What Yap Films does

Yap Films is an independent documentary and factual-series production company founded in 2002 and headquartered at 233 Broadview Ave, Toronto, Ontario. The company creates original documentary specials and series across genres including archaeology, history, science and technology, natural history, investigative true crime, and social/political issues. Its production model centers on thorough research, expert writing, cinematography, and editing, delivered by a lean core team of approximately 10 full-time staff supplemented by roughly 40 freelancers, with output exceeding 20 hours of finished content in 2025 and a comparable target for 2026.

Yap Films generates revenue through B2B production services sold directly to broadcasters and streaming platforms. Income derives from production fees, co-production partnerships, and distribution deals with major networks including PBS, History Channel, Discovery, CBC, BBC, National Geographic, Netflix, Smithsonian Channel, A+E Networks, Magnolia Network, Blue Ant Media, and Arte. The company is one of Realscreen's Global Top 100 Production Companies for five consecutive years and a peer-voted Top 10 Co-production Partner, with awards including two Emmy wins, a Primetime Emmy nomination, an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award, three Banff Rockie Awards, multiple Canadian Screen Awards, and a Jackson Wild Media Award.

A core strategic capability is treaty co-production, which leverages the Canadian tax credit system through bi-lateral agreements with the UK, Australia, Europe, Asia, Latin America, the US, Ukraine (the first-ever Canada-Ukraine treaty co-production), and a new Canada-Singapore agreement for 30 hours of factual content by 2027. The company also operates an affiliated boutique post-production subsidiary, Noodle Factory Post, co-founded by the same principals and physically co-located in the Toronto headquarters, and offers production-space rental in the same building.

Name

Yap Films

Legal name

Yap Films

Website

https://yapfilms.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Yap Films is a Toronto-based independent production company founded in 2002 that creates original documentary specials and factual series for broadcasters and streaming platforms including PBS, History Channel, Discovery, CBC, BBC, National Geographic, Netflix, and A+E Networks.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Documentary Production Services

NAICS

Motion Picture and Video Production (51211), Other Motion Picture and Video Industries (512199), Broadcasting and Content Providers (516)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812), Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Distribution (7822)

akta.pro primary industry

Feature-Length Documentaries (MPADADAA)

Keywords

• Documentary production
• Factual series
• Co-production services
• Nonfiction content
• Broadcast programming

Headquarters

HQ city

Toronto

HQ country

Canada

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, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Production Services for Broadcasters: Yap Films creates documentary specials and factual series for broadcast and cable networks in North America and internationally, generating revenue through production fees, co-production partnerships, and distribution deals with major broadcasters.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Yap Films is an independent production company that creates original documentary specials and factual series for major broadcast networks and streaming platforms, handling research, writing, directing, cinematography, and editing in-house. The company also specializes in international treaty co-productions that leverage the Canadian tax credit system, partnering with producers in the UK, Australia, Europe, Asia, Latin America, the US, Ukraine, and Singapore to unlock co-financing for globally-themed content. Post-production finishing services are delivered through its affiliated boutique house, Noodle Factory Post.

Product overview

Yap Films is an independent production company offering a comprehensive suite of documentary and factual content services. The core offerings include original production (creating high-quality documentaries for broadcast and streaming), co-production services (leveraging Canadian tax credit treaties with international partners), and post-production through affiliated company Noodle Factory Post. The company also provides production space rental in Toronto. Yap Films' product portfolio consists primarily of documentary content across genres including archaeology, history, science and technology, natural history, and unscripted entertainment, with recent productions spanning investigative series like Secrets of the Bunny Ranch to nature documentaries like Saving the Animals of Ukraine.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Noodle Factory Post: A boutique post-production house offering finishing services for film, TV and other audio/visual projects, co-founded by Elliott Halpern and Elizabeth Trojian

