by Jacob Goldstein
NARRATION: In 2002, Michael Moore released a documentary called Bowling for Columbine. The movie grossed over $20 million at the box office -- the most ever by a non-fiction movie. The film's financial success encouraged many documentary filmmakers to try and capture a wider audience.
Wendy Mitchell covers Sundance for Indiewire, a Web site that reports on independent film. She says that many of the documentaries from this year's festival seemed more like reality TV than stereotypically stuffy documentary films.
TAPE: MITCHELL: The film that won at Sundance, Dig!, is following around these two cult bands and that's not necessarily like dry PBS fare. It's them being crazy and kicking people in the head and doing drugs.
NARRATION: Focusing on sexy themes allowed some of the filmmakers at this year's festival to obtain funding from television stations in exchange for cable or broadcast rights. New York University Film Professor Rob Nixon says the stigma that used to be associated with bypassing theaters and going straight to TV has declined in recent years.
TAPE: NIXON: Today's home viewing environment is really spectacular and there's nothing degrading about the quality of the image. Serious directors are working on films for HBO and Showtime all the time now.
NARRATION: The TV market for documentaries now extends well beyond HBO and Showtime. The Sundance Channel devotes its entire Monday schedule to showing documentaries. A company called Docurama releases documentaries on DVD and video. And an all-documentary cable channel is in the works.
Documentary director and editor Aaron Lubarsky says as the profile of documentaries rises, directors feel more pressure than ever to deliver the spectacular stories that audiences demand.
TAPE: LUBARSKY: In order for documentaries really to succeed these days they have to show something pretty incredible, pretty shocking, something you haven't seen before. There's a really cynical but true reality that when you're working on a film and one of your characters dies, you scored. It's sad and sick to think about, but that's the level of drama that's required now.
NARRATION: With this mentality driving documentary filmmakers, it seems clear that the genre will continue attracting new viewers -- and shedding its scholarly image. Jacob Goldstein, Columbia Radio News.