Angel Funding

Overview

1. The German King previously ran as a short film at various film festivals and won many awards including Best Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Short Film. We intend to expand the vision of the short film into a multi-season series.

2. The Woman King recently did $97 million at the worldwide box office,** which shows the audience's desire for stories of courage in the face of overwhelming persecution. This also indicates that there is more interest than ever before in seeing people of color as leads in the stories of their heritage.

3. Podcasts, TV shows, and movies that show a forgotten side of history–Revisionist History, When They See Us, and Hidden Figures–have millions of viewers and fans. 

The Story

In the hands of oppressors, the history of the oppressed will slip away. 

The German King is a story of the heroism it takes to hold onto a people’s lost history. Set during The Scramble For Africa leading up to the First World War, The German King is inspired by the true story of Rudolf Douala Manga Bell–a German-raised African prince who becomes king after his father’s death. Estranged from his homeland, Rudolf returns to Cameroon only to find oppression, grief, and death. Confronted with injustice and compelled to act, Rudolf leads a rebellion against Kaiser Wilhelm II, a man Rudolf once counted as a brother. 

This is a moving series about one of Africa’s greatest forgotten heroes. Our vision is to tell Rudolf’s story in such a way as to reclaim and immortalize a royal heritage of bravery, nobility, and love.

Perhaps more than any other time in modern history, we need true stories of what it means to love your neighbor, even when that neighbor least deserves it. We believe The German King offers viewers a previously unseen view of African valor. Steeped in the dramatic history of the European conquest of Africa, The German King is the powerful story of one man’s heroic defense of the Cameroonian people against all odds.

Previous Runs

You may have heard of The German King before. It has been in film festivals all over the country winning awards like Best Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Short Film. The short film took home the award for Best Production Design and was the winner for Best Actor (Adetokumboh McCormack) at the Rhode Island International Film Festival. We were thrilled to have multiple film news outlets review the short.

“It becomes very clear that The German King needs MORE screening opportunities. If you want to see an authentic, beautiful and greatly performed film about history, then you should support The German King for sure!"
- Just Celebrity Magazine

“M’Cormack’s vision sets the precedence of authenticity and gathering historical pieces by aligning the sentiments of how the state of war can change the perspectives of family and one’s duties.”
- Black Star News

“It is clear that Rudolf is unlikely to succeed in his attempt to free his people yet M’Cormack never instills him with any sense of failure; rather a deep belief that what he is doing is right and that if he can do one thing, it is at least to set an example to his son and the people of Cameroon that they must struggle against oppression and that one day they will succeed.”
- The Consulting Detective

What Will The Show Be Like?

The German King is part Braveheart, part Black Panther, part 1917, part The Crown.* The story’s intrigue lives between the mores of Victoria or The Gilded Age and the epic feel of Game of Thrones.* It’s the timeless tale of the hero’s journey in a period piece.

We believe this story’s blend of high-stakes politics and personal valor creates a compelling world that will draw fans from several genres. The German King celebrates the royal threads and fantastic settings that make up the tapestry of African culture. Our hope is that we can pull back the veil of underrepresentation and showcase the forgotten worlds of the African diaspora.

*Success in other projects does not guarantee success of The German King. Revenue does not guarantee profits. There can be no assurance that the projected results will be obtained, and actual results may vary significantly from the projections.

**Revenue data for these projects are from Box Office Mojo, found at https://www.boxofficemojo.com.

Deeply Rooted Values

The German King  is a thoroughly human story. From plot to characterization, this show hopes to highlight the humanity of all people. Regardless of geography, race, or cultural background, the highest human calling is to treat another with acceptance, respect, and ultimately love.

We want to showcase the human condition, not just the beautiful, the good, and the true, but those undeniably uglier parts of us that we can learn from. It’s our hope that in doing so, what’s heroic can be emulated, what’s good celebrated, and what’s unjust renounced. The truth will out.

It’s worth mentioning that this story is a passion project born from a personal connection. Like the show’s protagonist, Rudolf, the show’s creator, Adetokumboh M'Cormack, grew up under colonial influence. Both were indoctrinated into a foreign culture, losing relationships with their own. Both came to an awareness of colonialism’s atrocities. For both, that awareness developed into a call to action. The German King is an expression of that personal connection and a testimony to the power of finding something of yourself in the story of another.

The Challenge

As our favorite African proverb says, “the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter until the lion speaks.” The creator of The German King, Adetokumboh M'Cormack, spent his younger years growing up in Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Kenya. It wasn’t until he left Africa that he began to learn about history before the German colonization. It never even occurred to him that there was history to be learned. That experience is what drives Adetokumboh’s passion to tell this story. The German King examines these real experiences being told through film for the very first time. Most importantly, it is an African story being told from lived experience.

By partnering with Angel Studios, the creators of The German King won’t have to compromise this view or surrender creative control to industry trends. We will have full creative control to tell this story the way it’s meant to be heard. Even though this series will examine hardships through Rudolf’s life, The German King is not meant to attack any group or historical choices; it aims to present humanity in its truest form. History is people, and it’s worth seeing this story told from a special perspective. We believe that Rudolf’s story is as epic as any Marvel superhero movie.

Angel Studios Model

The German King plans to bring this series to life in a way that traditional Hollywood has never done before, utilizing the innovative model of Angel Studios.  Angel Studios is a film studio platform that helps creators come together with viewers to create high-quality TV and film without the Hollywood guesswork.  How do they do that?  Producers like us use the Angel Studios’ platform to pitch TV content to you, and then you --the audience-- chooses which projects qualify to be potentially distributed by Angel Studios. By partnering with its affiliated crowdfunding portal Angel Funding, Angel Studios has also innovated a way to let the audience invest in these projects to help fund their creation and for investors to share in some of the profits of films and TV series that are profitable.

GENERAL DISCLAIMER: Investing in these early-stage companies involves a high degree of risk including the possibility of the total loss of your investment, and there is no guarantee of any return. You should consult with your advisors prior to making an investment decision.