Doc Distro Lit Review: Streaming

The Writers Guild of America West logo
A detailed report from the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) highlights how three major companies' anticompetitive actions harm consumer prices, writer wages, and media diversity, urging swift antitrust action and policy reforms.
Photograph of a video camera with microphone
Writer Matt Stoller argues that streaming giants and industry consolidation are steering Hollywood toward limited content and unfair working conditions, leading to tense negotiations and solidarity over union strikes.
Compilation of photographs from films, featuring various people looking upward, at each other, or at the camera
New York Magazine Features writer Reeves Wiedeman spoke with more than eighty documentary filmmakers about the state of the industry with the streaming platforms playing a larger role in the production of such films.
Distribution Advocates logo
Reporting on the presentation of Distribution Advocates' data on film festival sales at the International Documentary Association's 2022 Getting Real Conference, film writer Anthony Kaufman describes the challenges independent documentary filmmakers face finding financing, festival acceptance, exposure, and distribution deals that make sense for them.
The Center for Media & Social Impact logo
A study by the Center for Media and Social Impact (CMSI) exposes a lack of diversity among documentary filmmakers, emphasizing the dominance of white men and revealing disparities in acknowledging racism, particularly in the representation of BIPOC and women of color across major platforms, including streamers, cable, and public television.
Illustration of a pile of money on a chair with a camera and microphone around it
Journalists Mia Galuppo and Katie Kilkenny explore the transformation of the nonfiction space into a lucrative industry with streaming platforms, featuring insights from filmmakers like Alex Gibney and Ken Burns on rising costs, ethical challenges, and the evolving nature of their profession.
Black and white photograph of an art piece
Writer Will Tavlin chronicles the transition from celluloid filmmaking and exhibition to digital, highlighting the proposed benefits and the eventual pitfalls—offering a critical exploration of the difficulties in safeguarding cultural records in this digital era.
Photograph of two people looking at each other
Freemantle's global head of documenaries, Mandy Chang, spoke at at the Copenhagen Intl. Documentary Film Festival (CPH: DOX), about how streaming platforms stick with true crime, sport, and celebrity-driven stories so that they become mainstream and popular, essentially locking out opportunities for other, perhaps viewed as "challenging," documentaries.
Black and white photograph of six people looking forward at the camera
New Day Films, a cooperative founded in 1971, empowers more than 100 filmmakers to self-distribute educational films, employing a consensus decision-making model, a "share ladder" system, and adapting to the digital era with New Day Digital.