Yahoo News Angel Studios Entices ‘Sound of Freedom’ Director with a 10-Year Deal… And a House
Alejandro Monteverde delivered Angel Studios its top hit ever with Sound of Freedom, one of 2023’s biggest theatrical success stories with more than $250 million at the global box office. Now, the faith-based outfit has signed the director to a rich overall deal with some curious terms, including the purchase of a multimillion-dollar home for him.
According to Angel Studios SEC filings that lay out the terms of the deal, Monteverde, 46, has inked a 10-year agreement with the faith-based studio that will see him direct five to 10 theatrical films. It comes during a time of industry contraction that is seeing traditional Hollywood companies jettison expensive overall deals.
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But this deal comes with some interesting stipulations. The potential films from Monteverde will have to be deemed “theatrical worthy” in a rating system from the Angel Guild, the studio’s paid membership service that gives members (now numbering more than 300,000, per the company’s website) the ability to vote on future projects. The members are the studio’s greenlight authority, deciding on whether projects “amplify light.”
In addition to directing his own features, the Mexico native will consult on other Angel Studios projects, offer notes during scripting and postproduction, and mentor other filmmakers working for the studio.
As a part of the deal, Angel also has agreed to purchase a house for Monteverde with a retail value of between $4 million and $5 million at a location of his choosing. He will then earn 10 percent of the value of the home each year, with ownership being transferred annually during the duration of his deal. His annual salary from Angel will be adjusted depending on the purchase price of the home.
According to the filings, the total salaried compensation paid to Monteverde over the course of the pact is equivalent on a net present value basis to $12 million, though the agreement also includes stock options that could prove to be valuable, depending on company performance.
Angel Studios is known for Christian-themed content that is partially crowdfunded through its membership service. Films and series produced by the studio are distributed theatrically and through other output deals and on the company’s streaming service. Its first major success came with Sound of Freedom, which beat out many of the year’s bigger studio titles at the domestic box office, including the fourth Indiana Jones installment.
Sound of Freedom, starring Jim Caviezel and inspired by the life of Tim Ballard, a Homeland Security agent who embarked on his own quest to bring child traffickers to justice, earned $184 million at the domestic box office and another $66 million overseas. Much has been made of the studio’s “Pay It Forward” model, whereby people can buy and/or donate movie tickets for others to use.
No other Angel release has landed with the same impact, culturally or commercially. Cabrini, revolving around a female Catholic missionary in New York in the late 19th century and also directed by Monteverde, was released in theaters in March and grossed a respectable $19.5 million. Its latest release, Sight, about an immigrant eye surgeon, opened May 24 to $3.75 million.
The SEC filing also includes company financials that underscore just how important Sound of Freedom was to Angel’s bottom line. Per the filing, the company had revenue of $202.4 million in 2023 (that included $35.3 million in Pay It Forward revenue). That was up 168 percent from 2022, when it delivered $75.5 million in revenue (including $34 million in Pay It Forward revenue). Compared with a loss of $13 million in 2022, Angel posted net income of $9 million last year.
This story first appears in the June 5 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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