NRB Chronicles 2024 - Jared with Angel Studios

So I am here with now, you know, just every minute we get somebody new and exciting. So we're with Jared Giese, who is with Angel Studios. You can tell by his shirt there if you're if you're on Facebook and YouTube looking at that. But Jared is the chief distribution officer of what Angel Studios, those of you who are familiar with The Chosen, and many other theatrical releases.

I don't know why that wouldn't come out of my mouth. But so you know, to begin with, what what are you guys doing? What are you hoping to accomplish at the NRB? She's really this American hero that a lot of people don't realize or have forgotten. She was in New York City. She was an Italian woman that immigrated to New York City in the early early 1900s, late 1800s. And she really created this empire of hope with hospitals and orphanages and just really made an impact on America in the beginning.

So she, she's was this amazing figure. And so this story is just one of those things where you you watch it and you get inspired to what can I do around me? So that's that's coming out on March 8. And we've got three other movies that we're screening. We've got this movie starring Greg Kinnear called Sight that's coming a little bit later in May, a film called Possum Trot in July. That's about the foster care crisis, really a follow up to our breakout hit last year.

Sound of Freedom. So just a lot of films for people to get into the theater, to get into their local cinemas and connect with stories that amplify light in their local community. Right. And working with, I guess, a lot of Christian films over the years. Like, it's so critical that people come out, especially during open week, and then they said got it for the theaters to keep them where people can come seeing them. You know, we kind of vote with our money.

That's right. And the Angel Studios model not only is voting with your local theaters need to see that these are the kinds of stories you want in your local cinema. That's a part of it. The other thing that we've created is we call it the Angel Guild. And we're upending the entire Hollywood system where you've got this gatekeeper model where you've got a few guys, some few random dudes in Hollywood who are deciding the movies that we should be watching. And so with the Angel Guild, people can be a part of choosing the next movie that comes out from Angel Studios. So when you're a Guild member, I've got filmmakers, probably 20 a week that are sending us films. And at Angel, I cannot pick a movie that we're going to distribute.

Only the Angel Guild can. So we go to the audience and we say, vote on these movies. The Angel Guild, a thousand people voted for Sound of Freedom.

And because those thousand people voted, 30 million people saw Sound of Freedom in theaters really across America. And then if I'm not mistaken, because I'm pretty sure I'm a member and I'm pretty sure I also have invested, you can invest in films there at the same thing. You can invest either in the production on films that aren't finished or for films that we're just bringing to theaters, you can invest in what's called the P&A or the Princeton advertising marketing budget that it takes to bring these films to theaters. And usually those are reserved for elite investors and we're saying, let's go to the crowd, let's go to the people. And we want the people to be a part of choosing the films that come out, investing in them. We're really basically saying, you're the new Hollywood executive. So it's more than just showing up on opening weekend. It's being involved in helping tell these stories that are going to impact culture. Right, right. And it was so cool.

The Sound of Freedom was, I mean, what a great movie to come out with. That thing was huge and certainly brought a lot of light to an issue. I'm actually the host of Land and Rescue, which we've been doing that show for some time. It's on that very subject of people from Land and Rescue go around the world doing exactly what that film was about.

Oh, thank you for your work there. And so we were like, oh man, look at this. And the light that came out as a result of people understanding a little bit more of what unfortunately now is rampant even right in your backyard when you realize it at all.

That's right. Our prayer was that the film would spark awareness about a topic that a lot of people just want to push away and not engage with. So that definitely has happened. And we have the follow-up film in July called Possum Trot that's about a small church in East Texas that emptied out the foster care system in a 200-mile radius around the church. One of the things that we've learned since Sound of Freedom, and other people who work with this space more probably knew it, but what was surprising to me to understand is that something like 90% of people who are kids who are rescued out of child trafficking, they came out of the foster system. And so a lot of people saw Sound of Freedom and there's amazing nonprofits to get involved with.

They were asking, what can I do? The scenario in Sound of Freedom may not be the typical one, but really what's upstream from this whole thing is getting involved in helping the foster care system. So that's our hope with Possum Trot. It's such a powerful movie of something that I think we can all do to be upstream from this problem that was highlighted in Sound of Freedom. Yeah, it's unbelievable what happens in the foster care program and why that attracts certain people is obviously, here's these ready-made victims, right?

If the system doesn't do something about that, but obviously bringing a light to that situation is huge and you guys have that opportunity. But I'm interested, how did God call you into the Angel Studios? What's the story there? I started out doing missions work in the 90s through the arts and met my wife in this organization where we used the arts to spread the gospel. And so traveled and lived on a bus and it really opened my eyes to just the global body of Christ and the need for the gospel to be spread. And then that led into being a part of a platform called ChristianCinema.com, which was initially one of the first streaming platforms for faith content. So it really built a heart in my life for coming alongside these Christian filmmakers and creators who are really very much today's missionaries, but they don't have all the support typically of our missions organizations. They're mortgaging their houses, they're doing all these things to tell these stories and to make these films. And so my calling is to come alongside them and build platforms and infrastructure and help take these stories to the world.

