47 GENIUS INTERVIEW Martin Boudot
really believe in might not work for French TV, but we can propose it to an agency and see if they might be interested, or to Amazon. Even though Amazon doesn’t do documentary at the moment, it does provide a large spectrum for different types of documentary. Netflix is not so big on investigative stuff, it’s more about small stories that work for an international audience. And the opposite is true, too: we couldn’t do a two-hour investigative piece – that we would do for French TV – for Netflix, because that wouldn’t be interesting for most of the audience. Having all these new platforms does change the game. It also obliges us to be better. We’re trying to compete with all the world right now, not only French producers and documentary makers. FEED: How are you seeing the big platforms deal with local stories? Is there pressure to make it all internationally relevant? Martin Boudot: Well, yes, but one of the big successes of Netflix is Making a Murderer . It’s a local murder. There’s nothing global about Making a Murderer . And most of the documentary successes on Netflix are very local stories. The Keepers and The Devil Next Door , as well. So it doesn’t have to be international as long as the local story tells something that can resonate with everyone. Right now on Netflix there is a documentary from France called Gregory . It’s about how a little kid was murdered back in the 1980s and it resonates with everyone because that is something that could happen to a lot of people, even though it’s local news with local farmers and local, family stories, and vengeance.
TAKING RISKS Boudot’s films would not be possible without the huge risks environmental activists take to obtain information
FEED: Have you noticed any recurring themes or lessons in your work? Martin Boudot: One real, very simple conclusion I can draw is that in every case, once you start mining, there is no clean mining. I was looking for good initiatives along the way, trying to find, for example, responsible gold mining. As long as you dig into earth, every time, either the environment or humans are at risk. Another one – a little more subtle but very important – is that the world now uses only suppliers, subcontractors. So when
you investigate, for example, the mobile phone industry or the textile industry, if someone has polluted or has treated the workers badly, it’s very easy for them to say, “Well, that’s the subcontractors. It’s not our fault. We won’t be working with them anymore.” This supplier way of working has come to a stage where it’s very easy for them to not endorse their responsibilities as major brands. And, I think, using suppliers has become the weapon of cowards. It’s very useful. Martin Boudot: I’m working on three new documentaries, again with this idea of scientific studies meeting environmental issues. One of them is about the pollution of the air in different places in Europe, especially as its affected by the coal industry. Right now, I’m trying to put in place some different samples all over Europe regarding the air pollution. I’m working with a university in Belgium. They are willing to look for very precise pollutants in the urine of children. Also, I’m working with our French scientist whose specialty is the impact of air pollution on children. And another who’s specialising in how to detect mercury in different places. So it’s the same technique. Another topic, but the same technique. FEED: What are you working on next?
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