Products and services

• Production Services End-to-end creation of high-quality original documentary specials and factual series for broadcast and streaming networks, encompassing research, writing, cinematography, and editing. Sold to broadcasters and streaming services globally.
• Co-Production Services Treaty co-production partnerships that leverage the Canadian tax credit system through bilateral agreements with the UK, Australia, Europe, Asia, Latin America, the US, Ukraine, and Singapore to unlock co-financing for internationally-themed factual programming.
• Post Production Services (Noodle Factory Post) Boutique post-production finishing services for film, TV, and other audio/visual projects, offered through Noodle Factory Post, a subsidiary co-founded by Yap Films principals Elliott Halpern and Elizabeth Trojian.
• Production Space Rental Furnished office workspace rental in Riverdale, Toronto for filmmakers, with shared kitchen, outdoor patio, and proximity to Noodle Factory Post inside the Yap Films building at 233 Broadview Ave.
• Documentary Films and Series Library Extensive catalog of award-winning documentaries and factual series licensed to broadcasters and streaming platforms across archaeology, history, science, natural history, unscripted entertainment, and factual programming, including Secrets of the Bunny Ranch, Saving the Animals of Ukraine, How It Feels to Be Free, Mosquito, Ice Bridge, and Construction Fails.
• Secrets of the Bunny Ranch 6x50 min limited series for A+E Networks investigating the legal brothel industry in Nevada; produced by Yap Films as an investigative true crime factual series.
• Foodspiracy / Irresistible Documentary special exploring ultra-processed foods and their impact; produced by Yap Films for broadcast distribution.
• Construction Fails Season 2 Continuation of factual series for National Geographic and ZDFe featuring construction mishaps and engineering failures.
• Saving the Animals of Ukraine Documentary feature examining the relationship between animals and humans amid the war in Ukraine; produced by Yap Films as the first-ever Canada-Ukraine treaty co-production.
• Walking With Ancients Broadcast documentary led by archaeologist Ciprian Ardelean exploring evidence of early human migration to the Americas; produced by Yap Films.

Named customers12 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• ZigZag ProductionsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-produced Close Up Kings (8x1 hr series for OLN, SyFy, Discovery International) with ZigZag Productions.
• Blink FilmsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-produced Secrets of Noah's Ark with Blink Films. Also co-produced Ancients Behaving Badly for HISTORY Canada with Blink Films.
• Wide-Eyed EntertainmentminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-produced Titanoboa: Monster Snake (2 hr special for History Television and Smithsonian Channel) with Wide-Eyed Entertainment.
• Wall to WallminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-produced Pirate City (2 hr special for National Geographic, France 5, History Television) with Wall to Wall.
• Blink FilmsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-produced Ancients Behaving Badly (8x1 hr series for History Channel, ITV Global) with Blink Films.
• Noodle Factory PostcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNoodle Factory Post is a boutique post-production house founded by yap films principals Elliott Halpern and Elizabeth Trojian. It offers finishing services for film, TV and audio/visual projects. Located on the lower level of yap films' building. Elliott is Co-Founder and Principal, Elizabeth is Co-Founder and Principal.
• Canadian Broadcasters and International PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerYap films specializes in Treaty Co-productions (bi-lateral agreements) with production partners to unlock Canadian tax credits and benefits. Has been involved in treaty co-productions with UK, Australia, Europe, Asia, Latin America, US, Ukraine (first-ever Canada-Ukraine treaty co-production), and new Canada-Singapore co-production treaty for 30 hours of factual content by 2027.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Vice Studios: Global documentary and unscripted studio within Vice Media, competing for the same premium factual commissions from streamers and cable buyers that Yap targets. Larger portfolio and integrated distribution.
• BBC Studios (Factual): Large in-house BBC factual production arm and one of Yap's broadcaster clients. Overlaps in documentary genre but operates at vastly greater scale with owned IP and global distribution infrastructure.
• Netflix (Documentary slate): Direct commissioning buyer of premium documentaries (Unabomber: In His Own Words) and increasingly developing originals in-house, representing both a major Yap client and a structural competitive threat.

Direct peers

• Blue Ant Media: Toronto-based global broadcaster and production company (Love Nature, Cottage Life) and a Yap Films commissioning client — comparable as a Canadian factual content operator with both production and distribution capabilities.
• Cream Productions: Toronto-based independent factual and documentary production company of similar size and broadcaster client mix, producing premium docs and series for the same North American and international broadcasters as Yap Films.
• Blink Films: UK-based factual production company and recurring Yap Films co-production partner (Ancients Behaving Badly, Secrets of Noah's Ark). Highly comparable as a small-to-mid indie factual shop chasing the same international broadcaster commissions.
• Wall to Wall Media: UK indie factual production company that co-produced Pirate City with Yap Films for National Geographic, France 5, and History Television. Closely comparable in genre mix and co-production orientation.
• ZigZag Productions: US/UK unscripted production company that co-produced Close Up Kings with Yap Films. Operates in the same factual/unstructured genre and competes for the same US cable commissions.
• Wide-Eyed Entertainment: UK factual/specialist factual producer that co-produced Titanoboa: Monster Snake with Yap for History Television and Smithsonian Channel — directly comparable in scale, genre, and co-production posture.
• Cineflix Productions: Montreal-headquartered independent content producer with a sizable factual and unscripted slate, overlapping with Yap on broadcaster commissions and co-productions and operating a comparable Canadian tax-credit model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/yapfilms
• Facebookfacebook.com/yapfilms
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/yap-films

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries1 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 Yap Films