The documentary film genre isn\u2019t what it used to be. Gone are the days where any person in a position of power or influence would willfully give access to an independent journalist to tell their story. Now the documentary genre, or perhaps more accurately, the hagiography genre, is filled with access-driven projects in which the subject often gets final say over what is and isn\u2019t included in the film.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, there simply isn\u2019t any incentive for an athlete, celebrity, or other person of interest to cede editorial control. Why let someone else tell your story if there\u2019s a production company willing to pay you for access and give you final cut?<\/p>\n
That\u2019s at least how The New Yorker editor David Remnick and Emmy Award-winning documentarian Ezra Edelman feel about the current state of documentaries. Appearing on a recent episode of\u00a0Pablo Torre Finds Out<\/a>, Remnick and Edelman decried access-driven films. Remnick specifically discussed a meeting he had with LeBron James and his longtime business partner Maverick Carter in which he pitched a profile, but was then shutdown by a Lakers public relations officer who said it\u2019d be better to tell James\u2019 story \u201cin our voice.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat they don\u2019t want is the intermediary of a writer or a filmmaker of any independence.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014David Remnick and Ezra Edelman on a failed meeting with LeBron James and the slow death of access journalism pic.twitter.com\/Vc2BhiWYcH<\/a><\/p>\n