While the Iron is Hot: Labor and Free Expression for Documentary Filmmakers in the Commercial Streaming Era
by Arij Mikati, Pillars Fund
Ithappened suddenly. For most of my life, documentaries were broadly perceived as ultra-specific and high-brow viewing. But recently, I started to hear a recurring question from friends and family that were the most casual of audience members: “Oh my God, have you seen the new [insert entertainment streamer] documentary yet?”
In an era dominated by streaming platforms, documentaries have undergone a remarkable transformation, emerging from the niche corners of filmmaking to capture the mainstream spotlight. The surge in popularity and accessibility has given rise to a new wave of documentary storytelling. From true crime sagas like “The Jinx” to explorations of the effects of anti-Blackness in Ava DuVernay’s “13th,” the streaming revolution has thrust documentaries into the cultural zeitgeist, igniting a global appetite for non-fiction narratives that challenge, inform, and inspire.
But these victories have come with a cost.
Documentary filmmakers face unique hurdles. The commercialization of their medium has shifted the focus toward profit-driven content with celebrity attached. While streaming platforms provide wide distribution, many documentarians feel that the pressure to make money constrains their creative freedom, compromising their ability to address important social issues and tell their stories in their most truthful, authentic voice.
The documentary filmmakers I am privileged to know are often driven by a desire to shed light on under-told stories and bring attention to pressing social matters. The commercialization of streaming platforms, however, risks prioritizing marketability over social impact. This means studios could favor content that they believe has broad appeal over content that is more thought-provoking and challenging for audiences to take in. As a result, many compelling films, particularly by filmmakers with historically excluded identities, can struggle to find funding or secure distribution deals, while more commercial projects take center stage. For example, a documentary director might earn a development deal for their original feature idea and then find in their contract that they are not guaranteed to direct the work if a more-established A-list director joins the project. This is one of many examples of how this extractive system remains unsustainable for the artists who bring their talents to our screens.
While streaming has certainly disrupted the economics of filmmaking, film laborers have responded in turn by disrupting the economics of streaming. This summer, we are witnessing the Writers Guild of America demand a reckoning and reexamination of the financial status quo in Hollywood in a strike that has halted most commercial American filmmaking. The WGA has not shied away from the uncomfortable conversations required to chart an equitable path forward, tackling mentorship models, payment structures, and the complexity of artistry in the age of A.I. With the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) recently announcing a strike, we have seen the summer of strikes add another powerful union to its ranks. Writers have stopped writing, and actors have stopped acting- making it impossible to complete a scripted show or film until labor negotiations have ended. This is the first time both unions have been on strike at the same time since 1960, when a man named Ronald Reagan was the President…of SAG.
Strangely, it seems that one group in particular has been left out of the spicy dialogue this very unique summer has offered. Amid talk of how labor models must change for writers and actors, the difficulties faced by documentarians have largely been ignored. In this critical moment, documentary filmmakers have an opportunity to join conversations with labor movements gaining traction in Hollywood. If they seize this moment, they can amplify their collective voices and demand fair compensation, creative autonomy, and equitable structures for their future creations. A Hollywood general strike that includes leadership from documentary filmmakers and the organizations that support them could challenge the current profit-driven paradigm and pave the way for a more inclusive, socially conscious future in documentary filmmaking and beyond. Making an impact on labor conversations takes time and persistence, and my time working at a community-based philanthropic organization has taught me important lessons about what makes change stick.
In my work at Pillars Fund, an organization dedicated to amplifying the leadership, narratives, and talents of Muslims, we believe that storytelling holds immense power to shape narratives, change individual beliefs and behaviors, and shift culture. We strive to address problems from two sides: we change harmful systems by transforming institutions and support individual changemakers by uplifting their bold ideas. To shift culture, both types of organizing are needed.
For more than a decade, Pillars’ Catalyze Fund has supported Muslim-focused nonprofits moving the needle for Muslim communities in the U.S. Our Culture Change programs supplement and amplify the work of these organizers. We believe changing the narrative of who Muslims are and where we belong supports these civic leaders to succeed in a more receptive society. Pillars Culture Change work amplifies Muslim voices that tell the truth: a truth that changes the lens through which our stories are told to one that is authentic, complex, accurate, honest, and ours. That mission is, quite simply, impossible without the ability of artists to freely express themselves at scale.
