What proportion of annual income comes from documentary work?

Nearly half of documentary professionals (47%) make most or all of their gross annual income from documentary work.

46% of BIPOC professionals make all or most of their income from documentary, compared to 48% of white documentary professionals. But a full half (50%) of women documentary professionals received most or all of their income from documentary work, compared to 39% of men who did. Male-identifying documentary professionals are therefore more diversified in their incomes than women-identifying professionals.

What impact did COVID-19 have on documentary professionals’ finances?

The pandemic has had a dramatic impact on documentary professionals’ financial security. Nearly three- quarters of documentary professionals (74%) said COVID-19 harmed their financial stability somewhat or a great deal. This pattern holds true equally for both BIPOC and white documentary professionals, as well as men and women.

What motivates U.S. documentary professionals?

Documentary professionals are primarily motivated to make a positive impact on social issues (47%), and they value their independent creative voice, as well as artistry and artistic expression next.

BIPOC and white documentary professionals are equally motivated by making a positive impact on social issues as a primary motivator. There is a distinction by gender identification: 51% of women are motivated by making an impact on social issues compared to 42% of men. Men report being more motivated by artistic expression in documentary as a motivation than women.

What do U.S. documentary professionals see as the the greatest future opportunities in terms of format?

Documentary professionals see the greatest future opportunities in series (55%), short-form docs (39%), and feature-length (37%). In terms of distribution, documentary professionals perceive the greatest future opportunities in streaming (49%), followed by grassroots community distribution (32%) and TV (25%).

BIPOC and white documentary professionals generally follow the same patterns, but BIPOC documentary professionals feel that grassroots community screenings offer greater future opportunities compared to white professionals: 39% compared to 31%. Women are more enthusiastic about grassroots screenings as an opportunity for documentary work than men: 34% compared to 29%.

What do documentary professionals see as the greatest opportunities for documentary income streams?

By far, documentary professionals see greatest economic opportunities in commissioned work from film studios or TV networks (21% say this is a great opportunity), followed by foundation and nonprofit grant funding, and commissioned work from nonprofit organizations (both 14%). By contrast, documentary professionals do not look favorably at funding from recoupable grants, investment financing, shared advertising revenue, and subscription-based revenue; only 6% or less name these revenue streams as “great” income opportunities.

BIPOC and women documentary professionals rely the most on foundation and nonprofit grant funding for their income streams, seeing this source of income as a great opportunity.

In the multi-channel streaming age of storytelling, what are the dominant film lengths for contemporary nonfiction directors and producers?

Documentary directors and producers are working in feature-length films as the most dominant (51%), followed by hour-long docs (17%). Paradoxically, most are not yet working in documentary series (only 7% said their last documentaries were series), even though other study findings here reveal that documentary makers see series as the greatest future opportunity for their craft.

While this pattern for feature films is intact across lines of race and gender, BIPOC and white makers differ a bit in some meaningful ways: BIPOC filmmakers are much more likely than white filmmakers to have produced a short-form project as their most recent documentary (17% vs. 7%), and less likely to have produced a feature film than white filmmakers (42% vs. 54%). More men than women report their most recent documentary project as a series.

Do documentary directors and producers see themselves as social issue advocates or pure entertainment storytellers?

Contemporary documentary makers see a higher calling in their work, beyond craft and entertainment alone. The majority of documentary directors and producers describe themselves as social issue advocates (61%)—twice as many describe themselves in this way compared to purely entertainment storytellers (32%).

Nearly three-quarters of BIPOC documentary makers (72%) describe themeselves foremost as social issue storytellers compared to more than half (57%) of white filmmakers who see themselves in this way. Men are more likely than women to describe themeslves as pure entertainment storytellers (42% vs. 25%).

How did documentary directors and producers distribute their most recent nonfiction films?

The top five ways that documentary directors and producers distributed their most recent nonfiction films include: physical film festivals (62%), grassroots community screenings (52%), non-theatrical virtual screenings (not including festivals) (40%), virtual film festivals (35%), and educational distribution (streaming and DVDs tied at 34%). Public TV is the final top distribution path (33% distributed their most recent documentary in this way).

BIPOC filmmakers report lower distribution than white makers across nearly every distribution mechanism except virtual film festivals (44% of BIPOC filmmakers distributed via virtual film festivals compared to 32% of white filmmakers), public TV (35% of BIPOC filmmakers distributed via public television compared to 32% of white filmmakers), and social media platforms. More men than women distributed their most recent documentaries on transactional streaming video on demand (35% men vs. 29% women).

