Netflix is debuting a new documentary format designed to move at the speed of the news cycle. Called “Instadocs,” the series aims to deliver in-depth documentary coverage of major headlines while stories are still unfolding, rather than months or years after the fact.
The series comes from executive producers Josh Tyrangiel, whose credits include Vice News Tonight and Bloomberg Businessweek, and Connor Schell, known for 30 for 30, The Last Dance, and O.J.: Made in America. Steve Yaccino, who worked on Giuliani: What Happened to America’s Mayor?, serves as showrunner. The show is produced by Words + Pictures.
“The best documentaries don’t just capture history, they shape how we understand it,” Tyrangiel said. “With Netflix, we have the infrastructure to match the speed of the world we’re documenting. Instadocs is about giving audiences something they’ve never had before: depth and craft at the moment it matters most.”
The first episode, “Instadocs: Alex Murdaugh, Unconvicted,” premieres May 30 and centers on the South Carolina Supreme Court’s unanimous decision to overturn Alex Murdaugh’s double murder conviction on May 13, 2026. Murdaugh, 58, had been found guilty in March 2023 of killing his wife Maggie and youngest son Paul, and was sentenced to consecutive life terms. The high court granted him a new trial, citing prejudicial conduct by Colleton County Clerk Becky Hill toward jurors during the original proceedings. Murdaugh subsequently filed a civil lawsuit against Hill on May 17, alleging jury tampering.
The episode features new interviews with South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, the creators of Trial Watchers, and jurors from the original trial, including Myra Crosby, whose removal from the jury raised early concerns about Hill’s conduct.
Future installments of Instadocs will cover a broad range of current events, crises, and cultural moments, with each episode timed to arrive, as Netflix put it, “at the height of the conversation.”