Cookie Jar & A Dream Studio

What Cookie Jar & A Dream Studio does

Cookie Jar & A Dream Studio is a privately-held, in-house content studio wholly owned by DICK'S Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS), a Fortune 500 sporting goods retailer. Founded in 2014 and named after the origin story of the parent company — where founder Dick Stack's grandmother funded his first bait-and-tackle shop from her cookie jar savings in 1948 — the studio develops, produces, and finances sports documentary films and unscripted television series. Its core technology is traditional documentary and unscripted video production across long-form, short-form, scripted, and unscripted formats, with no proprietary platform architecture or disclosed technology stack beyond a Squarespace-hosted marketing site.

The studio's product portfolio includes award-winning documentary films such as 'We Could Be King' (2014, Sports Emmy winner), 'Keepers Of The Game' (2016, Cannes Lions Bronze Lion), 'Home And Away' (2018, El Paso Film Festival Grand Jury Prize), 'The Turnaround' (2024, Critics' Choice Documentary Awards winner), 'Summer of '94' (SXSW 2026 premiere), and 'Hall of Fame High' (2026), as well as the unscripted broadcast series 'Play It Forward: Game On' on Nickelodeon (premiering November 19, 2025). Distribution channels span film festival premieres (SXSW, El Paso, Dallas, Red Nation), broadcast television (Nickelodeon), streaming platforms, and earned media coverage. The studio has won two Sports Emmys, making DICK'S Sporting Goods the first consumer brand and only Fortune 500 consumer brand to earn that distinction for original sports documentary films.

The studio operates as an internal brand investment rather than an independent commercial entity. Its primary customer is DICK'S Sporting Goods itself, including its marketing organization and The DICK'S Sporting Goods Foundation, which funds youth sports makeovers featured in content such as 'Play It Forward: Game On'. External revenue streams are limited to content licensing (Nickelodeon broadcast deal) and project-level co-production partnerships (Imagine Documentaries, Stand Together, Adidas for festival activations). Pricing is not publicly disclosed and revenue is not reported separately from the parent company. The leadership team comprises Mark Rooks (VP Creative, Sponsorships and Entertainment), Rebecca Covington (Senior Director Creative Production and Entertainment Development), and Frank Igrec (Director Creative & Entertainment).

Name

Cookie Jar & A Dream Studio

Legal name

Cookie Jar and a Dream Production

Website

https://cookiejardream.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Cookie Jar & A Dream Studio is the in-house documentary and unscripted content studio of DICK'S Sporting Goods, producing award-winning sports films and series for the parent's brand, marketing, and Foundation initiatives, distributed via film festivals, broadcast (Nickelodeon), and streaming.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Branded content production for DICK'S Sporting Goods: The studio operates as the in-house content arm of DICK'S Sporting Goods, producing branded documentaries and series that serve the parent company's brand, marketing, and corporate social responsibility objectives. Revenue is internal to the parent company.
2. Television series licensing and broadcast deals: Productions such as 'Play It Forward: Game On' are licensed for broadcast on television networks (e.g., Nickelodeon), generating external revenue through content licensing.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Cookie Jar & A Dream Studio is the in-house content studio of DICK'S Sporting Goods that develops, produces, and finances sports documentary films and unscripted television series. It produces original IP and acquired true stories across long-form, short-form, scripted, and unscripted formats, with a portfolio that includes award-winning documentaries such as 'We Could Be King', 'The Turnaround', 'Keepers Of The Game', and 'Home And Away', plus series such as 'Play It Forward: Game On'.

Product overview

Cookie Jar & A Dream Studio is an in-house content studio owned by DICK'S Sporting Goods that develops, produces, and finances sports documentary films and unscripted television content. The studio operates without a traditional technology platform architecture; instead, it produces a portfolio of original sports documentary films (We Could Be King, The Turnaround, Keepers Of The Game, Home And Away, Gold Within, Little League World Series, Adaptive, Hell Week series, Contenders series, Nationals, Hall of Fame High, Summer of '94) and unscripted television series (Play It Forward: Game On). The company creates content across multiple formats including long-form documentaries, short documentaries, and unscripted TV programming, with emphasis on authentic sports storytelling that explores themes of hope, resilience, and connection. The studio has earned multiple industry awards including Sports Emmys and Cannes Lions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• We Could Be King Award-winning sports documentary and the studio's first major production; winner of Sports Emmy 2015 Outstanding Short Documentary and Grand Clio 2014 Integrated Marketing.
• The Turnaround Documentary featuring NBA Hall of Famer and coach John Calipari; winner of Critics' Choice Documentary Awards 2024 for Best Sports Documentary and Best Short Documentary, and nominated for Sports Emmys 2025 Outstanding Camera Work and Outstanding Music Direction.
• Keepers Of The Game Feature documentary about the first all-girls high school cricket team at Lahore American School; won Bronze Lion at Cannes Lions 2017 and was nominated for Sports Emmy 2017 Outstanding Long Sports Documentary, and won Courage Award and Best Documentary nominee at Red Nation Film Festival 2016.
• Home And Away Documentary feature that won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature Film at El Paso Film Festival 2018 and Documentary Feature at Dallas International Film Festival 2018.
• Gold Within Olympic campaign documentary featuring Kerri Walsh Jennings as spokesperson; premiered in Los Angeles with news and media coverage.
• Play It Forward: Game On Unscripted TV series on Nickelodeon featuring under-resourced youth sports teams receiving makeovers with new equipment and upgraded facilities; hosted by CBS Sports analyst Renee Montgomery, actor Kel Mitchell, and YouTube star Jesser.
• Hall of Fame High Documentary about Aliquippa High School's football program in Pittsburgh, exploring why the small town has produced an unusually high number of NFL players.
• Summer of '94 Documentary about the 1994 U.S. Men's National Soccer Team's journey to the FIFA World Cup and the growth of soccer in America, produced in partnership with Imagine Documentaries and Stand Together.
• Hell Week series Documentary series covering various Hell Week events including Station Camp, Martin Luther King, and Cass Tech.
• Contenders series Documentary film series featuring sports stories including Picture Yourself, Second To None, Libero, and 10.38.

