10 Great Documentaries About Making Movies

Greg Gilman
.July 03, 2025

In honor of the theatrical re-release this week of Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse, here are 10 great documentaries about making movies.

These documentaries — available on Netflix, Amazon, Max, and other easily accessible platforms — get into the agony and ecstasy of making movies. They prove that making a great movie is a very difficult undertaking — but even making a bad movie is hard.

We hope you enjoy this list of documentaries about making movies.

Overnight (Philo/Tubi/Pluto TV)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc2GYck0jEA

A stunning story of overnight success — and self-induced decline — Overnight is the story of Boondock Saints director Troy Duffy, a Boston bouncer who gets a deal with Harvey Weinstein's Miramax Films. Directors Tony Montana and Mark Brian Smith follow Duffy as he gets a deal from his band and Weinstein even agrees to buy him his bar.

He revels in his good fortune, meeting stars from Mark Wahlberg to Keanu Reeves — but misses out on his potential because of arrogance. MovieMaker Magazine makes a cameo appearance, but that's not why we put it on this list.

This is a movie that will send you down many Wikipedia rabbit holes — miraculously, after the Boondock Saints implosion, Duffy rebounded with Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day.

Side by Side (Amazon Prime/Freevee)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFGJY_NJwwg

Speaking of Keanu Reeves, he produces and hosts this 2012 documentary exploring the debate that still rages today: film or digital video?

The actor interviews the biggest directors in the modern era of filmmaking — James Cameron, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, David Lynch, Steven Soderbergh and Robert Rodriguez — about their perspective on the technologically-driven medium and the future of cinema in an increasingly digital world.

If you’re a movie maker still wondering whether to lean into digital or to totally commit to film like actor-turned-cinematographer Giovanni Ribisi, you’ll very likely be fascinated by what some of your favorite directors have to say on the matter.

The Wolfpack (Max)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oNvzXG_byQ&t=3s

“If I didn’t have movies, life would be pretty boring,” says one of the six Angulo brothers who spent much of their lives confined to a small NYC apartment under the authoritarian rule of parents who shunned contact with the outside world.

This Sundance Grand Jury prize winner documents the journey of these sheltered young men who came of age by recreating their favorite films, like Reservoir Dogs, using crafty homemade props and costumes. There’s a lot to unpack from this strange tale, but one major takeaway is the transformative power of cinema; not only informing their understanding of a world they were prohibited from touching, but also providing a daily escape from the house arrest they were born into and ultimately giving them the confidence to break free.

The Wolfpack captures the heart and soul of indie filmmaking, and the triumph of the creative spirit that will forever fuel the medium. As one of brothers explains in the trailer above, “It makes me feel like I’m living, because it’s kind of magical.”

Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau (Amazon Prime, Tubi)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKl7etxBJrU

If there’s one doc on this list that deserves to be remade as a narrative feature, this is it. Lost Soul recounts the harrowing process of making critically panned box office bomb The Island of Dr. Moreau starring Marlon Brando, Val Kilmer and David Thewlis.

Turns out, the drama behind the scenes is far more interesting than what was presented to audiences by director John Frankenheimer, who replaced original writer-director Richard Stanley. The latter refused to go gently into the night when the studio booted him from the messy production botched by a hurricane, a ballooning budget and A-list egos, so he actually snuck back onto the island set, disguised himself as a beastly extra and secretly observed the unfolding circus while playing a small part in the final film.

The tea spilled by Stanlwy, actress Fairuza Balk, former New Line Cinema president Robert Shaye, and other key players involved in the doomed production is hot and spicy, making for a compelling documentary full of lessons to be learned about the difficult realities of the movie industry.

Still Working 9 to 5 (VOD on Amazon, YouTube, Apple)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im6WrK53V3U

This new documentary from directors Camille Hardman and Gary Lane sheds light onto the production process of classic hit comedy 9 to 5 and the rampant gender inequality in the workplace that inspired Jane Fonda and producing partner Bruce Gilbert to embark on the journey of making it back in the ‘70s.

