What I Learned Trying to Submit a torch to Angel Studios

By Gerald Martin Davenport on September 22, 2024, Updated November 21, 2024
Reading Time: 4 minutes

"Doubt Your Doubts, Not Your Faith"

A phrase that was told to me many times by members of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints and sticks with me as I write this article about Angel Studios: a company founded by two members of the church.

Before Angel Studios, there was VidAngel in 2014 by brothers Daniel and Jordan Harmon. According to the Deseret News, the, then, streaming service that allowed users to remove content they found objectionable from Hollywood movies and TV shows “attracted enough customers and irritated enough Hollywood studios that a court issued a preliminary injunction ordering it to stop its streaming service.

“Originally founded as VidAngel, Angel Studios is a media and distribution company started by a group of Latter-day Saints — Neal Harmon, Daniel Harmon, Jordan Harmon, and Benton Crane. The company works through crowdfunding where investors fund projects and see returns on their investments depending on the success of the project. Angel Studios is known for producing family-friendly content.” [Hanna Seariac - Deseret News - May 17, 2023]

There is a communication and semantic misunderstanding when describing what Angel Studios actually does.

Searching for Righteous, Positive, and Giving Producers

Since I became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2014, I have been searching for righteous, positive, and giving producers to help me make movies to lighten the world that educate, entertain, and motivate people to become better than who they are and share their love with others.

Finding people who have love in their hearts is not a difficult task; they do exist. I know many of them. Finding people with love in their hearts who want to help change the entertainment world and make it safe for families to view is not easy. Mark Hoffman told me about Angel Studios in February of 2024, and I investigated it. At first, it was unclear what they did and how I could get my stories/ideas to them to get them funded. After a few hours of searching the site, I found a page that mentions torches. Angel Studios website says “A torch is a short film prototype used to demonstrate a filmmaker's ability to produce, direct and tell a captivating story.”

After viewing several torches, I found the requirements to submit a torch:

• Must be 5 minutes long
• Continuous Scenes
• High Quality Production: must look like what you envision the finished project to look like
• Not a trailer or a reel
• No filmmaker pitches
• No books or screenplays
• No credits
• No brands or Websites

WHAT? The 5 torches I watched, two were introduction/pitch/reels, one had credits, and the others were three minutes long. Was the website out of date or not completely updated? Was there a change in submission policy and they linked to the wrong videos? Do they not review their website to verify the content?

They want a 5 minute finished looking project?

That is going to cost at minimum $10,000, depending on the story I want to submit. Cast, Locations, Equipment, Post-production, and Music. And that is for nothing with visual effects. It could be up to $50,000 just to make a 5 minute video to show them the look at feel of the story without actually knowing the story. What?

Unimpressed as well as confused, I did not pursue learning any more about Angel Studios and told Mark about my experience. Mark started to tell me about their history when I told him "I read about it and that is awesome and great, but what does that do for me trying to get my movies made with their help? "

Revisiting Angel Studios Torch Submission

In August of 2024 after pushing my Producer Search on Facebook, LinkedIn, Email Blasts, and a few phone calls from March to August, I thought about submitting Petite Chardonnay. It has a completed look, but it is not the movie I wanted to submit. Yeah, I love the story, I am proud of it, and I have confidence in it, I just have others that I think fit better to today's viewers. But it is done, and if it gets made, it could propel your status and then make what you want.

I went back to Angel Studios torch submission page and there was only one torch they showcased, again it was someone pitching their story. Once more, no confidence in their operation. And since February 2024, The Choice, which I was under the impression they created and produced, they only distributed it, left Angels studios. I did noticed that Angels Studios mentioned there are distributors on their website not content creators. Hmmmm.

There was a small area that said they would help find funding for unfinished, incomplete, or in the beginning stages of production, but emphasized that they are in the business of distribution not creation. I decided to submit Petite Chardonnay as Chardonnay and pieced a 12.5 minute segment that told as much as story as I could showing the emotions and most of the actors.

Chardonnay Torch - In Order of Appearance: Gary L. Conover - Richard James Oak, Michael Klemp - Michael Robert Oak, Karly Avva - Chardonnay Syrah Oak, Jacob Ambrosini - Young Michael Oak, Nolan R. Bourassa - Darrel, C.J. Berdahl - Martin, Getta Sosine - Teresa Marie Oak, Charlie Merlo - Jessie Kreger, Rob Tillitz - Gary, Krystina Mae - Marilyn, and Cynthia Gatlin - Agnes.

I signed the contract that there was no nudity, bad language, and other family safety requirements, uploaded it, filled in the required information about the film/story, and got to the last page to finalize the submission when it says to pay $250.00.

