Remember that part in the award-winning documentary, Searching for Sugarman when “America’s zero and South Africa’s hero” folk musician Sixto Rodriguez aka Sugarman traveled to South Africa from the United States to perform at his first concert after years of being searched for. In the 1998 concert footage at the stadium where he was performing it was pitch black with only a single, bright stage light shining on stage. Rodriguez comes onto the stage from the darkness takes the microphone and under the bright lights tells the audience of tens of thousands: “Thank you, South Africa, for keeping me alive!” Or remember the ending of Errol Morris’ seminal masterpiece film, The Thin Blue Line, where the tape recording is playing of David Ray Harris, the real killer of a Dallas police officer, admitting that he not only committed the murder but felt bad that Randall Dale Adams took the fall for it and end up serving time in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Or take Brett Morgen’s new 2015 documentary, Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, where Morgen inter-weaved candid, never-before-seen archival footage material—pictures and film—of the rock star to tell his story of a turbulent childhood to a convoluted adulthood before his untimely death. If it wasn’t for content like these documentary films and many others would fall short of their appeal and potential. Content makes and breaks a nonfiction story from the merits of vivid truth revealing itself on camera to what captivates viewers to plug in, resonate, and imbibe in the documentary film work.

Content is king in not only the revelation of invaluable material that helps films flow and drive home its theme and perspective but content is key in how valuable aged footage, old pictures or an interview soundbite could be in conveying the overall documentary film message and delivering lucidly the film’s storyline. Content is king because it is irreplaceable. It’s the glue that holds the thesis together. It’s the coming attraction for audiences to take in. In CNN Films’ documentary, Blackfish, the searing testimonial indictment of Sea World’s treatment of killer whales, we see several key incidents of past episodes where a single killer whale—held in captivity—attacked injured, and in several of the cases killed its trainers and performers. The producers of the film did a stellar job in not only driving the eyewitness testimony of how trainers die because of killer whales’ sudden behavior but it drew us in as a thriller of the caught-on-camera content. Sometimes documentary filmmakers may use content to highlight a point or carry on the leitmotif of the film’s portrayal of an issue, place, or person. In Michael Moore’s wildly successful documentary film, Fahrenheit 9/11, we see at the very end a video clip of one of President George W. Bush’s gaffes at a speech which comically questions the former president’s intelligence and understanding on serious issues. This comical capture on camera was the serving reminder and summation of how the former U.S. President’s “Bushisms” led to catastrophic and confusing foreign/domestic government policy—the documentary film’s central focus.

Content is king in also shaping a producer’s work, director’s filmography, and production company’s output of products. Up-and-coming creators behind the camera use content shot years ago as a means of leverage for publicity and making a mark in said industry. The more stuff one has at its disposal the more effective one has to pulling in audience members for a significant following. Imagine how the next budding filmmaker prior to getting his big break would be if he hadn’t added content to his social media platforms, or put out sizzle reels as a compilation of his work as well as director’s cuts of his previous projects. Consumers of media content want more and that more is the hefty wait of original content shot, produced, and edited.

Content is king in pretty much every aspect of media production. Marketing companies, reality television show producers, and even Broadway performers all know the high if not irreplaceable value that content delivers in their medium of expression. This is why—today many players in the game from documentary filmmakers to actors to showrunners to news producers flock around never-before-seen video footage and caught-on-camera content like never before. Imagine how such acts were reported and televised once content became central to the story—like Rodney King’s beating, Eric Garner’s choking death, etc. In our ubiquitous world of media saturation where platforms and avenues exist for video production content not only becomes king today but god. Documentary film storytelling now conveniently incorporates all aspects of video material which has overall evolved into a 24/7, around-the-clock reality. Content is king because without it video testimonials, documentary films, most news pieces, and police investigations will all fall short of its attempt at gathering and disseminating the truth.