What are documentary makers’ film format plans for the future?

In terms of film formats filmmakers have produced and will continue in the future, the top five formats for documentary makers include: short-form docs (68%), web-only films (35%), branded documentaries sponsored by nonprofit organizations (31%), multi-part documentary series (29%), and branded docs sponsored by companies (20%). Virtual reality is at the bottom of the list.

About 8 in 10 (81%) of BIPOC documentary makers say they have produced short-form documentaries and will continue into the future, compared to 63% of white makers. Women filmmakers are more likely than men to say they have produced, and will continue to make, nonprofit-sponsored (32% vs. 28%) or corporarate-sponsored branded documentaries (21% vs. 18%). Men are more likely to produce multi-part series and web-only docs.

How are documentaries distributed outside the entertainment marketplace?

Grassroots community distribution is still important for documentary directors and producers. Nearly three-quarters (73%) distributed their most recent films directly within communities, not just the entertainment marketplace. BIPOC and white makers were about equal in community screenings, but fewer men than women makers brought their films directly to communities.

What are the main sources of funding for documentary films?

In terms of their most recent films, the top five main sources of documentary funding reported by nonfiction makers are: grants (non-recoupable from foundations, government, and nonprofit organizations) (30%), personal income (23%), individual donors (16%), broadcast TV networks (including public TV) (11%), and household finances and individual investments to be repaid (both 8%).

BIPOC and white filmmakers differ in main sources of documentary funding in a few areas. 41% of BIPOC makers report grants (foundations, government, nonprofit organizations) as main sources of documentary funding compared to 27% of white filmmakers. And in a dramatic difference, white filmmakers are much more likely to report streaming networks as main sources of documentary funding compared to BIPOC makers (7% vs. 1%). Twice as many women filmmakers report individual donors as a main source of documentary funding compared to men (20% vs. 10%), as well as household income (9% vs. 4%).

How much revenue do documentary makers generate from their nonfiction films?

Only 20% of documentary filmmakers say their most recent film made enough revenue to make a profit, and 4 in 10 nonfiction storytellers (40%) said their film did not make any revenue at all.

Differences are more stark for BIPOC filmmakers. About a quarter (27%) of BIPOC filmmakers said their most recent film generated a profit (compared to 44% of white makers), and nearly 6 in 10 (55%) of BIPOC filmmakers said their most recent film did not make any revenue at all, compared to 35% of white filmmakers. Women filmmakers were more likely than men to report that their most recent film did not make any revenue at all (42% to 35%).

What are main sources of documentary revenue for directors and producers?

For their most recent film, the top five main sources of documentary revenue for nonfiction directors and producers are: subscription streaming video on demand (EX: Netflix, Hulu), education distribution (DVDs), educational distribution (streaming), public TV, and DVD sales (not including educational distribution).

The distinctive patterns for BIPOC filmmakers in terms of revenue from their most recent film are severe: BIPOC filmmakers are dramatically less likely to have received revenue from any streaming networks: subscription streaming video on demand (ex: Netflix, Hulu), and transactional streaming on demand (ex: iTunes). They were similarly less likely to report cable TV networks as a main source of documentary revenue for themselves. Public TV and physical theatrical distibution were their top “main” sources of documentary revenue for their most recent film.

Women makers report lower levels of main documentary revenue nearly across the board, and women are also much less likely than men – like BIPOC makers – to report main sources of revenue from streaming services (subscription or transactional streaming networks).

How much of their expected salary do documentary directors and producers earn from their films?

Nearly 4 in 10 documentary makers (37%) did not make any of their expected salary from their most recent film. Only a quarter (25%) made all of their expected salary from their most recent nonfiction film project.

BIPOC makers were more likely than white makers to report low salaries. 4 in 10 BIPOC makers (41%) did not make any of their expected salary from their most recent film, compared to 36% of white filmmakers who said this; and less than 2 in 10 BIPOC makers (17%) said they made all of their expected salary, compared to 28% of white makers. Women and men are roughly equivalent in their salary levels for their most recent nonfiction films.

How much personal income do documentary directors and producers earn from their films?

More than half of documentary makers (53%) made less than $25,000 in personal income from their most recent films.

Racial and gender differences are distinct here. Nearly 7 in 10 (65%) of BIPOC filmmakers said they made less than $25,000 in personal income from their most recent films, compared to half (49%) of white makers who said the same. Gender identity also shows differential results. Almost six in 10 (55%) of women filmmakers made less than $25,000 in personal income from their most recent films, compared to almost half (48%) of men.