As the genre grows, it faces a critical ethical dilemma: the line between authentic documentary journalism and sophisticated public relations has blurred.

Leo Hirsch was Valiant's golden boy. At twenty-eight, he directed Thunderhead , a gritty superhero deconstruction that won the Palme d’Or. At thirty-two, he was fired from the Galaxy Knights reboot after a public meltdown on set—throwing a monitor into a swimming pool, calling a studio head a "cretin" in a leaked voicemail, and spiraling into a very public addiction. Now, at forty-one, he’s sober, broke, and teaching film history at a community college.

Early Hollywood documentaries were primarily marketing tools designed to protect the studio system's glamorous image. Studios carefully curated "behind-the-scenes" footage to mystify the filmmaking process and elevate actors to god-like status.