Premium nonfiction built for how media actually works now.
A studio that finances, produces, and retains ownership of creator-led nonfiction — distributed across platforms, not locked to one.
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"For what a single documentary feature costs to produce, we're building an entire studio."
Jeremy Cohan · Founder & Creative Lead
The opportunity
The traditional model is breaking. Budgets are shrinking. Greenlights are disappearing. The stories that audiences want — nonfiction rooted in real communities — either don't get made or don't get made well.
Meanwhile, the economics of legacy media and digital platforms remain worlds apart — but the content quality is converging. Very few are positioned to make premium, independently owned nonfiction designed to move between both.
That's where STUDIOCOVE operates.
WE FINANCE IT. WE PRODUCE IT. WE OWN IT.
Not a production company. Not a YouTube channel. A studio that produces premium nonfiction and distributes it wherever it creates the most value.
30-minute episodes. Premium enough for a streamer. Built for network run times. Efficient enough for YouTube. Portable enough to go anywhere.
A format designed to travel — across platforms, across borders, across revenue models.
How it works
EVERY PROJECT MOVES THROUGH THIS SYSTEM DIFFERENTLY
Source
Finance
Produce
Prove
Monetize
Financing is modular. Distribution isn't predetermined. We fund independently — never waiting for someone else's greenlight.
YouTube · Streamers · Networks · FAST channels · Brand channels · International
The market is moving
30-50%
Unscripted budgets cut across networks and streamers — fewer greenlights, tighter economics
40%
US streaming churn rate in 2023 — driving platforms toward licensing over exclusive ownership
$36B+
YouTube's annual ad revenue — now rivaling all major streamers combined
78%
of long-form YouTube watch time now happens on TV screens — the living room audience has moved
The infrastructure hasn't caught up.
The edge
THE MOAT IS TASTE AND CULTURAL FLUENCY.
We operate at the intersection of community, culture, and storytelling — knowing which stories to tell, not just how to tell them. Most people in this space get to one or two of those. Getting to all three is rare.
We don't chase broad demographics or wait for permission from legacy gatekeepers. We find the communities where passionate audiences already exist — and we make the stories they're waiting for.
THE MODEL
01
PORTFOLIO, NOT A SINGLE BET
Multiple titles across subculture, sports, and identity-driven nonfiction. ~1/3 success rate assumed. Winners fund what comes next. Ownership compounds across the slate.
Character
The scene-stealing actors you remember but can't always name.
Skate The World
Global skate culture. Based on the Nat Geo book.
Washed
A comedic-driven sports reality show.
Bloodline
Your new heroes of true crime.
FAILED
Examining success through the lens of failure.
02
MULTIPLE REVENUE STREAMS
Brand financing, advertising, licensing to streamers and networks, selective sale, and downstream ecosystem potential — merch, live, spinoffs. No title depends on a single path.
For platforms tightening unscripted budgets, we're the other side of that equation — independently financed, already produced content they can license or buy without development risk.
03
THE AUDIENCE IS THE GO-TO-MARKET
Every project starts with an audience that's already paying attention.
We select projects for built-in access to passionate communities — subcultures, movements, and worlds where millions of people are already watching, reading, and following. Legacy media overlooks these audiences for broad ratings. We build for them directly, then layer professional strategy on top.
Pre-launch testing, KPI benchmarking and ongoing optimization via RedSky
How it's already working
Brand partnerships, licensing and ecosystem expansion.
brand partnership
YETI × Vela
Brand-funded premium documentary · cultural association
YETI funded a premium surf documentary series with John John Florence. The brand is present — the story is about the athlete and the ocean, not about coolers. Cultural association, not product placement.
[ video: eco_yeti.mp4 ]
01 / 06
brand partnership
King of Collectibles × eBay
Brand-integrated series · Netflix · culture-driven
eBay is integrated into the premise — but the show is about collectors and culture, not about selling on eBay. The brand finances; the story drives the audience.
[ video: eco_ebay.mp4 ]
02 / 06
ecosystem expansion
Hot Ones / First We Feast
YouTube → TV → streaming → CPG → live → podcast
YouTube interview format → TruTV game show, Hulu/Peacock streaming, hot sauce line, live events, merch, podcast. Maintained original platform presence throughout. Sold for $82.5M in late 2024.
[ video: eco_hotones.mp4 ]
03 / 06
ecosystem expansion
MrBeast
YouTube → Amazon → CPG → international → spinoffs
YouTube-native → Amazon (Beast Games), consumer products (Feastables), international formats, ancillary content across multiple platforms simultaneously.
[ video: eco_mrbeast.mp4 ]
04 / 06
ecosystem expansion
Dude Perfect
YouTube → $100M+ investment → media company
$100M+ from Highmount Capital to build multi-platform entertainment company — retail, streaming, live events, physical venues. Digital-origin IP as foundation for a media company.
[ video: eco_dudeperfect.mp4 ]
05 / 06
licensing
The Ringer × Netflix
Externally produced video podcasts ����� licensed to streamer
Spotify's Ringer network — built outside the studio system at a fraction of traditional cost — licensed its full video podcast catalog to Netflix in a multimillion-dollar deal. Netflix gets proven, audience-tested content without development risk. The creator retains ownership.
[ video: eco_ringer.mp4 ]
06 / 06
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The creators
Emmy winners. Oscar nominees. Netflix showrunners.
[ video: creator_mario.mp4 ]
Mario Diaz
Emmy winner. ESPN 30 for 30, BET, A&E, CNN Films / HBO Max.
[ video: creator_ally.mp4 ]
Ally Gasparian
The Bachelor, Vanderpump Rules, Southern Charm. Currently showrunning Alix Earle show for Netflix.
[ video: creator_alex.mp4 ]
Alex Craig
Emmy-nominated. Hulu, VICE. Nike, Arc'teryx. TIFF premiere.
[ video: creator_danny.mp4 ]
Daniel Mehrer
TIME Studios podcasts, Majordomo Media (Hulu). Award-winning doc Santoalla.
[ video: creator_brian.mp4 ]
Brian Golden Davis
Emmy-nominated. Netflix's We Are The Champions. Lionsgate.
[ video: creator_jacob.mp4 ]
Jacob Schulsinger
Editor for Oscar-nominated Triangle of Sadness and The Square, HBO's Big Little Lies and Fantasmas.
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To the creators we work with: ownership, creative control, and a real backend in the work they make.
·
To the brands we partner with: a seat at the table in premium storytelling audiences actually trust.
The team
WHO'S BUILDING THIS
Founder & Creative Lead
Jeremy Cohan
DGA Award-winning director. 15+ years across Disney+, Netflix, Paramount+, MTV, ESPN, VICE, VOX.
Advisor, Strategy & Marketing
Ben Woo
GP at RedSky Strategy. Media & entertainment specialty. Emmy winner. Audience intelligence and optimization.
Advisor, Finance
Brian Friedman
18 years production finance across docuseries, reality, talk, scripted. Left/Right, ITV, Big Fish, eOne.
The ask
Seed — ~18 Months Runway
$2.0M
What this funds
Production & post 70%. Ops & overhead 20%. Audience & distro 10%.
By end of runway
Multiple projects released. Revenue validated. Brand model proven. IP library growing.
The portfolio bet
~1/3 success rate. Winners fund the next slate. Ownership compounds.
This raise moves 3-4 titles into production within 6 months.