Two years ago, Pillars Culture Change launched the Pillars Artist Fellowship, a signature program that supports Muslim artists to tell their own stories. The first-of-its-kind fellowship provides Muslim directors and screenwriters with the unrestricted funds, relationship building, professional development, and high-support, high-challenge community needed to reach their creative aspirations.
This fellowship is a crucial piece of our plan to enable the wider industry the privilege to uplift and amplify talent that has long existed in our communities but has generally been overlooked. By building a trusted pathway for trained Muslim artists to engage with and connect to opportunities long-term, we hope to build the bench of the next great Muslim storytellers with the platform to tell the truth about us.
While this grassroots approach is exciting, it is insufficient on its own. Using learning from our Catalyze Fund grantee partners who excel in organizing, we created The Blueprint For Muslim Inclusion, a comprehensive set of educational materials and recommendations for film industry leaders looking to engage Muslim communities and ensure Muslims feel seen and empowered to tell their stories. In our Blueprint, we included concrete, practical recommendations tailored for agencies, production companies, festivals, film and drama schools, philanthropic institutions, unions, and more because we know and believe each of these spaces has a role to play in making crucial change. As we strive to address systemic issues, not just symptoms, we use this document as an accountability tool with the industry partners seeking to work with the phenomenal talent present in our communities.
This combination of system and individual-level strategies has supported the Muslim storytellers we work with to name and claim their own power. As an organization, the progress we’ve made has reminded us that we will not be given what we do not demand. The documentary filmmaking community can use similar tactics to join the conversation and educate others on valuing their labor. With this group of artists being so gifted at spotlighting the voices of their subjects and film participants, it is certain that lifting their own voices would come with compelling, tremendous power- power that would only be magnified when standing together with screenwriting and acting workers.
If documentary filmmakers want to get involved while the time is ripe, there are several steps they can take:
Educate Yourself: Start by researching and understanding the labor issues and conversations taking place. Stay informed about the key concerns, such as fair wages, working conditions, diversity, inclusion, and representation. Familiarize yourself with the unions and organizations involved in these discussions, including the Writers Guild of America (WGA), Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), and Directors Guild of America (DGA). In addition to these trade unions, you can learn from staff unions at places like the International Documentary Association (IDA), Anthology Film Workers, and the Academy Foundation Workers Union.
Join Relevant Organizations: Consider joining industry organizations that advocate for the rights and interests of documentary filmmakers. For example, the International Documentary Association (IDA) and the Documentary Producers Alliance (DPA) are two prominent groups that support documentary filmmakers. By becoming a member, you gain access to resources, networking opportunities, and updates on industry developments, not to mention a community of people to organize alongside and create a vision of what an equitable commercial system would require.
For people that belong to organizations that are working to improve conditions for documentary filmmakers, those organizations might consider joining Color Congress. Pillars Fund is a proud member of the organization, a membership of 93 POC led and serving organizations in the documentary field that have come together to address field-wide challenges.
Amplify Voices: Documentary filmmakers have a unique platform to amplify voices and shed light on important labor issues. Consider informally documenting striking workers. By telling their stories and showcasing different perspectives, you can contribute to the ongoing conversations and raise awareness among a broader audience.
Use Social Media and Online Platforms: Leverage social media and online platforms to share your thoughts from a documentarian’s point of view, engage in discussions, and connect with relevant stakeholders.
Communicate Your Demands: Collaborate with other documentary filmmakers to agree on a list of benchmarks and solutions to current challenges. Publish these roadmaps and engage in conversation with the decision makers in your industry. To make this message even more salient, enter these conversations with writers, actors, and scripted directors that share your vision. We are always stronger together. Working Film’s new initiative is a place where individual documentary filmmakers can support this ideation.
There is clear opportunity for the documentary filmmaking community to take advantage of this unique moment in the labor landscape. When talent from different sectors comes together, it sends a powerful message to the industry. It would emphasize the need to prioritize artistic integrity and social impact while valuing labor, leading to a more diverse range of documentaries and the people that are positioned to helm their creation. Let us strike while the iron is hot. Together, we can forge a future where free expression thrives and the voices of all communities are heard.
Arij Mikati is the Managing Director of Culture Change at Pillars Fund, where she designs and leads programming that challenges damaging narratives about Muslims in the U.S. and amplifies Muslim voices in artistic spaces. Her storytelling work seeks to change the lens through which Muslim stories are told to one that is authentic, complex, and honest.
Social media handles: @arijmikati on all platforms
