, and that Angel “can’t distribute anything without their permission.” He also pointed to several metrics and structural differences he said set the company apart:

• High audience ratings: Harmon said Angel has the highest audience score on Rotten Tomatoes globally, citing a 93 average compared with Netflix at 59 and other major studios in the 80s.
• Values-driven selection: He said guild members make choices based on values, rather than purely on mainstream studio preferences.
• Revenue-sharing model: Harmon said Angel shares upside with producing partners through royalties, contrasting it with the “guaranteed check” approach common across streaming.

Genre breadth beyond a “faith-based” label

Harmon pushed back on the idea that Angel is narrowly “faith-based,” describing the slate as “faith-friendly” but “genre agnostic.” He cited a range of programming aimed at different audiences, including kids content, romantic comedy, thrillers, animation, and historical dramas.

Among examples, Harmon noted “Tuttle Twins,” which he described as an animated show that teaches “freedom and economics,” and said Angel recently released “Solo Mio” starring Kevin James, which he characterized as a romantic comedy. Harmon also referenced a post-apocalyptic thriller aimed at a “prepper male audience,” a war epic planned for release this year, and an upcoming animated feature adaptation of “Animal Farm.”

He added that upcoming releases include talent such as Pierce Brosnan, Andy Serkis, Ben Kingsley, and Seth Rogen, which he said is helping expand audience reach.

Scale, market opportunity, and the content-voting process

In discussing scale, Harmon said Angel has surpassed 100 million app downloads and highlighted “Dry Bar Comedy,” which he said generates more than 1 billion views annually and about 6 billion views total.

He also cited third-party market data indicating that global TV and streaming is growing 21% year-over-year to $865 billion by 2034, while emphasizing Angel’s current focus on the domestic market. Harmon compared Angel’s potential scale to Netflix’s U.S. subscriber base, arguing that Angel could reach a similar level if it continues building awareness and trust in the brand.

Harmon detailed how guild voting works inside the app. He described Angel as “like a 24/7 film festival,” with creators submitting projects and guild members sampling and scoring them. He said the company uses iterative feedback—citing “Animal Farm” as an example where producers submitted multiple cuts, received feedback, and re-edited. Harmon said Angel will not take a project to market unless it earns a score above 70, framing the process as a way to “de-risk” titles before committing marketing dollars.

Profitability focus and the role of theatrical releases

Asked about longer-term goals, Harmon said the company’s strategy is to “always grow the Guild,” adding that the focus is now also on doing so sustainably. He said Angel is guiding to an adjusted EBITDA loss of less than $25 million for the year, compared with an $138 million loss last year, calling it a significant shift enabled by increased scale.

Harmon also described why theatrical releases remain strategically important, even as Angel operates a streaming platform. He argued that theatrical helps attract filmmakers and create community experiences that support retention, but said the company does not view theatrical as a primary profit driver. Instead, he said Angel sees theatrical as break-even and views “the actual guild revenue stream” as core.

As an example of Angel’s pitch to creators, Harmon compared two Kevin James projects: “Playdate,” which he said was sold to Amazon Prime for an upfront check and performed poorly with audiences, and “Solo Mio,” which James brought to Angel to participate in longer-term upside through royalties. Harmon also cited what he described as growing moviegoing among Gen Z and said communal viewing remains a powerful draw.

Licensing expansion, selective content ownership, and international plans

Harmon said the company expects to double its library again this year and confirmed that Angel is expanding into third-party licensing for the first time, including content from studio libraries. He said the guild’s revenue is $360 million, and that Angel has paid $228 million in cumulative royalties to filmmakers since inception. Harmon said those payouts have been large enough that one filmmaker questioned whether Angel had mistakenly added a zero to a quarterly wire.

On licensing partners, Harmon said Samuel Goldwyn Films is bringing titles to the platform, and that Lionsgate has sent titles and is sending more. He also mentioned StudioCanal and said Angel is seeing submissions from other major brands, including BBC and Universal titles, and expects “large master agreements” this year.

While emphasizing that “99%” of content will be handled through partnerships rather than Angel funding production, Harmon said the company made exceptions by acquiring certain high-performing titles after seeing engagement, scores, retention, and watch time. He cited “Young David” and the movie “David,” along with “Homestead,” “Tuttle Twins,” and “Wingfeather Saga,” as examples of content Angel acquired. He described those acquisitions as a “cold start” strategy akin to early-stage platforms needing to seed supply, and said he does not view that approach as a long-term norm.

Internationally, Harmon said Angel is prioritizing the U.S. market for now, while distributing some titles abroad via partners. He said “David” is going to 43 markets. Longer term, he said the company’s vision is to build guild communities market-by-market and in local languages once the business reaches profitability, enabling regional films to rise within those markets and potentially “bubble up” globally. He also referenced a Brazilian film submitted in Portuguese that scored high enough to pass the guild, which he said could serve as an early example of regional expansion.

About Southport Acquisition NYSE: ANGX

Southport Acquisition Corporation does not have significant operations. The company focuses on effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses or assets. It intends to identify business opportunities in the field of financial software space with a focus on mortgage and real estate verticals. The company was incorporated in 2021 and is based in Del Mar, California.

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