What ACE Entertainment does

ACE Entertainment is a privately-held, Los Angeles-based production company (legal entity Vicarious Entertainment, LLC) founded and led by Matt Kaplan that finances, develops, packages, and produces feature films and television series targeted at Gen Z and Millennial audiences. The company operates a multi-vertical content model spanning film production (~5 films per year), television production for streaming and broadcast, a music sub-brand (Ace in the Hole) for original songs and emerging artists, a podcast division, and an international content vertical for localized YA programming. Distribution is exclusively B2B through licensing deals with major platforms — Netflix is the primary partner (TATBILB trilogy, XO Kitty, The Perfect Date, Hello Goodbye, Love at First Sight), with secondary relationships across Paramount+, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Peacock, and Nickelodeon.

The underlying technology is conventional film and television production tooling and content development capability rather than proprietary software; the company does not maintain a consumer app, API, or SDK. Revenue is generated through upfront licensing fees, production financing, and backend participation in successful franchises, primarily from streaming platform licensees — a licensing/royalties model rather than direct-to-consumer monetization. Customer concentration is concentrated in streaming and broadcast distribution partners, with Netflix representing the dominant single counterparty across the slate.

In 2023 ACE broadened its commercial footprint via the Trending joint venture with podcaster Alex Cooper (Call Her Daddy), extending reach into Gen Z audience development and adjacent creator economy IP, and expanded the franchise value of the To All the Boys universe via the XO Kitty spinoff series and Season 2 renewal on Netflix.

Name

ACE Entertainment

Legal name

Vicarious Entertainment, LLC

Website

https://theaceentertainment.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ACE Entertainment is a privately-held Los Angeles production company founded by Matt Kaplan that finances, produces, and licenses Gen Z and Millennial films, television, music, podcasts, and international content for major streaming and broadcast platforms including Netflix, Paramount+, Amazon Prime, and Nickelodeon.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Content Licensing and Distribution: ACE Entertainment produces films and television series that are licensed and distributed through major streaming platforms. The company finances and produces approximately five films per year, securing distribution deals with platforms such as Netflix, Paramount+, and Amazon Prime. Revenue is generated through upfront licensing fees, production financing, and backend participation in successful franchises like the To All the Boys I've Loved Before trilogy.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

ACE Entertainment is a film and television production company that finances, develops, and produces young adult (Gen Z and Millennial) content for major streaming platforms. The company produces approximately five films per year and develops television series, packaging talent and IP adaptations (notably from bestselling YA novels) for distribution partners including Netflix, Paramount+, Amazon Prime Video, and Nickelodeon. The business spans film production, television series, a music division (Ace in the Hole), podcasts, and international content.

Product overview

ACE Entertainment is a production company and financier specializing in Gen Z and Millennial content across feature films, television, digital, and streaming platforms. The company operates as a multi-faceted entertainment business with core offerings in film production (producing approximately five films annually), television production (for Netflix, Disney+, Peacock, and Nickelodeon), a podcast division for emerging Gen-Z creatives, a music division (Ace in the Hole) for developing original songs and supporting emerging artists, and international content localization. Notable productions include the To All The Boys I've Loved Before Netflix trilogy, the XO Kitty spin-off series, and the Are You Afraid of the Dark? reboot. The company also launched a joint venture media venture called 'Trending' with Alex Cooper. Content is distributed through major streaming platforms including Netflix, Paramount+, Amazon Prime, and Nickelodeon.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ace in the Hole: Music division focused on finding and supporting outstanding emerging musical acts and creating original songs for film and television.

Products and services

• Film Production
• Television Production
• Ace in the Hole (Music Division)
• International Content
• Podcast Division
• To All The Boys I've Loved Before Trilogy
• XO, Kitty
• Time Cut
• Love in Taipei
• Hello, Goodbye and Everything in Between
• Love at First Sight
• Are You Afraid of the Dark? (Reboot)

Quantifiable outcome

• To All the Boys I've Loved Before trilogy generated significant Netflix viewership and led to spinoff series XO Kitty
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Trending (Alex Cooper / Call Her Daddy)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 June 2023Trending is a new Gen Z-focused media venture launched by Alex Cooper (Call Her Daddy podcaster) and Matt Kaplan (ACE Entertainment/XO Kitty producer). The partnership combines Cooper's podcasting empire and Gen Z media expertise with Kaplan's film and TV production capabilities to create original content for young audiences. ACE Entertainment produces content while Cooper brings her podcast audience and content IP to the venture.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Color Force: Color Force is closely comparable: an independent production company founded by Nina Jacobson that produced The Hunger Games YA franchise for Lionsgate. Its business model of financing and producing YA novel adaptations packaged for major distributors mirrors ACE's approach with the To All the Boys trilogy.
• wiip: wiip is an independent production company that finances and produces scripted television licensed to streaming platforms. It shares ACE's model of packaging talent with IP and selling to streamers, but skews toward prestige drama rather than YA.
• Awesomeness Studios: Awesomeness Studios is a direct YA-content peer and an existing co-production partner with ACE on Are You Afraid of the Dark? Season 3. It produces youth-oriented films and TV across streaming and linear, sits inside Paramount, and overlaps almost entirely with ACE's Gen Z strategy.
• Picturestart: Picturestart is a similarly-sized independent production company that develops, finances, and produces film and TV (including YA-leaning content) for streaming platforms. It overlaps with ACE on Gen Z IP development and platform-packaging GTM.
• Temple Hill Entertainment: Temple Hill Entertainment produced the Twilight franchise and produces mid-budget YA and genre films for studios and streamers. Its focus on book-to-screen YA adaptations packaged with studio financing and distribution is the same operating model ACE uses, just at a larger franchise scale.
• Alloy Entertainment: Alloy Entertainment is one of the most direct peers to ACE: it produces and packages young-adult scripted television adapted from YA novels (Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, The Vampire Diaries, Riverdale) for major networks and streamers. Like ACE, it monetizes by packaging IP with talent and selling to platforms, and it owns deep YA IP relationships rather than large library assets.

Broad incumbents

• Blumhouse Productions: Blumhouse is a genre-focused production company known for low-to-mid-budget horror and thrillers (including Time Cut-adjacent slasher content) that licenses heavily to streamers. It overlaps with ACE's horror-anthology and thriller titles (Time Cut, Family Secrets) while operating at much larger scale.
• Bad Robot: Bad Robot (J.J. Abrams) is a long-established production company producing film and prestige TV for major platforms. It is comparable to ACE as a packaging-and-producing entity selling to streamers, but operates across many genres and at a much larger budget and library scale.
• Lionsgate: Lionsgate is a broad incumbent that owns and produces the Hunger Games and Twilight YA franchises — direct category comparables to ACE's To All the Boys IP. It also operates a large film/TV slate across genres, competing with ACE for YA greenlights and distribution slots.
• A24: A24 is a larger, established indie film and television studio that finances, produces, and distributes premium scripted content for streaming and theatrical. Like ACE, it monetizes via platform licensing but operates at a far larger budget and catalog scale and across many genres, not just YA.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/theaceentertainment
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@theaceentertainment
• Instagraminstagram.com/theaceentertainment

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 ACE Entertainment