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Demi Lovato brought their life experience full circle by co-directing the new Hulu documentary “Child Star.”

The former Disney Channel kid turned teen pop sensation looks beyond their own career journey to analyze the rise of the entire child performer industry — from the Shirley Temple era to the TikTok and YouTube generation.

Lovato recruited fellow child stars Drew Barrymore, Kenan Thompson, Christina Ricci, Raven-Symoné, Alyson Stoner and JoJo Siwa to share their stories on camera; Raven-Symoné, Siwa and Stoner also joined Lovato on Sept. 12 at a special screening of the documentary, held at Neuehouse Hollywood. “Getting to talk to them so candidly about our experiences was so meaningful to me,” Lovato told Variety.

Because of that shared experience, Lovato’s conversations were markedly different than sitting down with someone who hasn’t been there. “There was a connectedness that was really important to all of us,” Lovato said. “That’s...

“I wouldn’t end up where I am had I not made all the choices leading up to this point. But it came at a price,” Demi Lovato says at the end of the new trailer for Child Star.

At a time when documentaries like Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, Showbiz Kids and Gary are supercharging the conversation around child stardom, the upcoming Hulu documentary examines the impact that celebrity had on some of recent history’s most recognizable names. Those include, as the trailer released Thursday demonstrated, Raven-Symoné, Drew Barrymore, JoJo Siwa, Kenan Thompson, Christina Ricci and Alyson Stoner — as well as, of course, Lovato herself.

The promotional spot shows subjects reflecting on growing up in an industry context. “The first time I was in front of a professional camera, I was 16 months olds,” the former That’s So Raven star Symoné tells Lovato in the trailer.

The days of elastic budgets are over. The documentary arena is feeling the great contraction in the volume of content ordered by the largest networks and streamers as the entertainment industry reckons with its spending binge of the past decade.

The high-end nonfiction and documentary production community benefited enormously from the spike in demand for episodic series and evergreen films. In recent months, filmmakers, producers and buyers say strictures have tightened on producers to deliver highly accessible, easily promotable documentary content.

“Crime, food, music sports”: that’s how director and cinematographer Nicola Marsh describes the hot subject areas for docu makers in the present writers strike-disrupted marketplace.

Despite the momentarily sluggishness, spending on nonfiction and documentary content by the largest platforms is only poised to grow. These genres are too important to offset scripted programs and fill out a service with a varied content menu to keep subscribers in the tent.

Welcome to the 202nd episode of TV’s Top 5, The Hollywood Reporter’s TV podcast.

Every week, hosts Lesley Goldberg (West Coast TV editor) and Daniel Fienberg (chief TV critic) break down the latest TV news with context from the business and critical sides, welcome showrunners, executives and other guests, and provide a critical guide of what to watch (or skip, as the case may be).

You’re the Worst creator Stephen Falk joins the podcast this week for a conversation about showrunners for hire and his new show, Apple’s Billy Crudup starrer Hello Tomorrow, on which he does just that. Falk also opens up about the larger themes at play in the retro-futuristic comedy and the issues that are front and center as the Writers Guild prepares to hammer down a new deal with the studios. Falk also shares an update on his WeWork TV series with Succession...

There are some smart and even provocative ideas motivating Nicola B. Marsh’s four-part Showtime docuseries The 12th Victim, which aims to separate and rehabilitate Caril Ann Fugate from the legacy of notorious spree killer Charles Starkweather, whom she accompanied — whether willingly or unwillingly is the matter up for debate — on a multi-state rampage that left 11 people dead in 1958.

Fugate, still alive and now living in Michigan, has spent decades trying first to appeal her conviction, then for parole and finally for a full pardon. The 12th Victim, which features Oscar winner Morgan Neville among its producers, focuses less on clearing Fugate’s name in a legal sense and more on clearing her name in a cultural sense. The documentary targets the true crime genre and the way Hollywood’s mythologizing of society’s darkest and most unspeakable elements can become a proxy for the truth. This is especially true...

Exclusive: Paramount Global just announced that Showtime will be integrated into Paramount+ across both streaming and linear later this year. In preparation for the move, the premium cable network, which will be renamed as Paramount+ with Showtime, had been re-evaluating its programming slate over the past several weeks under its new top executive Chris McCarthy.

As a result, Showtime will not be proceeding with new series Three Women, starring Shailene Woodley, Betty Gilpin, DeWanda Wise and Gabrielle Creevy, which has been completed. The drama has been quietly shopped by its producers, and I hear there has been interest, with at least one offer on the table.

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Additionally,...

Showtime will no longer be a stand-alone brand.

Paramount Global revealed Monday that the company is rebranding the premium cable network as “Paramount+ with Showtime” as part of a wide-ranging change that also brings the two brands together in the streaming world.

Related Story Showtime Not Proceeding With ‘Three Women’, Cancels ‘Let The Right One In’ & ‘American Gigolo’ Amid Consolidation With Paramount+ Related Story 'Star Trek: Picard' Season 3 Trailer Drops With Explosions & Crash Landings, Confirms Ed Speleers & Todd Stashwick Castings Related Story 'The 12th Victim' Showtime Docuseries Re-Examines Murder Conviction Of Caril Ann Fugate In 1958 Killing Spree

Later this year, Showtime, which already went through major changes last year with the departure of David Nevins, will become Paramount+ with Showtime across both linear and streaming. Showtime content will then be available on Paramount+’s premium tier. This move applies only in the U.S.

Chris McCarthy...