WHAT?! $250.00? When and where was this info when I began the process? Ah. I noticed at the bottom of a paragraph of the things I need when submitting, it says "and a fee." Funny. It did not say the amount of the fee and it did not focus on that is was going to be an enormous amount.

I stopped and got a hold of Mark and asked if he submitted his yet. He siad no, and I told him about my experience. He was surprised that it was that much and was stunned that the fee was that much. They went from $100 in February. Mark believed it was to eliminate the riff raff submitting. I retorted with “It is their job as the committee to review them, that is what they chose to do, making it more money to submit to make it easier for them actually eliminates unknown great stories from people that cannot afford $250. Of course if you could afford $10,000+ to make the 5 minute torch, I guess you can afford the $250, if you have any of the money left. And getting a torch from someone who can afford the to make a torch and the fee, soes not mean it is any good.”

Contacted Tanner Nash

On every page of the submission there was Tanner Nash's email address to ask for help with torch submissions.

August 15, 2024
Greetings Tanner et al at Angel.

I began submitting a torch and got to the end to submit and saw you want $250.

I am not sure if any of you are filmmakers, independent filmmakers, but the reason why we are submitting to Angel is because we are in search of financing to make our movie.

When I first looked at submitting, I saw I needed to submit a torch that was a reflection of the finished product. What? that is going to take thousands of dollars -- not an easy task for independent filmmakers, and when I say independent I mean it in the truest sense not just not being attached to a studio, but no one famous or in the industry. I guess there needs to be a new category of filmmakers: outside filmmakers.

Fortunately I have a finished product that I spent 25,000$ of my own money on, but is not the story I wanted to submit. I just want to get my name and talents, as well as the people I work with on the radar of positive, uplifting, and educational, along with entertaining people. I am hoping that this will propel the career of bringing spiritual light into the darkened entertainment world with Angel's help.

My question, not questioning the fee, but what is the $250 fee used for? I know if I want to be a member of the guild it is $20 a month. Just wondering why there is a fee to submit a torch?

In positive, respectful love and energy
- gerald martin davenport
- God bless.
   

I received no reply after three weeks, so I resent it. No reply again. Mark and I had a lengthy phone conversation after we watched a stream of them talking about how much money they had just gotten after opening up the company to public stocks. I wondered if they knew a filmmaker was watching or if I was supposed to be watching, but Mark gave me the link, and I watched. I was appalled at their joyous smirks, especially when someone asked if there would be dividends. They said, "No, we put the money back into building the brand." But you just received 500 million dollars. What more do you need to build? They are like George Lucas, who created his effects studio for those who could not afford the then-Hollywood elite studios to make their films. Once he became the place to go, he became elite and ignored those that he used to be not able to afford the elite.

I sent an email on August 30, 2024, and several other times to the main help section to remove/delete my account, as I would not complete my torch submission to Angel Studios. On September 22, 2024, the day of writing this article, I received no replies. I get personalized emails and phone calls from three of the largest conglomerates in the world: Apple, Google, and Disney (three places they bad-mouthed).

Not all Latter-day Saints are honest?

I joined the church with an understanding that all members followed a moral line, a code, and honor, which made me feel good that I was a member of a worldwide group of like-minded people. As I wrote in the beginning, Doubt Your Doubts, Not Your Faith, There is nothing that will ever make me lose my love and faith in Jesus Christ, but seeing the abuse and use of the church and hiding behind its standing to increase your wealth is disgusting. I guess anyone can lie about calling themselves a Mormon, if they were one once, and abuse the hard work that Mormons, or Latter-day Saints as we call ourselves now since Joseph Smith did to prove to everyone that we are family-centric, Christians, who love our savior Jesus Christ and want nothing more than to help everyone know of and reunite them with our brother and father. I guess all Latter-day Saints are not honest. Please tell me these people who run Angel Studios are not church members anymore, or ever were.

What did I learn trying to submit a torch to Angel Studios?

Angel Studios is no different than any other "for Profit" company. They may have started with good intentions, giving people entertainment without being belittled, having to listen to foul language, and being subjected to unholy images, but it is not an angel from heaven as it pretends to be. Their doors are closed to the most accurate meaning of independent filmmakers because we are not in their elite, established content creator standing. Some companies made their names and status with unholy entertainment and then decided to change their path — which is fantastic, but what about those that have always been faith and family-based? When do we get our chance?

Where is their integrity and honor? Do not give me excuses why they have not responded, it makes you look stupid. There is no excuse for not following through with what the makethemselves appear to be. Why allow us to contact them and not have any feedback. Heck, a automated reply saying we got your email and will be in touch with you would be a start. Then follow it up with an actual reply.

Remember: Lights on for safety. eEen during the day