MSNBC has launched MSNBC Films, an imprint to serve as a financing instrument for feature-length documentaries and turn the cable channel into more of a player in the feature world, The Hollywood Reporter said.

Each deal will be structured differently, but could involve everything from development and production for new films to marketing for a movie's theatrical release

The first film on the slate is Kurt Kuenne's "Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father" about a man who was killed by his pregnant girlfriend. The film has shown at Slamdance, Hot Docs and SilverDocs festivals.

"There's so much negativity now toward documentaries," Submarine Entertainment's Josh Braun, who helped structure the deal for "Zachary" as well as for MSNBC Films told The Hollywood Reporter. "But there is a market for them; people just have to work harder to make sure they get out there in the right way."

A look at the struggling box office potential of docs was just featured in the "L.A. Times" article "Documentaries lose box office muscle."

It's a trend that makes MSNBC Films, and those produced and aired on other cable networks such as A&E, Discovery and HBO that much more valuable.

For more info on "Dear Zachary" click here.