Hulu Stakes Its Claim As a Documentary Destination

These are exciting times for fans of documentary filmmaking. The format has never been more popular on the big screen, where this summer an unprecedented three non-fiction films have grossed over $10 million. Netflix has emerged as a major force in pushing both short and long form documentary projects with series like Making a Murderer and Wild Wild Country that entered the zeitgeist. (Case in point: I have yet to watch the latter series – I know, I know – but you had better believe I know who Ma Anand Sheela is.) ESPN’s 30 for 30 series helped popularize the format with sports fans, and is the crown jewel of the Worldwide Leader’s new ESPN+ service. And, of course, perennial giants like HBO and PBS continue to fund and release docs for discerning audiences.

Last month, though, documentary lovers found another key destination for their fix: Hulu. The streaming service has quietly picked up steam as a go-to platform for documentary features by becoming the home for IFC Films and Magnolia Pictures’ content, two indie film distributors leading the pack in the theatrical market. Hulu further marks their position as a real player in the space with two new releases in August, Bing Liu’s Minding the Gap and Stephen Maing’s Crime + Punishment, that signal a promising shift in their original content.

Prior to this month, Hulu’s original documentary output largely consisted of behind-the-scenes pop culture portraits like Becoming Bond or Too Funny to Fail: The Life and Death of the Dana Carvey Show. While generally well received, these types of features are a dime a dozen on other platforms and never lent Hulu a distinct brand identity. The site also made a splash in 2016 with Ron Howard’s The Beatles: Eight Days a Week, though that film’s surprise commercial success in theaters overshadowed its digital release.

With their latest documentaries, both acquisitions from this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Hulu is taking a page from Amazon Studios’ playbook of launching their own feature films division. Rather than competing with Netflix on sheer volume of output, Amazon invested in brand names for cinephiles – Park Chan-Wook, Jim Jarmusch, James Gray – to establish their commitment to quality. Hulu’s two August releases come from production companies whose names will be familiar to any doc lovers. Minding the Gap was produced by Kartemquin Films, the Chicago-based powerhouse behind such defining documentaries as 1994’s Hoop Dreams. Crime + Punishment comes from Laura Poitras’ Field of Vision, a relatively new force committed to producing agile short-form documentaries engaging with pressing political topics.

The two projects are simultaneously a study in contrasts and yet oddly complementary. Both documentaries tackle hot-button subjects – Minding the Gap takes a piercing look at domestic abuse and toxic masculinity in a group of Midwestern skateboarders, while Crime + Punishment paints a searing portrait of the lack of accountability within the NYPD. Neither functions as a standard “issues” documentary, however. Both filmmakers arrive at their conclusions organically through their characters, which serve as the literal entry point into a story that balloons into something much larger, rather starting with grand statements and finding talking heads to support them. Liu and Maing make no secret of the fact that their documentaries start with their personal connection to a figure in the film and then spiral outwards from there, but each arrives at a singular output. Minding the Gap brims with humanity as Liu burrows into the latent animating forces among his friend group, resulting in a personal essay that allows him to interrogate his own family history. Crime + Punishment presents evidence covertly gathered by brave whistleblowers and investigators to build a case against the NYPD’s assertion that they have abandoned arrest quotas which disproportionately affect minority residents.

Neither of the two films end with an obvious call to action like directing viewers to make a donation, volunteer or visit a website. The filmmakers and production team trust those who feel energized by the time the credits roll will feel motivated to seek out information on their own to make an impact. (It’s worth noting, though, that Hulu has created materials and a discussion guide for Crime + Punishment to send to people who host a viewing party of the film.) It’s a strong vote of confidence in the audience, one that hopefully portends further support of strong documentary artistry for the streaming service. While Netflix’s Oscar for Icarus last year puts them at the head of the pack, Hulu has a real opportunity to create their own exciting lane – and maybe even sneak up from the outside.

Marshall Shaffer is a New York-based freelance film journalist. In addition to Decider, his work has also appeared on Slashfilm, Slant, Little White Lies and many other outlets. Some day soon, everyone will realize how right he is about Spring Breakers.

Watch Minding The Gap on Hulu