Honest Engine Films

Name

Honest Engine Films

Legal name

Honest Engine Films

Website

https://honestenginefilms.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Documentary Film Production

NAICS

Motion Picture and Video Industries (5121), Motion Picture and Video Distribution (51212)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)

akta.pro primary industry

Historical, Biographical & Archival Documentaries (MPADADAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Arts & Culture Documentaries (MPADADAI), Docuseries & Episodic Nonfiction (TV/Streaming) (MPADADAB)

Keywords

• Documentary film production
• Independent film studio
• Short film production
• Film distribution licensing
• Cultural heritage documentaries

Headquarters

HQ city

Monterey

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Film Distribution and Streaming: Honest Engine Films generates revenue through distributing documentary and film content across streaming platforms and digital storefronts including Amazon, Vudu, Plex, Tubi, Hoopla, and Local Now.
2. Festival Screenings and Sponsorships: The company participates in film festivals and secures sponsorship opportunities such as the AESCULAPIAN GOLF TOURNAMENT and Museum of Science & Technology sponsorship.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Honest Engine Films produces and distributes independent documentary, short, and feature films with a focus on American history, Indigenous culture, and sports heritage (particularly lacrosse). The company licenses and sells its films to streaming platforms, film festivals, and community audiences. Founded by three-time Emmy-winning filmmaker Joanne Storkan, the catalog includes multiple award-winning documentaries and is monetized primarily through streaming distribution and festival participation.

Product overview

Honest Engine Films is a film production company founded by three-time Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker Joanne Storkan. The company produces a portfolio of documentary and narrative films organized into three main categories: Featured Films (long-form narrative productions), Documentaries (feature-length documentaries), and Short Films. Notable productions include The Rules of Lacrosse (2025), Miracle on 42nd Street (2020 NY Emmy winner), The Real Bedford Falls (Emmy Award winner), and Dirt McComber: Last of the Mohicans. The company also maintains ancillary offerings including a comics collection featuring classic characters like Spyman and The Fly, and book options including children's science fiction series and lifestyle guides. Distribution is handled through streaming platforms including Amazon, Plex, Tubi, Vudu, and Hoopla.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Rules of Lacrosse Feature-length documentary covering the A to Z of men's lacrosse from its Indigenous history to modern professional play, featuring interviews with Wayne Gretzky, Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger, Oren Lyons, and members of the Ross Powless Family of the Six Nations Reserve. Targeted at lacrosse enthusiasts, sports documentary audiences, and libraries/educational institutions.
• And With Him Came the West Documentary about Wyatt Earp and his influence on Hollywood Western films. Premiered at MoMA Doc Fortnight in New York City. Targeted at Western film enthusiasts, American history audiences, and festival programming curators.
• Miracle on 42nd Street 2020 NY Emmy Award-winning documentary for Best Documentary, telling the story of Manhattan Plaza apartment complex and the artists who lived there including Alicia Keys, Terrance Howard, Larry David, and Samuel L. Jackson. Targeted at arts and culture enthusiasts, New York history audiences, and documentary distributors.
• The Real Bedford Falls: It's a Wonderful Life Emmy Award-winning short documentary exploring connections between Seneca Falls, NY and Bedford Falls from the movie It's a Wonderful Life. Available on Vudu, Amazon, and other streaming platforms. Targeted at classic film enthusiasts, American history audiences, and holiday documentary viewers.
• Dirt McComber: Last of the Mohicans Documentary following Eric 'Dirt' McComber, a Mohawk hunter and fisherman from the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory, and his passion for lacrosse. Available on Amazon, Plex, Tubi, and other streaming platforms. Targeted at Indigenous cinema audiences, lacrosse sports enthusiasts, and cultural heritage viewers.
• Molly of the Mohawks: The Making of the Opera 26-minute documentary/opera about Mary 'Molly' Brant, a Mohawk woman of the wolf clan who was influential in 18th century North American history. Targeted at Indigenous history audiences, opera and performing arts enthusiasts, and educational institutions.
• The Roots of Lacrosse Short documentary providing a brief history of the sacred and cultural aspects of lacrosse, originally played for the Creator, covering Iroquois, Great Lakes, and Southeastern Indigenous lacrosse traditions. Won an award at Bare Bones Film Festival. Targeted at Indigenous culture audiences, lacrosse heritage viewers, and educational institutions.
• A Land for War Documentary that premiered at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. with accompanying exhibition at the Library of Congress, distributed via Grasshopper Film. Targeted at art, history, and cultural policy audiences.
• Featured Films Collection Collection of long-form narrative and featured films including Wild Target, Ingenious, Jumping the Gun, The Shopping Affair, Toastmaster, Bury My Heart With Tonawanda, and Go in the Wilderness. Targeted at independent film audiences and narrative fiction viewers.
• Comics Collection Collection of classic comic book characters and series including Spyman, The Fly, Private Strong, Race for the Moon, Jigsaw, The Three Rocketeers, and Kid Adonis from publishers like Harvey Comics. Targeted at classic comics collectors and nostalgia audiences.
• Book Options Book adaptations including The Space Ship under the Apple Tree series, The Girl's Guide to Werewolves, The Girl's Guide to Vampires, and Undercover White Trash. Targeted at readers of children's science fiction and lifestyle/supernatural guides.

