Story Force Entertainment

What Story Force Entertainment does

Story Force Entertainment is a San Francisco-based, founder-led private production company that develops and produces documentary films, multi-episode docuseries, and documentary podcasts across scripted and nonfiction entertainment. The company's output is concentrated in prestige, socially themed documentary content — including the Academy Award-winning Spotlight (2016), Emmy Award-winning productions The Grab and Belly of the Beast, Amazon Prime Video's record-setting docuseries Shiny Happy People, and podcasts such as Dr. Death (Wondery) and Bad Bets (Wall Street Journal) — typically executed through direct partnerships with major streaming platforms, specialty theatrical distributors, and news studios.

The underlying production model is talent-and-IP-driven rather than technology-driven. Productions are built around the principals' industry relationships and A-list executive producers (including Jennifer Lawrence, Hillary Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton), developed through film festival premieres (Telluride, Toronto), and packaged for distribution by anchor partners. The company is in active expansion, with current projects including a co-production with NBC News Studios (Tunnel 29), a Sony Pictures Classics-acquired climate feature directed by Tom McCarthy (based on Losing Earth), a Telluride-premiered reproductive rights film (Zurawski v Texas), and the second season of Shiny Happy People for Amazon Prime Video.

Revenue is generated exclusively through licensing and royalty arrangements tied to documentary production, docuseries production, and podcast production streams. The company does not disclose pricing or financial terms publicly, has no disclosed parent company, institutional investors, or funding rounds, and operates with a small core team of four (Blye Faust, Principal/Producer; Cori Shepherd, Director/Producer; Lucy Nino, Director of Development; Bailey McCord, Development Coordinator). Distribution channels are concentrated among a handful of enterprise buyers — Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Magnolia Pictures, Participant Media, NBC News Studios, Wondery, and the Wall Street Journal.

Name

Story Force Entertainment

Website

https://story-force.co

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Story Force Entertainment is a San Francisco-based, founder-led production company producing documentary films, docuseries, and podcasts for major streaming platforms (Amazon Prime Video, Netflix), specialty distributors (Magnolia, Participant), and audio partners (Wondery, WSJ).

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Documentary Production Services

NAICS

Motion Picture and Video Production (51211)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)

akta.pro primary industry

Docuseries & Episodic Nonfiction (TV/Streaming) (MPADADAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Social Issue & Advocacy Documentaries (MPADADAG), Business, Politics & Current Affairs Documentaries (MPADADAJ), Unscripted/Reality TV Production (Live-Action) (MPADABAC)

Keywords

• Documentary film production
• Docuseries production
• Podcast production
• Nonfiction entertainment
• Scripted film production

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

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, Others

Revenue model

1. Documentary Production: Producing documentary films for theatrical release and streaming distribution
2. Docuseries Production: Producing multi-episode docuseries for streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime Video
3. Podcast Production: Producing documentary podcasts for platforms like Wondery and Wall Street Journal

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Story Force Entertainment is a documentary and docuseries production company that develops, produces, and licenses feature-length documentary films, multi-episode streaming docuseries, and documentary podcasts. The company sells finished content to major streaming platforms (Amazon Prime Video, Netflix), theatrical distributors (Magnolia Pictures, Participant Media), and podcast platforms (Wondery, Wall Street Journal), generating revenue through licensing royalties.

Product overview

Story Force Entertainment is a documentary and docuseries production company that creates feature-length documentary films and multi-episode streaming series. Their portfolio includes Academy Award-winning productions like 'Spotlight,' investigative documentaries such as 'The Grab,' social issue docuseries including 'Shiny Happy People' for Prime Video, and podcast productions like 'Dr. Death' and 'Bad Bets.' The company works with major studios including Amazon, Netflix, Magnolia Pictures, Participant Media, and NBC News Studios to develop and produce documentary content across film, streaming, and audio platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Documentary Films Feature-length documentary films covering social issues, investigative journalism, and current events. Notable productions include 'Spotlight' (Academy Award-winning), 'The Grab', and 'Zurawski v Texas'. Sold to theatrical distributors and streaming platforms.
• Docuseries Multi-episode documentary series for streaming platforms. Productions include 'Shiny Happy People: A Teenage Holy War' for Prime Video, 'LuLaRich' for Amazon, and content for Netflix and NBC News Studios.
• Podcast Production Audio documentary podcast production, including 'Dr. Death' (Wondery) and 'Bad Bets' (Wall Street Journal), which was a 2023 Gerald Loeb Award finalist.

