Their inspiration owes less to traditional journalistic notions of objectivity and more to such pioneering documentarians as Robert Flaherty, who produced the 1920s classic Nanook of the North after spending years with his Eskimo subjects.

FORBES: Living Their Work

As a precocious 14-year-old on holiday from school in England, young Leacock filmed the life story of a banana, all the way from dry soil to boxed crate, edited the results Russian-style with astonishing brio and sent them to Robert Flaherty, the leading American documentary maker of the day.

ECONOMIST: Richard Leacock