A Call for Context
The head of Hulu’s documentary division seeks films that put subjects in context, then spark conversation.
Whitney Friedlander
A few years ago, Belisa Balaban saw the results of a research project that title-tested the word "documentary" among younger viewers.
The study found that people would say they didn't like documentaries — but when asked to list some of their favorite films, the same folks would rattle off titles of unscripted fare.
"What we've learned since then," she says via Zoom, "is that the association millennial audiences and younger [people] had with a documentary was a very limited understanding of the form. And when exposed to great filmmaking, people discovered that they really love them."