Quantifiable outcome

• Shiny Happy People achieved Prime Video's biggest docuseries debut ever
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 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

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• NBC News StudioscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 May 2024NBC News Studios is co-producing 'Tunnel 29' documentary with Story Force Entertainment. The film chronicles the secret escape tunnel built under the Berlin Wall in 1962, featuring never-before-seen NBC archival footage.
• Magnolia PicturescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 March 2024Magnolia Pictures partnered with Participant to jointly acquire North American theatrical rights to 'The Grab' documentary. Magnolia handles theatrical and digital distribution for the film, a high-stakes global thriller about resource control.
• Participant MediacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 March 2024Participant partnered with Magnolia Pictures to jointly acquire North American rights to 'The Grab'. Participant positions the film as a high-stakes global thriller examining food and water scarcity.
• Alex Gibney's Jigsaw ProductionsmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 November 2022Story Force Entertainment collaborated with Jigsaw Productions and Wall Street Journal on 'Bad Bets' podcast about Nikola and former CEO Trevor Milton. The project later became a scripted series.
• Amazon Prime VideocoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 23 December 2021Amazon Prime Video serves as the primary streaming distributor for Story Force's docuseries content including 'Shiny Happy People' and 'LuLaRich'. Amazon confirmed Season 2 renewal for 'Shiny Happy People'.
• The CinemartminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 July 2021Story Force collaborated with The Cinemart and Chick Entertainment on a docuseries about reality TV families for Amazon Prime.
• WonderymajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2021Wondery partnered with Story Force Entertainment on season four of the hit podcast series 'Dr. Death'. Story Force produces documentary podcast content for Wondery's platform.
• Rocklin|FaustcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRocklin|Faust (Nathan Halverson, Amanda Pike, Nicole Rocklin, and Blye Pagon Faust) is credited as a production company on 'The Grab', representing the co-producers' production entity.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• XTR: Documentary studio producing feature docs and docuseries for streamers (Netflix, Hulu, etc.). Comparable in size, slate focus, and streamer-led distribution model to Story Force.
• Kartemquin Films: Long-running independent documentary producer (Hoop Dreams, Minding the Gap). Comparable as a peer in mission-driven, festival-caliber documentary production for streaming and theatrical buyers.
• Participant Media: Impact-driven documentary and scripted production company (founded by Jeff Skoll). Directly comparable as a peer on 'The Grab' (co-acquirer with Magnolia) and competes for the same social-issue documentary projects and talent attachments.
• Concordia Studio: Nonfiction and impact storytelling studio (founded by Laurene Powell Jobs). Competes with Story Force for the same prestige social-issue documentary commissions from streamers and for A-list executive producer attachments.
• Jigsaw Productions: Alex Gibney's documentary production banner. Comparable as a peer on investigative documentary projects and has directly collaborated with Story Force on the 'Bad Bets' podcast series about Trevor Milton.
• Submarine Entertainment: Independent documentary production and sales company. Comparable as a peer producing and selling festival-premiere documentaries to theatrical and streaming distributors like Magnolia and Participant.
• Imagine Documentaries: Documentary arm of Imagine Entertainment, producing premium docuseries and features for Netflix, Apple, and others. Directly comparable as a peer competing for streamer documentary commissions with similar genre breadth.
• Impact Partners: Impact-investing documentary financier and producer. Both a peer (producer of comparable social-issue docs) and a documented partner on 'The Grab' as presenter/financier.

Broad incumbents

• Vice Studios: Documentary and unscripted production arm of Vice. Comparable as a peer in investigative and social-issue docuseries for streamers, though operates at significantly greater scale.
• A24: Independent film and limited-series producer/distributor with a growing documentary slate. Broader incumbent than Story Force but competes for prestige nonfiction talent and streamer-facing IP.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/storyforceco
• Facebookfacebook.com/StoryForceCo
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/basedonmedia

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 Story Force Entertainment