What Ark Media does

Ark Media is a privately held documentary film and television production company founded in 1996 by Barak Goodman and Rachel Dretzin and headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. The company produces feature documentaries, multi-part documentary series, and one-off television specials covering historical, political, social, and cultural subjects. It maintains a team of approximately 15-20 people, including the three founding partners, and produces more than 30 hours of content annually.

The company's core capability is deep investigative and archival research-based documentary storytelling rather than a proprietary technology platform. Productions are commissioned by and distributed through major U.S. media buyers including Netflix, HBO/HBO Max, PBS (notably American Experience and Finding Your Roots), Apple TV+, Paramount+, and Participant. The studio's content has premiered at leading festivals (Sundance, Tribeca, DocNYC) and accumulated five Emmy Awards, one Academy Award nomination, three DuPont Columbia batons, and three Peabody Awards.

Ark Media's commercial model is project-based B2B content licensing: production fees and licensing rights are negotiated per project with streaming platforms and broadcasters, supplemented by theatrical/festival releases and a growing podcast co-production arm (iHeartPodcast, Best Case). The studio also derives secondary revenue from brand sponsorships (e.g., Comfort Keepers) and occasionally participates in backend economics on hit titles. There are no disclosed external funding rounds, and the company operates as an independent partnership under founders Goodman and Dretzin with partner John Maggio.

Name

Ark Media

Legal name

Ark Media LLC

Website

https://ark-media.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Ark Media is a Brooklyn-based documentary production company founded in 1996 that produces feature documentaries and multi-part series for major streamers and broadcasters including Netflix, HBO, PBS, and Apple TV+, led by award-winning founders Barak Goodman and Rachel Dretzin.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Documentary Production Services

NAICS

Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries (512)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)

akta.pro primary industry

Audio Production & Podcasting (BPAFAIAE)

Keywords

• Documentary film production
• Non-fiction content production
• Documentary series production
• Historical documentary production
• Investigative documentary content

Headquarters

HQ city

Brooklyn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Content Production Deals: Ark Media produces documentary content and sells licensing rights to major streaming platforms (Netflix, HBO, Apple TV+, Paramount+) and broadcasters (PBS, MSNBC). Revenue comes from production fees, licensing fees, and potentially backend participation.
2. Film Festival Screenings: Theatrical and festival premieres at events like Sundance, Tribeca, and DocNYC, with potential ticket sales and awards recognition driving additional revenue and prestige.
3. Podcast Production: Co-production of podcasts such as 'The Whistleblowers: Inside The Trump Administration' with iHeartPodcast and Best Case, generating revenue through podcast production fees.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Ark Media is a documentary film and television production company that produces feature documentaries and documentary series covering historical, political, and social topics. The company produces over 30 hours of television and streaming content annually, selling licensing rights and production deliverables to major distribution partners including Netflix, HBO/HBO Max, PBS, Apple TV+, Paramount+, and MSNBC. Productions premiere at major film festivals including Sundance, Tribeca, and DocNYC.

Product overview

Ark Media is a documentary production company founded in 1996 that operates as a single unified production studio producing feature documentaries and documentary series. The company produces over 30 hours of television and streaming content annually for distribution partners including PBS, HBO, Netflix, Apple TV+, and other major outlets. Their portfolio includes individual documentary titles (such as Caregiving, Kissinger, Paul Anka: His Way) and recurring documentary series (such as Finding Your Roots, which spans multiple seasons from 2012-2020). Productions cover historical biographies, political subjects, social issues, and cultural topics, with films premiering at major festivals including Sundance, Tribeca, and DocNYC.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Documentary Film Production Services Full-service documentary production encompassing feature documentaries and documentary series covering historical, political, social, and cultural topics, delivered to major streaming and broadcast distribution partners.
• Finding Your Roots A PBS documentary series hosted by Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., that traces the genealogy and family history of celebrity guests, utilizing genealogical research and DNA analysis.
• Caregiving A PBS documentary examining the history, challenges, and triumphs of caregiving in America, narrated by Uzo Aduba and executive produced by Bradley Cooper through Lea Pictures in partnership with WETA and Ark Media.
• Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey A four-part Netflix original documentary series examining the rise of Warren Jeffs in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints.
• Who Killed Malcolm X? A six-part Netflix original series investigating the assassination of Malcolm X, which contributed to the exoneration of two wrongfully convicted men.
• Seen & Heard: The History of Black Television A two-part HBO documentary series exploring the history of Black representation on television.
• Trust Me: The False Prophet A four-part Netflix documentary series chronicling the rise of Samuel Bateman, a self-proclaimed heir to Warren Jeffs' FLDS church.
• Paul Anka: His Way An HBO documentary following the career of musician Paul Anka, from teen idol to chart-topping songwriter.
• Kissinger A two-part, three-hour PBS biography of Henry Kissinger examining his life and impact on American foreign policy.
• The Perfect Weapon An HBO feature documentary exploring the rise of cyber conflict as a central way nations compete with and sabotage each other, based on David Sanger's book.

