David

If you want to see biblical stories told with the same quality as Disney or Pixar, then DAVID is for you! The biblical story of David is one of the most loved in history. DAVID’s creators are bringing this story to the screen with the moving authenticity of Prince of Egypt paired with the modern animation and musical fun of Moana or Tangled.  

Our vision is a movie that delights and entertains a wide global audience, while delivering a powerful spiritual impact and providing a glimpse of God’s heart.

“I have found in David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart.” (Acts 13:22)

FUNDS TO DATE HAVE BEEN USED FOR:

• Story development (draft 4 complete)

• Storyboarding and animatics ( animatic up draft 3 complete) 

• Research and Development (5 team trips to Israel)

• Character design 

• Environment design

• Pipeline development, testing, and growth to support film of this scale

• Animation tests

• Commencement of modeling the world and characters

• Music development (20 songs written in this phase)

• Voice-over philosophy and strategy developed

• Executive Music Producer attached

GOAL: Create the most influential biblical animated movie since DreamWorks’ Prince of Egypt. With a God-sized vision and a “slingshot strategy”, we believe that DAVID can become the most-watched animated film of all time.

PURPOSE: Share this moving biblical story with a global audience, especially those outside of the religious sphere.

APPEAL: Faith-filled content done right. Just look at the success stories of The Ten Commandments, The Passion of the Christ, and The Chosen!

ARTFORM: We want DAVID’s message to reach far and last for generations. Animation is arguably the best-performing movie and most enduring of all film genres.

COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL (BEYOND THE BIG SCREEN): Animated films have unparalleled revenue potential in consumer products, music licensing, immersive experiences, and Broadway productions (The Lion King’s stage production remains Disney’s highest-grossing property of all time, with over $8 billion in ticket revenue to date!).

PREVIOUS WORK: DAVID comes from the creators of the Jungle Beat brand. The Jungle Beat series broadcasts in over 150 countries with a YouTube audience of nearly 200 million views per month. Jungle Beat: The Movie ranked in Netflix’s Top 10 Movies globally in 2020, reaching 3rd place in the US, with an 80% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes.*

TALENT: DAVID’s team includes several of the most respected professionals in the film industry across the world, including senior contributors to the biggest films of the past two decades.

CROWDFUNDING: In 2021, DAVID successfully raised close to $5 million in crowdfunding, with the first $2.5 million invested in just 24 hours.

INSPIRATION

THE ULTIMATE UNDERDOG STORY

David is one of the most inspiring characters in human history. As a boy, he fought Goliath because no one else dared, and a few years later in life, his courage and faith inspired a generation of giant slayers.  His greatest achievement was not defeating a giant, but inspiring a nation to BELIEVE!  Warrior, poet, shepherd, and king, David’s life is one of incredible color and energy. 

This project is about more than a shepherd boy who took on a giant. David's story is among the most compelling in history. It points to God and challenges the image of an austere, unapproachable, and distant deity. DAVID portrays the possibility of a living, breathing, and transformative relationship with God.

THE MUSIC OF DAVID

A gifted musician and songwriter, David wrote half of the Psalms! What better way to portray his life than through a musical?

Grammy Award-winning Jason Halbert is the project’s Executive Music Producer. For over 15 years, Jason has produced and directed for Kelly Clarkson, including The Kelly Clarkson Show.

Before teaming up with Kelly, Jason was highly successful in the Christian music industry. He started his career at 19 as a keyboardist for DC Talk before founding Sonicflood.  He works alongside leading artists across the Christian and the secular music industry.

Jason is joined by songwriter Jonas Myrin, who won the Grammy Award for Best Christian Song with Matt Redman.  Apart from his prolific writing in the Christian worship space, Jonas has written for mainstream artists including Celine Dion, Nicole Sherzinger, and Andrea Bocelli.

THE MOVIE

OUR GIANT

Completing a major global theatrical release can feel insurmountable, but we face this giant with confidence that we “can do all things through Christ” (Philippians 4:13).

Large Studios have historically dominated the cinema industry, and it’s very difficult for small studios to have successful releases in the theatrical space. However, we are right in the middle of one of the greatest disruptions the world has seen in terms of how films are distributed and consumed, and we feel there is an opportunity to achieve unprecedented distribution for an independent film, by firstly creating a movie of incredible quality, and secondly through a distribution strategy that is innovative and harnesses the incredible power of community.  We believe that DAVID fills a hole in the industry; with drama, adventure, and courage to captivate beyond most faith-based films.

