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How Documentaries Went Mainstream: A History, 1960-2022
Since the 1960s, documentary films have moved closer to the mainstream, thanks to the popularity of rockumentaries, association with the independent film movement, support from public and cable television, and the rise of streaming video services. Documentary films have become reliable earners at the US box office and ubiquitous on streaming platforms, while historically they existed on the margins of mainstream media.
The growing commercialization of documentary film has not gone unnoticed, but it has not been sufficiently explained. Streaming and the growing interest in reality TV are usually offered as explanations whenever a documentary enters the cultural conversation or breaks a box-office record, but neither of those causes grapple with the overlapping causal mechanisms that commercialized documentary film. How Documentaries Went Mainstream provides a more comprehensive and meaningful periodization of the commercialization of documentary film. Although the commercial ascension of documentary films might seem meteoric, it is the culmination of decades-long efforts that have developed and fortified the audience for documentary features. Author Nora Stone refines rough explanations of these efforts through a robust history of the market for documentary films, using knowledge of film economics and the norms of industry discourse to tell a richer story.
The growing commercialization of documentary film has not gone unnoticed, but it has not been sufficiently explained. Streaming and the growing interest in reality TV are usually offered as explanations whenever a documentary enters the cultural conversation or breaks a box-office record, but neither of those causes grapple with the overlapping causal mechanisms that commercialized documentary film. How Documentaries Went Mainstream provides a more comprehensive and meaningful periodization of the commercialization of documentary film. Although the commercial ascension of documentary films might seem meteoric, it is the culmination of decades-long efforts that have developed and fortified the audience for documentary features. Author Nora Stone refines rough explanations of these efforts through a robust history of the market for documentary films, using knowledge of film economics and the norms of industry discourse to tell a richer story.
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Published June 6, 2023
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March 18, 2025
In the past year I’ve read four books about documentary films. The first three had a lot to do with on one hand with different genres within the documentary films, and good documentaries on the other.
This one isn’t about that. It is about finance, and distribution of documentary films. This may sound like an unusual route towards the subject, but it really makes sense. No matter how great a documentary is, it will not really make much impact without finding audience somehow. And money, as much as one doesn’t really want to think about it in context with films, does have an impact on how much work can be done on a particular film.
Through this one does get a good overview of the history of documentary films in the US from 1960 to 2022. There is a lot here that I had never heard about in the connection with documentary films before. It helps to explain why some films have a better access to viewers than others. A lot seems to have changed in these 62 years, but there are some things that come up again and again throughout this story. Quite fascinating.
This one isn’t about that. It is about finance, and distribution of documentary films. This may sound like an unusual route towards the subject, but it really makes sense. No matter how great a documentary is, it will not really make much impact without finding audience somehow. And money, as much as one doesn’t really want to think about it in context with films, does have an impact on how much work can be done on a particular film.
Through this one does get a good overview of the history of documentary films in the US from 1960 to 2022. There is a lot here that I had never heard about in the connection with documentary films before. It helps to explain why some films have a better access to viewers than others. A lot seems to have changed in these 62 years, but there are some things that come up again and again throughout this story. Quite fascinating.
Displaying 1 of 1 review