After the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a surge of documentaries being shown on OTT platforms. Demand for documentaries on streaming services increased more than twofold between 2018 and 2021. Documentaries and docuseries made up 19 percent of Netflix's, 16 percent of Amazon's, and 34 percent of Disney's catalogues in 2021, according to a study by data solutions company Diesel Labs.
From stories of the wild to unsolved mysteries and true crime documentaries, you can find an assortment of genres to suit your palate. A genre that was previously viewed only for its educational purpose is now becoming a commodity.
Not only has this move led to the OTT platforms commissioning the production of such series but it also encourages filmmakers to put out such content. One such example is Icarus, a 2017 investigation of the Russian sports-doping conspiracy, was one of Netflix's first three documentaries to win an Oscar.
However, pitching documentaries across to streaming services comes much later in the process. You will need to spend a great chunk of your time perfecting your research, scouring for locations depending on the genre and seeking permissions if necessary. To undertake all of this, you need to have a good amount of money (lying around somewhere stuffed in suitcases or in mattresses perhaps).
If at all, you do manage to bring aboard investors or collaborators who share the same vision as you then great going. You managed to cross the introductory level at most. But finding a platform who is willing to broadcast your piece of work to the general public, that is a tough nut to crack.
This is primarily the reason why mainstream media thrives on box office releases. Films made on grand budgets and backed by famous producers are easily guaranteed a release in theatres, even if the public walks out midway during the screening. Mainstream distributors are on the lookout for pieces of work that will attract audiences to flock to cinema houses.
Therefore even if your angel investors have burnt a hole in their pockets bringing your artistic and ingenious masterpiece to life, if the distributors do not find it piquing their interest, you will not make the cut. This has led to a myriad of documentaries being obscured from the public eye and are later rediscovered after a couple of years.
Another factor that does play a role is ratings. It helps the public understand what films are age appropriate for what age groups. Although films and documentaries are forms of a similar medium, they could not be anymore distinct. Documentaries can dive deeper into a topic and present viewers with a more gruesome perspective of an event as compared to films. Documentaries are (more often than not) fact, and feature films are fiction or adaptation.
However, this point of difference may prove to be an obstacle for them. If the filmmakers are not satisfied with the rating given to them, they have the opportunity to go back to the drawing board and reshoot or re-edit certain scenes. Documentary filmmakers cannot do such a thing and have to accept the rating given to them.
There is no permanent solution to this predicament until people's behaviour starts to change. At the same time there is no certainty that a switch in perception will be a long term endeavour because after all we are only human. We are meant to be fickle creatures.
A German documentary that did not get a box office release