Netflix picks up three new original documentaries

Netflix is continuing its push into exclusive documentaries with three new titles for this summer and fall, according to Deadline. The first, The Battered Bastards of Baseball, tells the story of Oregon’s short-lived team, the Portland Mavericks; it’ll be released on July 11th. The following month, on August 15th, Netflix will release Mission Blue, a look at marine biologist and National Geographic explorer-in-residence Sylvia Earle and her work toward protecting ocean habitats. The final of the three, E-Team, follows four members of a human rights abuse team as they investigate reports across the globe; it’ll be released this fall.

Two of the films premiered at Sundance this year, and all three have received warm reviews from their festival screenings. Netflix also previously announced that it’s acquired the 3D-printing documentary Print the Legend, which it plans to release this year too. Though Netflix’s exclusive dramas have certainly garnered it the most attention, it’s been making a point of ramping up its collection of documentaries too. The head of its documentary unit, Lisa Nishimura, tells the Associated Press that it’s intentionally trying to collect films on a wide variety of topics — yet another way it can ensure that it has a catalog of content that appeals to potential subscribers.