The entertainment documentary has killed the gossip column and wounded the press junket. In an era where everyone is a producer of their own content, the documentary remains the only format that promises (however falsely) the unvarnished truth.
This shift has birthed a new sub-genre: the industry autopsy. Films like Searching for Sugar Man (which won the Oscar in 2013) or the harrowing Last Stop Larrimah have shown that the most interesting story isn't always the rise to fame, but the inexplicable fall from it.
The entertainment documentary has killed the gossip column and wounded the press junket. In an era where everyone is a producer of their own content, the documentary remains the only format that promises (however falsely) the unvarnished truth.
This shift has birthed a new sub-genre: the industry autopsy. Films like Searching for Sugar Man (which won the Oscar in 2013) or the harrowing Last Stop Larrimah have shown that the most interesting story isn't always the rise to fame, but the inexplicable fall from it.