Will SAG-AFTRA Strike Benefit the Struggling Documentary Industry? Probably Not.

variety.com:

Addie Morfoot Contributor As the SAG-AFTRA strike gets underway, documentary filmmakers are still at work. But despite the fact that the dual strike by actors and their writer counterparts in the WGA could lead to gaps in narrative content for broadcast networks and streaming companies, the doc industry isn’t holding out much hope that studios will start flooding money into documentaries. “There’s a feeling of solidarity and support for SAG and for the WGA,” says Bryn Mooser, founder of nonfiction film and television studio XTR. “The struggle they are facing is a struggle that doc filmmakers have also faced since the beginning of the industry on the documentary side, which is fair pay and making sure we are represented in the right way, et cetera.

But if anybody thought that this would mean that (studios) will just shift resources to a different part of the industry like docs while this gets figured out, that’s not happening.” In the last year and a half, the doc industry has had to grapple with shrinking budgets for commissioned docuseries and one-offs.

In addition there has been a dramatic decline in distribution deals for indie docs. “There is a glimmer of hope that the strike could mean a resurrected appetite for acquiring indie docs, but if I am reading the room correctly, I don’t think so,” says Annie Roney, founder of documentary distribution agency Roco Films. “The commercial streamers just don’t have the incentive to invest in anything that might challenge their audience.” Mooser adds, “There is a real uncertainty about what is this industry is going to look like overall when this ends.