Image: Courtesy of Angel Studios
The crowdfunding platform behind the acclaimed TV drama
The Chosen has raised $5 million to create an animated version of The Wingfeather Saga, the award-winning fantasy quadrilogy from Christian musician and author Andrew Peterson.
Last month, the Angel Studios campaign drew $1 million from investors in its first 48 hours, breaking a crowdfunding record set by
The Chosen. By Wednesday, investors had raised enough to fund season 1 of the new show, based on Peterson’s books.
“It ’s terrifying every time in a way it wouldn’t have been if a big company had underwritten the whole thing. But it ’s more gratifying to experience it in real time with encouragers,” Peterson told CT days before the series met its goal. “To take a deep breath and launch a big campaign and see these are the same people coming alongside you is a beautiful thing.”
Douglas McKelvey has been writing short prayers for years. Formerly a lyricist for artist Charlie Peacock and other Christian bands, McKelvey was also involved in the early work of Art House America, a self-described “artistic hub” and nonprofit founded by Peacock and led by Christian creatives such as Sara Groves.
In 2017, McKelvey published a book of daily liturgies called
Every Moment Holy, Vol. 1 through a creative collective called Rabbit Room founded by singer-songwriter Andrew Peterson. McKelvey’s recently published second volume is filled with liturgies for grief, death, and dying, released 12 months after the coronavirus pandemic swept the United States and killed hundreds of thousands. CT interviewed McKelvey about how his latest volume and the past year’s events shaped his beliefs on death and dying.