Participant Media, LLC was an American independent film and television production company founded in 2004 by Jeffrey Skoll, dedicated to entertainment intended to spur social change. The company financed and co-produced film and television content, as well as digital entertainment through its subsidiary SoulPancake, which the company acquired in 2016.
The company was originally named Participant Productions and went on to become a well-known independent financier. The company's name descriptively politicizesThompson, Anne (March 10, 2008). "West, Atkinson Earn 'Minimum Wage'". Variety. its basis on currently topical subjects presented to induce awareness of problematic social aspects.Solomon, Lewis (2008). "Participant Productions", Tech Billionaires: Reshaping Philanthropy in a Quest for a Better World. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 2008. p. 76-81. .Pinsker, Beth (September 7, 2004). "Millionaire Report Cards". Variety.Graser, Marc (September 22, 2004). "eBay Guru in Bidness on WB Pix". Variety.
The company produced, financed, or co-produced 135 films and five television series. Its films have been nominated for 73 Academy Awards, and have won 18, including Best Picture for Green Book and Spotlight.Thompson, Anne (September 13, 2007). "Participant President Staying Active". Variety.Gaghan, Stephen (April 30, 2006). "Jeff Skoll". Time.
Participant, which earned B Corp certification in 2017, was the largest company that exclusively produces and finances social impact entertainment.
On April16, 2024, Skoll announced that the company would be ceasing operations after two decades, with nearly all of its staff being dismissed and development of new content shutting down entirely.
History Founding and early investments The company was founded in January 2004 as Participant Productions by Jeffrey Skoll, the "second employee" of eBay,Stern, Stefan (June 12, 2009). "Lunch with the FT: Jeff Skoll". Financial Times. with $100 million in cash from his personal funds. Its goal was to produce projects that would be both commercially viable and socially relevant.Harris, Dana (June 16, 2004). "Skoll Toasts New Shingle". Variety.
Skoll was the company's first chief executive officer, but stepped down in August 2006. The firm's initial plans were to produce four to six films per year, each with a budget of $40 million. It focused on films in six areas the environment, health care, human rights, institutional responsibility, peace and tolerance, and social and economic justice. It evaluated projects by running them past its creative executives first, only then assessing their cost and commercial viability, and analyzing their social relevance last. Shulgan, Chris (April 5, 2009). " Mr Skoll Goes to Hollywood". The Globe and Mail. Once the decision was made to go ahead with production, the company asked non-profit organizations to build campaigns around the release. In some cases, the studio has spent years creating positive word-of-mouth with advocacy groups, which are often encouraged to use the film to push their own agendas.Graser, Marc (September 9, 2008). "More Pluck for Less Buck". Variety.
The new company quickly announced an ambitious slate of productions. Its first film was the drama film American Gun (2005), with equity partner IFC Films. Two weeks later, the company announced a co-production deal with Warner Bros. on two filmsthe geopolitical thriller film Syriana (2005) and the drama film Class Action (later re-titled North Country) (2005). Biskind, Peter (2004). Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film. New York City: Simon & Schuster. . Participant Productions contributed half the budget of each film. Its fourth production, a documentary film, was announced in November 2004. Titled The World According to Sesame Street (2005), the film examined the impact of the children's television show Sesame Street on world culture, focusing on Kosovo, Bangladesh, South Africa and El Salvador.Harris, Dana (November 22, 2004). "'Sesame' Impact Felt". Variety.McClintock, Pamela (January 8, 2006). "Skoll Bankrolls 'Sesame'". Variety. At the same time, the company began to implement an environmentally friendly strategy: Syriana was the company's first carbon-neutral production, and the company created carbon offsets for the documentary film An Inconvenient Truth (2006).Thompson, Anne (April 30, 2007). "Studios Go Green, Scene By Scene". Variety.
First films and financial problems, maturing growth
In 2005, the company suffered its first stumble. It again agreed to co-finance a picture with Warner Bros., Vadim Perelman's second feature, Truce.Harris, Dana (January 12, 2005). "Warner Arm Calls 'Truce'". Variety. Although Perelman claimed he had "never been moved by a script to such an extent", the film never went into production.A similar film, Joyeux Noël, was produced by Sony Pictures Classics in 2005. Truce entered development hell and Perelman signed to direct The Giver in December 2005. He was removed from that project and instead directed an MTV Video Music Award-winning music video for Kelly Clarkson (for the song "Breakaway"). Perelman's next feature was the thriller film The Life Before Her Eyes (2007), starring Uma Thurman and Evan Rachel Wood. See: Gardner, Chris (December 11, 2005). "Walden Looks for Lion's Share". Variety.; Morfoot, Addie (August 31, 2006). "Panic!, Blunt Prized with MTV Vid Nods". Variety.; Fleming, Michael (June 8, 2006). "Thriller Ensnares Thurman to Star". Variety. North Country did poorly at the box office despite recent Academy Award-winner Charlize Theron in the lead. The World According to Sesame Street never found a distributor for theatrical release, and eventually only aired on PBS television, Sesame Street'''s broadcast home.