Quantifiable outcome

• First consumer brand to win a Sports Emmy for outstanding sports documentary; only Fortune 500 consumer brand to earn two Sports Emmys for original films
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Imagine DocumentariescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 March 2026Imagine Documentaries partnered with Cookie Jar & A Dream Studios on the 'Summer of '94' documentary, which premiered at SXSW Film & TV Festival. The film revisits the 1994 U.S. Men's National Soccer Team's underdog journey during the FIFA World Cup.
• Stand TogethercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 March 2026Stand Together collaborated with Cookie Jar & A Dream Studios on the 'Summer of '94' documentary about the 1994 U.S. Men's National Soccer Team's journey during the FIFA World Cup, coinciding with the tournament's return to the United States.
• AdidasminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 13 March 2026Adidas supported the SXSW premiere of 'Summer of '94' with brand activations at various Austin venues during the film's screening dates (March 14th, 15th, and 18th).
• NickelodeoncoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 18 November 2025Nickelodeon is the broadcast home for 'Play It Forward: Game On', an unscripted television series produced by Cookie Jar & A Dream Studios. The series premiered on Nickelodeon on November 19, 2025, and features youth sports teams receiving makeovers.
• The DICK'S Sporting Goods FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 November 2025The DICK'S Sporting Goods Foundation funds the youth sports makeovers featured in 'Play It Forward: Game On', providing new equipment and upgraded facilities to six under-resourced youth sports teams. The studio creates and produces the content to highlight the foundation's impact.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• The Players' Tribune: Athlete-produced storytelling platform with growing video and documentary output. Comparable in leveraging athlete IP for human-interest sports narratives; overlaps with Cookie Jar's sports-fan audience and CSR-driven content.
• UNINTERRUPTED: Athlete-driven content studio (co-founded by LeBron James and Maverick Carter) producing sports documentaries and digital series. Comparable athlete access and sports storytelling thesis to Cookie Jar's branded doc model.

Broad incumbents

• National Geographic Documentary Films: Documentary film production/distribution arm of a major media brand. Comparable non-fiction feature/series production model, festival-to-streaming distribution pipeline, and brand-backed content positioning.
• CNN Films: Documentary film division of a major news organization distributing theatrically and via streaming. Comparable as a long-running documentary production entity acquiring and producing non-fiction features and series.
• ESPN Films (30 for 30): Broad incumbent operating the iconic 30 for 30 sports documentary franchise on a much larger scale. Comparable product (sports docs), channel (broadcast/streaming), and award-eligible output that anchors the same category.
• VICE Studios: Documentary and unscripted production arm of a larger media company producing sports-adjacent and culture-driven doc features. Comparable output format and festival/broadcast distribution strategy.

Direct peers

• OBB Pictures: Sports documentary and branded content studio with multiple Emmy and Oscar honors. Comparable to Cookie Jar as a sports-themed content house blending documentary craft with brand and athlete partnerships.
• Religion of Sports: Sports documentary studio founded by Tom Brady, Michael Strahan, and Gotham Chopra producing long- and short-form sports storytelling. Closest comparable to Cookie Jar's sports-doc IP, athlete-story focus, and festival/broadcast distribution strategy.
• Vox Media Studios: Branded documentary and series production studio affiliated with major media brands. Comparable as a creator of long-form documentary and unscripted series tied to brand storytelling and channel distribution deals.
• Imagine Documentaries: Documentary production company focused on feature-length and premium doc work. Directly comparable as co-development partner on 'Summer of '94' and operates with the same sports/non-sports documentary model Cookie Jar pursues.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Cookie Jar & A Dream Studio