Session
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Thursday, January 31
11:00am - 12:00pm
Fuse 2
The Doc Boom: Can It Last?
Thursday, January 31
11:00am - 12:00pm
Fuse 2
The Doc Boom: Can It Last?
It seems like the stars have truly aligned for the documentary genre, with the premium content craze bringing more cable nets to the space, major SVODs still on the hunt for great stories to drive subscriptions, and yes, even success at the box office for a select few. But as many veteran doc-makers know, it’s a cyclical business, and feast can turn to famine, and boom to bust, once a hit from another genre (hello, reality TV) crashes into the zeitgeist and cools commissioners’ enthusiasm. Here, established and newer documentarians as well as those who buy and shop their work, discuss the genre’s current hot status, what’s behind it from a content and cultural perspective, and offer their takes on how to keep documentary on the upswing.