We're living in a golden age of documentary filmmaking, and you can thank Netflix — and Lisa Nishimura, its documentary boss — for a big part of that.
Netflix’s instantaneous and global distribution solved a nagging issue for documentarians.
Documentary filmmakers "want to be fairly compensated” and they “want to be heard," Nishimura previously told Business Insider. The problem was that negotiating distribution deals in different markets was difficult and hampered the ability for the doc to have that "global watercooler moment," Nishimura said.
Netflix has had many of those moments as it’s become a documentary powerhouse, from “Making a Murderer” to “Wild Wild Country” to “Fyre.”
In March, Netflix expanded Nishimura’s role, making her VP of indie films and documentary features (including shorts and limited series). She had overseen comedy, which is now under different leadership.
In a statement on the news, Netflix’s VP of original series, Cindy Holland, praised Nishimura’s “impeccable vision, taste, and style” for shaping the streamers originals docs from the beginning. Nishimura will now put those attributes to work on Netflix's indie films, a big growth area for the company.