Quantifiable outcome

• Content leading to real-world impact: 'Who Killed Malcolm X?' contributed to exoneration of two men wrongfully convicted of Malcolm X's assassination
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• WETAcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 June 2025WETA Washington, D.C. partnered with Ark Media and Lea Pictures to produce the PBS documentary 'Caregiving,' narrated by Uzo Aduba and executive produced by Bradley Cooper. The documentary premiered June 24, 2025, and explores the challenges and triumphs of family and professional caregivers in America.
• Lea PicturescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 June 2025Bradley Cooper's production company Lea Pictures partnered with Ark Media and WETA to produce the PBS documentary 'Caregiving.' Bradley Cooper serves as executive producer on the project.
• Comfort KeepersminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 24 June 2025Comfort Keepers, a home care provider operating over 600 franchise locations, announced sponsorship of the PBS documentary 'Caregiving,' helping promote the documentary highlighting caregiving challenges in America.
• iHeartPodcastcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 July 2023Ark Media co-produced 'The Whistleblowers: Inside The Trump Administration' podcast with iHeartPodcast and Best Case. Host Miles Taylor brings listeners inside stories of high-ranking officials who spoke out during the Trump administration.
• Best CasecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 July 2023Best Case partnered with Ark Media and iHeartPodcast to produce 'The Whistleblowers: Inside The Trump Administration' podcast exploring government revelations from the Trump administration.
• See It Now StudioscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSee It Now Studios partnered with Ark Media to produce 'CTRL+ALT+DESIRE,' with Susan Zirinsky and Terence Wrong serving as executive producers and Aysu Saliba and Cara Tortora as supervising producers.
• Kunhardt McGee ProductionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint production partner with WNET and Inkwell Films for 'The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross' (2013), a six-part documentary series chronicling the full sweep of African American history.
• WNETcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with Kunhardt McGee Productions, Inkwell Films, and Ark Media for 'The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross' documentary series broadcast on PBS.
• Inkwell FilmscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with Kunhardt McGee Productions, WNET, and Ark Media for the six-part PBS documentary series 'The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross'.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Participant: Participant is a documentary and feature-film production company built around social-impact storytelling, selling to Netflix, HBO, Apple TV+ and other streamers. It is the most directly comparable peer in scale, distribution strategy, and impact-oriented brand positioning.
• Imagine Documentaries: Brian Grazer and Ron Howard's documentary arm produces premium non-fiction for HBO, Netflix, Nat Geo and Discovery, with multi-Emmy/Oscar pedigree. Highly comparable in terms of platform relationships, award strategy and prestige positioning.
• Kartemquin Films: Long-established Chicago documentary production house producing social-issue films for PBS Frontline and other broadcasters. Comparable in mission-driven editorial focus, public-broadcaster relationships, and small-team operating model.
• XTR: Streaming-first documentary production and distribution studio producing originals for Netflix, Hulu and Showtime. Comparable as a competitor for the same platform commissions, with a more venture-backed growth posture.
• Concordia Studio: Documentary-focused studio spun out of Plan B, producing award-winning non-fiction for Netflix and theatrical release. Comparable in prestige positioning and platform-driven distribution model.
• Radical Media: New York-based documentary, episodic and branded-content studio producing premium non-fiction for Netflix, HBO and Showtime. Comparable in Brooklyn/NYC base, premium platform client list, and prestige documentary output.
• Submarine Entertainment: Documentary production and sales/distribution company representing major filmmakers and selling into Netflix, HBO, Discovery and theatrical. Comparable as a documentary-specialist competing for the same platform commissions and festival premieres.
• Duplass Brothers Productions: Independent documentary and feature production company producing content for Netflix, HBO and Amazon. Comparable in indie boutique operating model, multi-platform deals, and documentary series commissions.

Broad incumbents

• National Geographic Studios: In-house documentary production arm of National Geographic/Disney producing premium non-fiction at significantly larger scale. Comparable in producing prestige documentary content for major platforms but operates with much larger budgets and corporate backing.
• CNN Films: Documentary production and acquisition arm of CNN/Warner Bros. Discovery, producing and acquiring non-fiction for HBO Max, theatrical and CNN. Comparable in platform-owned documentary output and award positioning, with broader corporate resources.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/ArkMediaNYC
• YouTubevimeo.com/arkmedia
• Facebookfacebook.com/Ark-Media-341754535864993
• Instagraminstagram.com/arkmedianyc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ark-media

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ark Media