The company announced in March 2005 that it would executive produce the Warner Bros. drama film Good Night, and Good Luck.Harris, Dana (March 14, 2005). "'Night' Watch for Thesps". Variety. At the Cannes Film Festival in May, the company bought the right to distribute the forthcoming drama film Fast Food Nation (2006) directed by Richard Linklater in North America in return for an equity stake.Harris, Dana (May 15, 2005). "Participant in 'Fast' Lane". Variety."Who's Really Who in Cannes". Variety. May 14, 2006. A month later, it bought distribution rights to the documentary Murderball in return for an equity stake.McClintock, Pamela (June 23, 2005). "Trio Will Roll 'Murderball'". Variety. It also executive produced and co-financed Al Gore's global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth.Snyder, Gabriel (December 18, 2005). "Searchlight Craves 'Food'". Variety.Mohr, Ian; Gardner, Chris (February 13, 2006). "Par Unit Heats Up Over Global Warming". Variety.Cohen, David S. (January 18, 2007). "Stanley Kramer Award: An Inconvenient Truth". Variety.
As heavier production scheduling grew, the company added staff. Ricky Strauss was named the first president in March 2005, with oversight of production, marketing and business development.Mohr, Ian (March 7, 2005). "Participant Picks Its Prexy". Variety. Attorney and former non-profit chief executive Meredith Blake was hired in June as its Senior Vice President of Corporate and Community Affairs,McClintock, Pamela (June 14, 2005). "Participant Taps Senior VP". Variety. to oversee development of awareness and outreach campaigns around the social issues raised in the company's films in cooperation with non-profit organizations, corporations, and earned media. Diane Weyermann, director of the Sundance Institute's Documentary Film Program, joined the company in October 2005 as Executive Vice President of Documentary Production.McClintock, Pamela (October 10, 2005). "Exec Joins Skoll Roll". Variety.
The company's non-film-production efforts continued to grow. The company provided an undisclosed amount of financing in February 2005 to film distributor Emerging Pictures to finance that company's national network of digitally equipped cinemas (with Emerging Pictures distributing Participant's films).Mohr, Ian (February 7, 2005). "Ebay Guru Clicks with Digital Cinema". Variety. The company also began its first socially relevant outreach project, helping to finance screenings of the biographical film Gandhi (1982) in the Palestinian territories for the first time as well as in the countries of Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.Harris, Dana (April 5, 2005). "'Gandhi' in Mideast". Variety. In support of its upcoming film, An Inconvenient Truth, the studio negotiated a deal for distributor Paramount Classics to donate five percent of its U.S. domestic theatrical gross box-office receipts (with a guarantee of $500,000) to the Alliance for Climate Protection.McNary, Dave (May 10, 2006). "Par Flexes Major Cannes Muscle". Variety.
The company had a very successful 2005 awards season, with eleven Academy Award nominations and one win. Good Night, and Good Luck garnered six nominations, including Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Director (George Clooney), Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role (David Strathairn) and Best Original Screenplay."Oscar Nominations". Daily Variety. February 1, 2006. Murderball was nominated for Best Documentary Feature. North Country was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Charlize Theron) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Frances McDormand). Syriana was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (George Clooney) and Best Original Screenplay. But of the eleven nominations, only George Clooney won for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in Syriana.Staff (March 6, 2006). "'Crash' Wins Best Picture Oscar". Fox News. Retrieved July 8, 2012.
Film line-up addition and continued growth
In June, the company announced it would partner with New Line Cinema (a subsidiary of Warner Bros.) to produce The Crusaders, a drama about Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), a landmark ruling of the Supreme Court of the United States which ended racial segregation in public schools.McNary, Dave; McClintock, Pamela (June 20, 2006). "'Crusaders' March". Variety. But the film never got beyond the development stage. In September, the company entered into an agreement to co-produce the drama film The Visitor (2008) with Groundswell Productions,McClintock, Pamela (September 6, 2006). "'Visitor' Comes for London, Skoll". Variety. and two months later agreed to co-produce (with Sony Pictures Classics) a documentary film about the Abu Ghraib torture scandal, Standard Operating Procedure (2008), directed by Errol Morris.Mohr, Ian (November 5, 2006). "Morris Sets Abu Ghraib Doc". Variety.
The company also took an equity position in and a co-production credit for Chicago 10 (2007), an animated documentary film about the 1969 Chicago Seven conspiracy trial.McClintock, Pamela; Zeitchik, Steven (November 16, 2006). "'Chicago 10' Doc To Open Sundance". Variety.Morfoot, Addie (November 17, 2008). "Helmers Put Talking Heads Through Toon Filter". Daily Variety.
Finally, in December, the company agreed to finance and produce the documentary film Man from Plains (2007), directed by Jonathan Demme, that followed former U.S. President Jimmy Carter as he promoted his political-science book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid (2006).McClintock, Pamela (December 4, 2006). "Demme on Carter Trail". Variety.
The company also co-financed, with Warner Independent Pictures, the documentary film Darfur Now (2007),Snyder, Gabriel (January 4, 2007). "Exec on Road to Mandalay". Variety. and, with Universal Studios and others, co-financed the biographical film Charlie Wilson's War (2007).McGray, Douglas (January 21, 2007). "Network Philanthropy". Los Angeles Times. The film had the biggest budget of any of the company's films since Syriana.
Three major corporate events also occurred in 2006.