The celebrity documentary boom, explained

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Set us as preferred “They’re making a documentary [on] literally every human being that existed!” declares talk-show host Jiminy Glick, the bloviating alter ego of actor Martin Short, during the wink-wink end credits of “Marty, Life Is Short” — the Netflix doc about, yes, Martin Short.Sure, Glick is notoriously hyperbolic, but is he that far off the mark?Maybe not, if you consider that of the 10 Emmy nominees for documentary or nonfiction special or series this year, seven are celebrity-oriented.

Perhaps even more telling: All five directing nominees in the doc/nonfiction space helmed celebrity-centric works.“It’s a kind of perfect storm of the streaming services needing to find content and buzzy projects, the appetite of audiences, and filmmakers who’ve been able to figure out interesting angles about celebrities,” says Alexandria Stapleton, director and an executive producer of the Netflix series “Sean Combs: The Reckoning,” which brings an investigative bent to the subgenre.She adds, “The concept of the celebrity documentary is like a giant umbrella, and there are just so many lanes of what that can mean.”Sara Bernstein, president of Imagine Documentaries and a producer on “Marty, Life Is Short,” notes, “What used to be more niche programming has become more what you could almost call docu-entertainment programming.

And I think that comes with a desire for the widest audiences possible.”But this boom brings its own challenges.“How do you surprise audiences with these projects?” Bernstein asks.

“And how do you let audiences see something different about these high-profile personalities than what they already think they know?”Much of that depends on whom the filmmakers choose as their celebrity focus — and why.“I think the most important part is the willingness of the subject,...