Posted on 08/08/2023 10:00:15 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Days after one of the over 6,600 investors who helped crowdfund the box office hit “Sound of Freedom” was arrested on kidnapping charges, the studio behind the film is clarifying its fundraising policy.
Fabian Marta, 51, of Missouri, was arrested by St. Louis police on July 21 and charged with felony child kidnapping. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.
According to a report from a local CBS affiliate, Marta allegedly “helped somebody who had unlawfully taken her children and interfered with the return of the two children to their lawful parent by refusing to allow police access to the residence and impeding the kidnapping investigation.”
His next court date is set for Aug. 28.
After Marta’s name was identified in the closing credits of “Sound of Freedom,” Angel Studios, which released the film, released a statement Friday outlining that “everyone who meets the legal criteria can invest” in the studio’s projects.
“Angel Studios adhered to the requirements of federal and state laws and regulations in allowing 6,678 people to invest an average of $501 each into the launch of Sound of Freedom," said Neal Harmon, CEO of Angel Studios.
“Just as anyone can invest in the stock market, everyone who meets the legal criteria can invest in Angel Studios projects. One of the perks of investing was the ability to be listed in the credits.”
Harmon added his gratitude for law enforcement efforts leading to the arrests of “dozens of traffickers” following the film’s release.
“Our film speaks to this globally-pervasive problem, and it is our hope that perpetrators everywhere will be brought to justice no matter who they are and that even more people will see the film to raise awareness,” he added.
Following Marta’s release, several mainstream media outlets mischaracterized Marta as a key financial player in the film’s release. One channel, Discussing Film, which has over a million followers on Twitter, described Marta as a “major financier” for the film.
The tweet was later updated by community notes to include the information that Marta was one of thousands of investors.
Based on the real-life story of Tim Ballard, a former government agent who left his job to rescue a child from sex traffickers in the Colombian jungle and is credited with the successful rescue of 123 individuals, including 55 children, “Sound of Freedom” has sold over 8.9 million tickets, surpassing $100 million in box office revenue.
Initially shown in only 2,600 theaters, "Sound of Freedom" beat out Disney's "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" for the top spot at the box office over the highly competitive Fourth of July holiday with a bold message: "God's children are not for sale."
The film’s lead actor, Jim Caviezel, has made a call to action to raise awareness about child exploitation and trafficking. Caviezel has encouraged audiences to see the film to better understand this global issue and contribute toward alleviating it.
In May, Caviezel called on 2 million people to stand with him and expose the evil of child exploitation and trafficking.
“God’s children are not for sale,” the actor declared in the trailer. Caviezel then delivered a call to action for anyone willing to buy a ticket to see the film and raise awareness against this prevalent form of slavery.
“We know this is heartbreaking and it hurts to look at, but the first step in helping these children is hearing their story. Not enough people know this problem exists and even fewer people are willing to do anything about it,” Caviezel said. “Our goal is to inspire 2 million people to attend the film's opening weekend to represent the 2 million trafficked children around the world.”
Looks like he took sides in a custody dispute and picked the wrong side.
Exactly.....but you KNOW all those who trashed the movie and its premise will twerk this news to their full advantage!!!
It would be nice to be able to check the client list of Jeffery Epstein against the donors list for the DNC and Biden Campaign.
Care to bet on how that would pan out?
How do I know it was low bail or no bail? Because if it had been otherwise, the enemedia would have milked it for all it was worth!
It seems to me that is making an attempt to tie the actions of Fabian Marta to the Sounds of Freedom, Angel Studios and the entire production team. Tarring them with a very wide brush.
Yes. The large majority of child “kidnappings” are in fact family custody battles-—we got this from an anti-trafficking activist at a church recently. Absolutely doesn’t nullify the very real child trafficking that is happening.
Looks exactly like someone who took pity on the losing parent in a custody dispute. For all we know, the better parent may not have won.
This has nothing to do with child trafficking. What nonsense.
A CROWD FUNDING donor? I like how they try to make mountains out of molehills. Liars.
Yes...I heard this was all a contrived hit job on the “Sound of Freedom” investor.
They want to lump him in with peophile mules from Mexico (and the US government) but it was a far different type of thing.
Well, at least they didn’t plant child porn on his computer.
Yet.
I can see how this would happen out of the blue, so it’s not
quite the intended witch hunt I thought it might be.
It’s still incredible to me that the Epstein list goes
untouched, and California even refused to make child
trafficking a top felony level crime.
What the heck?
DEMOCRATS support the molestation and abuse of young children.
Indisputable FACT.
Who cares what they think?
165.1 million dollar gross. Incredible! Fox should still be doing stories about it.
The other 6,677 investors better make sure they are minding their p’s and q’s. I can guarantee that each one is receiving special scrutiny for the next couple years.
When they do Amber alerts, I ponder whether if I saw the vehicle, if I would try and talk to them, or call the cops. How many children are taken because one side has money, but is a horrible person and parent, and the other is at their wits end?
Just a thought, it comes from a deep distrust of the legal system.
Ask men how many have been double dipped on Child support? Like when you pay it faithfully for years, but the State didn’t get their cut? My ex filed for Welfare benefits, and the State ended up charging me the amount her benefits cost the State. So I paid Support to her, then to reimburse the State for benefits she used.
One out of 6,600? I bet among the rest of them there are plenty of folks who have done just awful things. It’s the same with just about every large population group has their share. It doesn’t reflect on the project.
Sound of Freedom’ investor arrested on child kidnapping charges.
Gee Moe wonder if it was a setup?.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.