MTV has been neither a music-centric destination nor a hotspot for teenage pop culture consumers for decades. Yet, its profound impact on the 80s and 90s was so immense that people still think, “Music! Hip young people!” when the word “MTV” is dropped. Today, though, film geeks have begun to associate MTV with something else: MTV’s greatest contribution to art today is the MTV Documentary Films label, which has become a bit of an Oscars darling lately. In recent years, this offshoot of MTV has garnered multiple Oscar nominations for Best Documentary Short with “St. Louis Superman” (2019), “Hunger Ward” (2020), “The ABCs of Book Banning” (2023), and for Best Documentary Feature with “Ascension” (2021) and last year’s “The Eternal Memory.” For 2024, this indie outfit will make a run at another nomination thanks to them releasing the critically acclaimed new documentary “Black Box Diaries.” How did we get to this status quo? How did MTV end up producing a buzzy documentary label known for supporting arthouse documentaries? Also, does “Black Box Diaries” stand a chance of continuing the label’s strong recent track record at the Oscars?
The division was launched by Liza Burnett Fefferman, Co-Head, MTV Documentary Films and and EVP/Head of Communications, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios. She had previously been at RADiUS with Tom Quinn as head of PR and oversaw the release and Oscar campaigns for films like “Twenty Feet From Stardom,” “Cutie And The Boxer,” and “Citizenfour.” In December 2017, Sheila Nevins stepped down as the president of HBO’s documentary movies division. She’d been with the company for 38 years but was now moving on.Eighteen months later, Fefferman brought in Nevins. Together, with Nina Diaz, Co-Head, MTV Documentary Films and Chief Content Officer, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios, the team has completely redefined what the brand has represented in the entertainment space over the last few years with the support of Paramount Co-CEO Chris McCarthy. MTV previously had its logo attached to a smattering of documentaries such as “Tupac: Resurrection.” Now, there was a real renewed commitment to the form from MTV. MTV’s parent company hoped that Nevins could give this label the prestige and awards wins she’d easily generated at HBO. At the time, the announcement of MTV Documentary Films emphasized that the division would focus on movies most relevant to younger viewers.
MTV Documentary Films began launching projects at the end of 2020 with “76 Days.” The label’s next movie would be the avant-garde Mandarin-language documentary “Ascension,” and it was evident the creative trajectory of MTV Documentary Films was already heading in unexpected directions. These weren’t necessarily films one instantly thinks of as “youth-skewing.” They were also far removed from pre-existing MTV properties or entities owned by parent company CBSViacom. MTV Documentary Films was committed to more artistic documentaries that tackle politically conscious subjects. Such movies perfectly aligned with the urgently relevant titles Nevins had prioritized in her work at HBO.
Very quickly, this shift in MTV’s priorities yielded deeply tangible results. Given the acclaim greeting these initial titles, it was only a matter of time before significant award shows noticed what the MTV Documentary Films team was working on. “Ascension” scored a surprise Best Documentary Feature Oscar nomination, an impressive feat that cemented MTV Documentary Films as being off to the races fewer than three years after its founding. This also gave the MTV brand one of its first Oscar nominations, beyond being associated with Oscar-nominated Paramount Pictures releases like “Hustle & Flow” and “Election.”
After that Oscar nomination, MTV Documentary Films didn’t suddenly ramp up to a Netflix-level of annual original films. However, the label continued to acquire some acclaimed indie documentaries, which resulted in the acquisition of Maite Alberdi’s “The Eternal Memory.” This film scored the production company its second Best Documentary Feature Oscar nomination, while the studio also garnered a Best Documentary Short Subject nomination that same year for “The ABCs of Book Banning.” In less than six years, MTV Documentary Films had gone from non-existence to securing multiple Oscar nominations in one year.
While Nevins stepped down as head of MTV Documentary Films at the start of 2024, the studio’s commitment to handling critically acclaimed, urgent documentaries continues. Acquiring distribution rights to “Black Box Diaries,” a documentary chronicling director Shiori Itō confronting the handling of sexual assault cases in Japan, epitomized this enduring goal. Now the question remains: can “Black Box Diaries” give MTV Documentary Films its first post-Nevins Oscar nomination? So far, that is a likely possibility.
“Black Box Diaries” has emerged as one of the more acclaimed and prolific documentaries of 2024 so far, alongside films like “Daughters,” “Sugarcane,” “Dahomey,” and “No Other Land.” More notably, it’s not a documentary chronicling a celebrity. That format of documentary cinema is one the documentary branch of the Academy has largely eschewed when it comes to Best Documentary Feature nominees in recent years. If titles like “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” couldn’t get in, then “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” and “Will & Harper” have minimal chances of scoring nominations in the category this year.
Their loss could be a massive gain for “Black Box Diaries.” This title might have a less high-profile competition to contend with for scoring a nomination. The more global focus of the Best Documentary Feature category in recent years could also aid “Black Box Diaries.” Just last year, every single one of the Best Documentary Feature nominees was predominantly made out of the United States. Potential films in this domain can come from anywhere in the world, and the Academy has been more accepting of this than ever before. “Black Box Diaries,” which was made in Japan, doesn’t have to worry about the wariness towards international cinema that plagues so many Oscar categories.
“Black Box Diaries” has more than a solid shot at gaining some Oscar traction, which would be a tremendous boon for many parties, including those running MTV Documentary Films. What a strange turn of events this label has taken: once an entity utilizing a moniker associated with music videos, “Jackass” and “Beavis and Butt-Head,” now producing socially and politically-minded documentaries that receive Oscar nominations. Now, if there’s anywhere you’ll see the MTV logo on the big screen, it’s attached to a super artsy documentary tackling some of the most harrowing topics on the planet. That unexpected detour for the MTV label has produced multiple acclaimed Oscar-nominated documentaries, a trajectory “Black Box Diaries” appears poised to extend after its Critics Choice Documentary Award nomination for Best True Crime Documentary and multiple Cinema Eye Honors and International Documentary Association nominations.
Have you seen “Black Box Diaries” yet? If so, do you think will be nominated for Best Documentary Feature? What do you think about the rise of MTV Documentary Films in recent years at the Oscars? Please let us know in the comments below or on Next Best Picture’s X account, and be sure to check out Next Best Picture’s latest Oscar predictions here.
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