Documentary Trends In 2017

Happy early New Year! Below are some of the trends I see emerging in 2017 in the independent documentary world.

But first…we have a talented editor coming available in January. Let me know if you are looking for an editor.

As you may have noticed, shorter non-fiction formats are becoming more popular, as the ubiquitous screens in our lives vie for our attention. Our story consulting client Tiffany Shlain offers a terrific showcase of this trend in her “Let It Ripple” series of impactful, short documentaries.

Tiffany also pioneers two other trends: the movement toward using cinematic purchased footage (think “Pond 5”) as well as crowd-sourced footage. Tiffany’s term for this latter trend is “cloud filmmaking”.

Earlier this year I spoke with Academy-winning director Lucy Walker who was on fire about the most game-changing trend, virtual reality filmmaking. She says Silicon Valley is “pouring money into” this emerging technology. For more about my sneak preview with Walker, see my blog on the New Documentary Format.

Finally, here are some past innovations in both form and genre that continue to trend strong, particularly in America: character-driven documentaries, social issue documentaries, biographies, and first-person documentaries.

So even if you can’t afford virtual reality (yet), if you’re making a film about a personality or a character-focused film about a social issue, you’re poised for a big year in 2017!