Documentary Downer?
A look at the broader state of documentary distribution from funding to fests to flickering lights of the cinema
By most accounts 2024 has seen an acceleration
of the documentary downturn. Yes, a handful of Sundance premiere docs scored major streamer/broadcast deals via Netflix (Ibelin, Skywalkers A Love Story, Will & Harper and Daughters), National Geographic (Sugarcane), and WB (Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story) but they are the exception and not the rule.
ID Christopher Reeve as Superman against a backdrop of American flag
At the same time the likes of Peacock, Apple, Hulu, Amazon, Magnolia, IFC, & Neon have made zero doc pickups from 2024 A list film fests. In fact over a month after it wrapped, there have been zero SXSW 2024 world premiere pickups at all (Doc or Narrative) and the only notable doc acquisition from Berlinale was Golden bear winner Dahomey, which Mubi snagged for North America and a number of other territories.
This would all be bad enough, but then there’s recent events within the documentary (and to be fair wider) festival circuit. First Human Rights Watch decided to disband their entire film festival empire. That’s over two dozen film festivals committed to social issue and politically centered docs crashing down at once. While a number of top human rights fests remain like One World and Movies That Matter, we still don’t know if other cinemas and/or fests will come up with replacement options in major cities where HRW was present, such as New York and Berlin.
Though it is not closing up shop, the normally quite stable and publicly drama free Hot Docs saw the resignation of 10 programmers. This was immediately followed by the resignation of their Artistic Director Hussain Currimbhoy, who had spent all of four months on the job. This came on top of Hot Docs plea for more government funds as they warned that without additional support the 2024 fest could be their last. The org has halted plans to add a second screen to their cinema and this year’s fest is a smaller edition than in year’s past. Multiple fest venues have been eliminated since COVID and depending on what happens in the fall it could even lose its status as the largest doc film fest in North America.
Funder and distribution partner Participant Media announced that they would be folding. While not documentary exclusive and funding a very small number of docs (an avg of three a year for the past decade) they include some of the most politically charged and awards bate successful entries like Flee and All the Beauty and the Bloodshed. It is no secret that the company had massive overhead and way overspent, but missing from the press releases of its demise is that they have NO DOCS anyway this year and had only one last year. That is to say, that the writing had been on the wall for a while. Nevermind that in their 20 year history they never worked with trans nor visibly-disabled filmmakers. In fact almost all queer content was from straight cis filmmakers. That’s out of 125 feature films!!! NONE ZERO. Only one trans film and it was made by a straight cis duo. As a company they had more films directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor than about trans people at all! And this is a company with a social issue driven mission. Still, it is a loss for those white cis able-bodied names at the top. Davis Guggenheim and Alex Gibney each had three directed docs with Participant backing. Combined that’s more than their entire LGBTQIA+ and disability themed output. And racially, less than 20% of docs funded were BIPOC directed. Still following the end of Showtime and CNN Films as a result of conglomerate and streamer mergers, any loss is significant. Netflix reduced its original slate last year and HBO has a backlog that has meant very few new pickups.
At the same time two of the premiere fests with the biggest relative doc presence both saw leadership step down or be forced out. Sundance and Berlinale will have new EDs and heads for the 2025 edition, further creating instability. Both orgs are under pressure to increase revenue and attendance, while also somehow avoiding controversy. Sundance has actually lost money two of the last three years and is taking bids for possibly relocating when its contract is up with Park City. While less doc powered, Toronto IFF is still reeling from the loss of its biggest sponsor and large regional markets are also seeing the bleed. SFFilm cut the number of days of the San Francisco International Film Festival in half
Stepping back from fests themselves, let’s take a look at box office performance of doc titles. Through the first quarter of the year the highest grossing non-Christian or concert doc is the self released and equity crowd-funded 2023 SXSW premiere, You Can Call Me Bill. In one week it managed $472,742. However the film is heavily front-loaded and failed to gross over $500,000. Still in one week, did more than triple the domestic theatrical business of each Sundance doc released in the last fifteen months. And almost as much business as all fifteen Oscar shortlisted and nominated docs combined. As for Sundance, the highest grossing doc is the Indigo Girls centered It's Only Life After All. It’s managed just north of $150K, almost all from one night event screenings via Oscilloscope. And while I don’t know what Oscilloscope paid for it, I know the film left Sundance with only one major player making a barely $100K+ offer for all rights.
That said, it’s not all bleak. Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is back after a COVID shutdown. A new doc fest started…
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