What comes next? The genre is fragmenting into micro-genres. We are seeing the rise of the "making-of" disaster doc, like Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults, which blurs the line between industry production and true crime. We are also seeing AI-assisted documentaries that can analyze thousands of hours of dailies to find new narratives.
Expect more vertical integration. Disney will make a documentary about the making of a Marvel movie—while that movie is still in theaters. Paramount will drop a 6-part series on the making of Top Gun: Maverick the week it hits streaming. The line between promotion and documentation has evaporated. -GirlsDoPorn- E249 - 18 Years Old -720p- -15.02...
But the most exciting trend is the democratization of the form. You no longer need Robert Evans’ wealth to make an entertainment industry documentary. A YouTuber documenting the making of their indie short, or a TikToker analyzing the collapse of a music label, carries the same DNA as the HBO specials. The story of putting on a show—the sweat, the tears, the missed cues, and the standing ovations—is universal. What comes next
For those looking to explore the genre, the following films represent the pinnacles of entertainment industry documentaries: We are also seeing AI-assisted documentaries that can
Regardless of the specific subject, entertainment industry documentaries frequently grapple with a set of universal themes: