Many documentary filmmakers want their work to be seen on the big screen, not the small. So, what gives? Why doesn’t that happen?
One could argue that we haven’t seen a documentary boom in cinemas since 2018 that has contributed to such breakthroughs as You won’t be my neighbor ($22.8 million), Three identical strangers ($12.3 million) and RPG ($14 million). The pandemic is partly to blame as audiences have enjoyed non-fiction via streaming, such as the Netflix series, Tiger King.
“It’s not that it doesn’t work on a theatrical level,” explained Charlotte Koh, executive vice president of acquisitions and co-productions at Lionsgate, who was part of the SXSW panel “How to Tell True Stories: Narrative vs. Documentary.”
“It has become more competitive to get people’s attention because there are so many documentary productions that can be watched through live streaming and other ways,” Koh added.
Brian Moser, editor of the documentary, also participated in the session moderated by Variety documentary journalist Adi Murfoot. Diane Warren: Relentlesswhich is having its world premiere at the festival, and Prentice Penny, whose company A Penny For Your Thoughts Entertainment produced the Hulu documentary series, Black Twitter; Debuting again at SXSW this year.
“There are films that rarely make it to theaters, and that does happen, and it comes down to what works theatrically,” Moser said of big-screen documentaries. Free soloum, can I calculate Tour of the ages Like a documentary?
“Yes!” Koh interjected.
If any subset of documentaries can find theatrical success in recent times, it’s music documentaries, a testament to ‘what works in the collective space – and here’s why Tour of the ages Koh confirmed that it is working well.
Although the AMC circuit was released, Taylor Swift: Tour for the Ages With a domestic gross of $180 million, Rhino is among the concert films, Renaissance: A Beyoncé Film, It didn’t do too shabby by the genre average, grossing nearly $34 million in the United States.
Regarding setting a destination for the small screen, Moser explained: “Our medium was kind of television. When you think about PBS or HBO, when you think about documentaries and their development, it’s OK as filmmakers to be on television because that’s how many people got to know us when they were They watch Frontline or PBS.”
However, what is increasingly happening with non-fiction works is that they serve as a source material for fiction. Read Mark Wahlberg’s film Lionsgate arthur king, In addition to the studio’s WWII collection Ministry of brutal war From Guy Ritchie to the Kingdom Story feature, Ordinary angels.
The appeal of stories based on true stories stems from filmmakers “looking through a more subjective lens in many ways,” Koh says. This is coupled with the packaging of such stories with broadly attractive stars, such as Henry Cavill and Henry Golding. It’s all part of any movie studio’s mission to do whatever it takes to keep viewers off their couches, and this applies to any genre. One interesting aspect King Arthur is that it conflicts with adventure racing, which is an endurance sport without any set routes. “When we showed this film to a few audiences, the amazing thing was that they said, ‘Wow, we’ve never seen this sport before,'” Koh said.
“You have the old adage: You’re either an extraordinary person in ordinary circumstances or an ordinary person in extraordinary circumstances. A lot of that happens through realistic storytelling as the thesis for this kind of adaptation,” the executive vice president emphasized.
She continued: “It’s not about the origin or vice versa, it’s about where I find the best stories that will resonate, especially in a way that makes it feel like it happened.”
“I think it’s hard to give a blanket statement because we’ve had great movies come out of original ideas. Some of the biggest franchises in Lionsgate’s history have come out of John Wick And opinion“Koh said.
“New stories often come from places that aren’t necessarily close to the film industry,” Koh adds. “The economics of podcasting or the economics of nonfiction work tends to be cheaper than some of the larger projects, and it also allows you to get this amazing germination and this rich kind of Nursery stories.
Roadside Attractions is a sister brand to Lionsgate that distributes documentary theatrics and has been nominated for a BAFTA Award beyond utopia, And Black ice About the history and contribution of black hockey players to the sport.
At the end of the afternoon session, Koh answered an audience member’s query, noting that Hollywood has become increasingly interested in pairing the right kinds of stories with the right filmmakers who have authenticity of the material.
“I think what’s really encouraging now is that the pairing of awareness of who’s telling the story is as important, if not more important, than the story. There’s a growing awareness in Hollywood where people are starting to realize, ‘Is this the right person to tell this story?’ There’s a sensitivity I would really say that when I started in this business almost 25 years ago, it wasn’t there. There was no thinking about it. One of my favorite quotes was from Spike Lee who said, “Racism in Hollywood is over when I make a movie about… Holocaust.” Because Spielberg made it Amistad. There’s a real truth that even if you’re not the perfect person to tell that story, you’re sensitive when you’re doing your research to make sure you’re representing it in a way that feels authentic and respectful of the culture you live in. Re coming from.
Koh worked on a film with Academy Award nominee Lily Gladstone Fantasy dance “We had to rely on a group of experts to ensure the accuracy of the cultural language and tribal depictions.”
“It’s one of those things where you have to take the time to do the work and think and not be afraid to ask people’s opinions about it, and not be afraid of them (saying) ‘You shouldn’t do that.’”