OUR VISION

We believe DAVID will become the most-viewed animated film of all time– an epic biblical story to delight the faith audience while also drawing a broader mainstream audience.

Achieving our crowdfunding target would make DAVID the largest crowdfunded entertainment project EVER. Our intention for DAVID is a global cinema release that builds on the extraordinary community we have built during crowdfunding, becomes a timeless favorite for the global faith community, and draws a major mainstream audience, who would not normally interact with biblical stories or messages.

In partnership with Angel Studios, and as an expression of faith, we set the goal of making DAVID the most-watched theatrically released animated film of all time.  This is not a goal driven by ego, but rather by a stretch of vision. We know that God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20).

* Please note, there is no guarantee of any return. The success of other projects does not guarantee the success of this project.

OUR DISTRIBUTORS - ANGEL STUDIOS

Angel Studios is a proven innovator in community-driven entertainment distribution, and we will add these principles to the best practices of a traditional cinema release.  Angel Studios’ phenomenal series The Chosen, has demonstrated that when faith-based projects are done right, they can reach millions of people.  In 2021 alone, The Chosen earned more than $63 million in revenue.*

Part of our strategy to make DAVID the most-watched animated movie of all time is to adapt Angel’s pay-it-forward principle to the cinema industry and invite ticket purchasers to pay for additional tickets, to be distributed within communities who may not be able to afford to go to the cinema.  A person’s first-ever cinema experience is incredibly powerful and memorable, and we love the idea of DAVID being the unforgettable first cinema experience for millions of people worldwide! 

*Again, please note, there is no guarantee of any return. The success of other projects does not guarantee the success of this project.

OUR DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY

Slingshot USA’s distribution agreement with Angel Studios provides for a marketing budget of up to 50% of our production expenditure, which is a healthy budget for an independent film. However, when compared with the marketing spend of major studios like Disney or Dreamworks, the success of DAVID relies on a “slingshot” strategy, and Angel Studios’ proven ability to innovate is key.

Distribution of DAVID will build on five strategic “pebbles” to take on the giant of major studio domination of the film distribution industry:

1. Building a community.  Angel Studios has built a “crowd” of investors and followers behind media projects, from funding through production. Once funding of DAVID is complete, roughly two years of production will continue before release. Together with Angel Studios, we will use this period to engage with and continue to build our DAVID community.

2. Engaging the Faith community.  Our initial “crowd” behind DAVID will be a small subset of nearly 2.5 billion Christians worldwide, which represents a massive global audience of families who already know and love this biblical story. While we are making DAVID for a diverse, global audience, we recognize that the Faith community is very likely where our “snowball” will start. Making a movie that authentically honors the biblical text is a passion and priority for us, and we believe that the Faith community will be delighted by the quality, entertainment, and spiritual depth of DAVID.

3. Global Theatrical Release Strategy. With Angel Studios as our distributors, we plan an innovative US theatrical release leveraging the momentum generated in the “crowd” and Faith communities described above. Internationally, our strategy is for Angel to appoint and manage distributors for each regional/national territory to achieve the best global audience possible.

4. Pay-It-Forward Cinema.  Angel Studios has pioneered a pay-it-forward model with The Chosen, which has been an absolute phenomenon.  We love the heart behind this model – giving away world-class, Christian content and inviting the community to give as well. This generous model has proven disruptive and successful commercially. The Chosen generated $63 million in 2021.*

5. A Truly Special Film. In an age where media content abounds and attention is competitive, the first requirement of a distribution strategy is to rise above the noise.  After that, our single biggest success factor will be the quality of DAVID. We embrace the challenge to create a film that you can’t stop talking about so that every person who watches becomes part of our marketing movement.

*Distributions of profits are determined by the managers of Slingshot USA, LLC in their sole discretion. And once again please note, there is no guarantee of any return. The success of other projects does not guarantee the success of this project.

OUR WORLD-CLASS, WORLDWIDE PRODUCTION TEAM

DAVID attracts a gifted and experienced team of artists, animators, filmmakers, and music professionals from across the world (at least 14 countries). Our crew includes senior contributors who have worked on some of the most iconic and successful movies of the last two decades, including Finding Nemo, Moana, Tangled, Big Hero 6, and Soul.