Divot #18: Building Angel, Disrupting Hollywood, and Surviving $60M Disney Lawsuit
Oct 1, 2025
Neal Harmon, CEO and co-founder of Angel, transitioned from a dairy farm in Idaho to disrupt Hollywood by creating audience-driven hits like Sound of Freedom and The Chosen. He shares insights on surviving a $62 million lawsuit from Disney, emphasizing how hardships can foster resilience. Neal discusses the power of community-driven content and the innovative Angel Guild model that lets audiences greenlight projects. He also reveals lessons from viral marketing strategies that have helped shape Angel's success and the importance of balancing family life with ambitious goals.
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Audience As The Greenlight
- Angel flips Hollywood by letting the audience be the greenlight committee through the Angel Guild.
- Their average audience score is 93% versus Netflix's ~60%, showing audience-led selection outperforms executive-only decisions.
Audience Scores Predict Box Office
- Critic scores have near-zero correlation with box office while audience scores correlate strongly.
- Hear from the audience early to increase the chance of commercial success.
Test Creative Variations Relentlessly
- Test early and often to find the message that resonates before you scale marketing spend.
- Iterate thumbnails, titles, intros, and calls-to-action until a winning combination emerges.
