Hulu’s Belisa Balaban on ‘Lean-In’ Docs, Industry Contraction and the Streamer’s New Bon Jovi Series

variety.com:

Addie Morfoot Contributor Over the last several years Hulu has become known for a zeitgeisty documentary slate that covers topics including celebrities, crimes and cults.

Among the watercooler hits the streamer’s doc division has released recently: “Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence,” “God Forbid: The Sex Scandal That Brought Down a Dynasty,” “Captive Audience,” and “Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons.” Its latest nonfiction release, “Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story,” fits into the celebrity side of Hulu’s doc sweetspot. “Hulu documentaries are very entertainment forward,” says Belisa Balaban, Hulu Originals senior VP unscripted series and documentaries. “We have definitely focused a lot recently on highly visible subjects from pop culture and familiar subject matters as a way into our storytelling.

Stories that haven’t really been unpacked the way we were able to explore them in the documentary form.” “Thank You, Goodnight,” a four-part docuseries that debuts on April 26, chronicling the past and future of the 40 year-old band led by Jon Bon Jovi.

Directed by Gotham Chopra (“Man in the Arena”), the series fully sanctioned by Bon Jovi incorporates personal videos, unreleased early demos, original lyrics and never-before-seen photos that chronicle the band’s journey from Jersey Shore clubs to the world’s biggest stages. “I told Jon that the moment this starts to feel like a vanity piece or an infomercial to sell a new album or to go out on tour again, it just won’t work,” says Chopra. “So he was hands off.