And so that's something that's been near to my heart for the last 20 years. And then the last three years at Angel Studios has been just such a gift to see the massive launch and growth of The Chosen. And then now that we're launching, we just launched the theatrical division about 11 months ago.

And so it's just been a privilege to take these stories outside of just, I think for a long time we were with Christian bookstores and all that, which is a great thing. We were only kind of showing the movies to each other. And what's been very important to me is to get these movies to the theaters, because that's the public square. And if we're only going to show films and these stories to people who already think and agree with us, we're not going to have the impact.

We're not going to create change. We have to put them in the public square where anybody can go, what is that film? What is that? And then go into that space and the theater is a unique place where you put your phone down and there's no distractions. And you're in this group space and you get to watch this story that's going to open your eyes to someone's journey or someone's faith that you hadn't considered before.

And so we think that the theater is a very important way of transmitting these truths and light into our culture. And it's huge on a lot of different levels because if you have resources, if you're a filmmaker, you can get the things like Kappa Studios and other things that are there with Angel Studios that makes the product look like it wasn't homemade. This looks like a Hollywood film when you go to it. It's got actors that you can have some budget to get the actors that really take the role because, interestingly, I do radio drama and God provided me with Hollywood actors. And when they took your script that you wrote and then you listen to these people, it's unbelievable.

God give to talent to say a line that's a completely different world than getting the people you can find down the street to say the line. And then to market it because that's the other gigantic thing, right? That's right. There are so many movies that are great that no one has ever seen.

So it definitely takes that side too. One of the things that I think we don't understand is the difference between maybe the studio system and the filmmakers in Hollywood and the theaters. There's these different groups. And we think the gatekeeper model in Hollywood is what's broken. They're some of the best storytellers and actors and just talented people that are in Hollywood and people of faith that are there. And we want to tap into those because I want the best storytellers in the world because that's what moves our heart. When we see something powerful on the screen and Cabrini is this way.

When people see Cabrini, it's a true work of art. It is cinema. It is an amazing story.

Andrea Bocelli has a song at the end of the film. This is high at the top of class filmmaking. And those are the kinds of stories we want to go see in the theater. It's not just a cause.

I want to be entertained as well. And so we recognize that people are watching all kinds of things. So we need to tap into those filmmakers and tell them, you know what? There's an audience that wants these kinds of stories because I think right now with the gatekeeper system, they don't think it's possible.

They're being told, no. Oh, you want to do a story about that or you want to do a story about faith? Well, that's not for us. But the reality is that for the majority of Americans have a faith.

It's a funny thing we've had. Hollywood has convinced us that faith-based filmmaking is this niche thing that's for middle America or this small group and not no one's going to go. The majority of people, faith is a core part of their daily experience and yet that's completely missing in all of our movies. So what I've been telling filmmakers and people as we meet them in the Hollywood world is faith-based filmmaking is mainstream filmmaking.

It really is. And we have to get this out of our head. So I think that's what I'm excited that films like Sound of Freedom and Cabrini and all the stories that we're bringing from Angel Studios. We're hoping that we can create that kind of change in the ecosystem with the filmmakers, with the creators and these world-class actors and filmmakers to say it's possible for you to tell these stories and the audience wants to hear them. Right, because stories speak to the heart and Jesus told parables because they speak to the heart and Jesus hangs out in your heart. I mean it's not in necessarily people's heads and stories speak to the heart and if you don't think that's true, just think about what pastor's sermon was last week. What was his sermon?

Let me think. What did he talk about? What scripture did he use? Even my sermon because I'm a pastor, you know.

Or what was the name of the dog in the Wizard of Oz? I bet if you know that, you realize that that story is in your heart. That's right. And you can recall it immediately and that's why what you guys are doing is so critical, mainstream to touch hearts.

That's right. Well I think we're especially in this time, this post-modern time where everyone has their own truth and so how do you pierce through that? And I think a powerful story that's well done and is beautiful has the power to grip your heart. So I don't understand all the doctrines and all that but I saw that on the screen and that was beautiful and that was true.

And then the Holy Spirit can open the door for people to connect and for the gospel to be preached. And so Angel Studios, it's an app. Pretty easy. When you get there, you can find out all those resources he talked about. How you can become a member of the Guild. How you can pray for these films.

What films you want to screen. It's all there at their app which is phenomenal. Thank you, Jared. God bless you and all what you guys are doing. I'm just honored to have you on our show today. Thank you for platforming the conversation, Robbie. God bless.