The film explores what has and, unfortunately, has not changed for working women over the last 40 years, and perhaps more pertinent for the MovieMaker community is that the doc demonstrates how the screwball office comedy is activist filmmaking at its finest. 9 to 5 managed to be a critically pleasing box office hit (competing against the Empire Strikes Back in December 1980 no less) while also galvanizing women and men alike in the ongoing struggle for professional equality.

That’s a tightrope to walk and Still Working gives audiences insight into how this crew pulled it off, starting with Fonda’s fateful meeting with a group of female clerical workers protesting in Boston.

Score: A Film Music Documentary (Amazon Prime)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKNC3aqkRvY

“I would recommend Score: A Film Music Documentary to any and every film buff,” wrote Leonard Maltin in his review of this acclaimed film about the art of composing music for the movies.

Top composers Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, John Williams, Rachel Portman, Randy Newman, Alexandre Desplat, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Thomas Newman, and Deborah Lurie are featured voices, either by interview or archival footage, as the documentary takes viewers inside scoring sessions for a glimpse at the creative process not many other films show.

“The score is the heartbeat of the film,” director James Cameron says in the trailer of this absorbing watch for anyone who truly loves movies.

Spielberg (Max)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnoJe5JqWaQ

“This is a documentary that could and should be shown in film schools,” wrote New York Magazine critic Jen Chaney back in 2017 when this documentary chronicling the career of director Steven Spielberg was released on HBO.

The best part of the doc is that Spielberg himself is among the talking heads, dropping nuggets of filmmaking wisdom throughout as he reflects on his Hollywood story that is still unfolding before all of our eyes.

Even if you just press play on the trailer above, it kicks off with a quick lesson from the master on the value of nervous energy on set: “Every time I start a new scene, I’m nervous, and when that verges on panic, I get great ideas.”

American Movie (Amazon Prime, Tubi)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMFZOu8rDUQ

This hilarious, charming and inspiring cult classic that won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize 25 years ago is well worth discovering or revisiting.

American Movie (which this writer fondly remembers renting at Blockbuster in high school!) follows indie filmmaker Mark Borchardt’s efforts to finish his low-budget horror short Coven through a barrage of difficulties, uplifted through the challenge by his community, family and best friend Mike Schank, who was mourned by the film community after his passing in 2022.

As Rotten Tomatoes sums up from a collection of 51 overwhelmingly positive reviews, “Well worth watching for film buffs and anyone who believes in following your dreams.” Director Chris Smith continues to shine in the documentary world with an impressive filmography including Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond, Fyre, Collapse and more recently, excellent WWE documentary series Mr. McMahon.

Sr. (Netflix)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qWUUGB7KUs&t=47s

Speaking of director Chris Smith, stream his critically acclaimed documentary chronicling the life and eclectic career of pioneering filmmaker Robert Downey Sr., whose name may only be familiar to younger readers because his son, Robert Downey Jr., is Iron Man.

“I’m very interested in who my dad is just in the here and now,” says the latter in the film. “ Their relationship and reconnection is the root of the film, but it’s also worth watching to see Sr. reflect on his own journey as a filmmaker, how his commitment to art affected his son, and, more entertainingly, how his urge to direct each scene is as alive as ever.

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (Amazon Prime)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlyx_lPtcgQ

Based on documentary footage from the recently departed Eleanor Coppola, this film about the making of her husband Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, directed by Fax Bahr and George Hickenlooper, goes deep into the maniacal filmmaking process. The tale includes Coppola not knowing how to end the film, and nearly going broke.

As Francis Ford Coppola explains at the start of the film: "We were in the jungle, there were too many of us, we had access to too much money... and little by little we went insane."

The story of Apocalypse Now — and to some extent Coppola's thoughts on making his new film, Megalopolis — are also recounted in the terrific new Sam Wasson book The Path to Paradise: A Francis Ford Coppola Story.

The film will have a theatrical re-release of a new 4k restoration this week at New York City's Film Forum from Friday, July 4 through Thursday, July 17.