Quantifiable outcome

• Three Emmy Award wins for documentary filmmaking

Named customers4 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Museum of Science & Technology (MOST)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerHonest Engine Films is proud to be a sponsor of the MOST Museum of Science and Technology. The Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science & Technology is a hands-on science and technology museum for people of all ages located in Syracuse, New York.
• Pacific Grove Art CenterminorGTM or Marketing PartnerHonest Engine Films participated in the Monterey County Arts Expo Telethon at the Pacific Grove Art Center on January 25, 2025, supporting the Art Center through donations to keep creativity alive in the community.
• Montage HealthminorGTM or Marketing PartnerHonest Engine Films was a sponsor of the 52nd annual Aesculapian Golf Tournament in honor of physicians who serve the community via Montage Health, demonstrating community involvement in healthcare support.
• Grasshopper FilmcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGrasshopper Film serves as a distributor for A Land for War documentary, handling distribution services for the film. The documentary premiered at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. with accompanying exhibition at the Library of Congress.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Participant Media: Issue-driven film and documentary production company behind titles like An Inconvenient Truth and Food, Inc. Larger and better-capitalized than Honest Engine, but operates in the same documentary-plus-impact niche with similar festival-to-streaming distribution patterns.
• PBS Distribution: Distribution arm of PBS handling documentary and nonfiction programming to public television and streaming partners. Relevant comparable for Honest Engine as a major potential distribution channel for Emmy-credentialed historical and cultural documentaries.
• Magnolia Pictures: Independent film distribution company that acquires and releases documentaries and specialty films theatrically and across streaming platforms. Comparable to Honest Engine as a downstream channel partner (similar to Grasshopper Film) and as a benchmark for indie documentary economics.
• Neon: Independent film production and distribution company handling documentary and specialty titles. Operates at a larger scale than Honest Engine but represents the indie-streaming pipeline that Honest Engine's titles ultimately feed into via distribution partnerships.

Direct peers

• Kartemquin Films: Chicago-based independent documentary production company with a 35+ year track record producing award-winning nonfiction films on social issues and underrepresented communities. Closely comparable to Honest Engine Films in mission, scale (small independent shop), and reliance on festival/streaming distribution for niche documentary subjects.
• Oscilloscope Laboratories: Independent film distribution label founded by filmmaker-associated interests that releases documentaries and art-house titles. Comparable to Honest Engine in scale, indie sensibility, and emphasis on documentary acquisition/distribution to streaming partners.
• Strand Releasing: Independent distributor specializing in documentary, art-house, and world cinema with a long track record in festival-circuit titles. Similar to Honest Engine in indie scale and comparable in the types of documentary content it brings to streaming platforms.
• Passion Pictures: UK-based independent documentary and feature production company known for Oscar-winning shorts and feature documentaries. Closely comparable to Honest Engine as a small-to-mid independent documentary shop producing festival-circuit and streaming-distributed nonfiction work.

Emerging players

• Reel Peak Film: Small independent documentary production company focused on outdoor, sports, and adventure nonfiction. Comparable to Honest Engine in indie scale and in the documentary-plus-sports/adventure thematic overlap with titles like "The Rules of Lacrosse."

Others

• Catapult Film Fund: Non-profit documentary film fund supporting independent feature-length documentaries in post-production. Comparable to Honest Engine as an indicator of the small-indie documentary financing ecosystem in which the company operates and from which it may source capital.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/honestenginefilms
• Instagraminstagram.com/p/COeB1LrsZsh
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/honest-engine-films

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 Honest Engine Films