Participant Productions
Encyclopedia
Participant Media is an American
film
and television
production company
which finances and produces socially relevant films and documentaries. The company is described as being politically active: its films are typically based on current events and topical
subjects and presented in such a way to inspire viewers to advocate for social change. The studio has produced or co-produced a number of award-winning fiction films and documentaries. By the end of its second year in business, its films had been nominated for 11 Academy Awards.
, the "second employee" of eBay
, to produce projects that were both commercially viable and socially relevant. Skoll had earlier co-founded Ovation Entertainment, a start-up film production company, in 2001 but quit the company in the summer of 2003. Skoll began discussions with Hollywood insiders, technical experts, and financiers in September 2003 to educate himself about film production. One of Skoll's critical advisors was Peter Schlessel (formerly the president of Columbia Pictures
and later the president of Sony Pictures Entertainment
). By January 2004, the company had pulled together most of its staff, many of whom attended the Cannes Film Festival
. The company believed it had a deal to distribute
Michael Moore
's Fahrenheit 9/11
, but lost the distribution rights to the Fellowship Adventure Group (a film distribution company formed by Bob
and Harvey Weinstein
specifically to release Fahrenheit 9/11).
With $100 million in cash from Skoll's personal funds, Skoll was the company's first chief executive officer, but stepped down from that position in August 2006. Participant Productions' initial plans were to produce four to six films per year, each with a budget of $40 million. The company focused on films in six areas: The environment, healthcare, human rights, institutional responsibility, peace and tolerance, and social and economic justice. The company evaluated projects by running them past its creative executives first, assessing their cost and commercial viability second, and then analyzing their social relevance last. Once the decision was made to go ahead with production, the company reached out to non-profit organization
s to ask them 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 utilize the film to push their own agendas.
The new company quickly announced an ambitious slate of productions. Its first film (announced on September 7, 2007) was American Gun
, on which IFC Films
was an equity partner
. Two weeks later, the company announced a co-production deal with Warner Bros.
on two films, Syriana
and Class Action (later retitled North Country
). Participant Productions contributed half the budget of each film. The company's fourth production, a documentary, was announced in November 2004. Titled The World According to Sesame Street
, the documentary examines the impact of the children's television show Sesame Street
on world culture, focusing on Kosovo
, Bangladesh
, South Africa
, and El Salvador
. 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 offset
s for An Inconvenient Truth.
In 2005, the company suffered its first stumble. Participant Productions again agreed to co-finance a picture with Warner Bros., this time Vadim Perelman
's second feature, Truce. Although Perelman claimed he'd "never been moved by a script to such an extent", the film never went into production. North Country did poorly at the box office despite having recent Oscar-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
, Sesame Streets broadcast home. In June 2005, the company agreed to produce Luna, a film based on the book The Legacy of Luna
(the real-life story about a woman who lives in the branches of a giant redwood
tree for two years to protect it from logging). The film has yet to be produced
as of June 2009.
The company continued to mature and grow, however. The company announced in March 2005 that it would co-executive produce
the Warner Bros. film Good Night, and Good Luck. In May 2005 at the Cannes Film Festival, Participant bought the right to distribute Richard Linklater
's forthcoming film, Fast Food Nation
, in North America in return for an equity stake in the film. A month later, it bought the distribution rights to the documentary Murderball
for an equity stake in the film. Participant also executive produced and co-financed Al Gore
's global warming
documentary film, An Inconvenient Truth
. As the production schedule grew heavier, the company added staff as well. The company named Ricky Strauss as its first president in March 2005, with oversight of production, marketing, and business development. Attorney and former non-profit chief executive Meredith Blake was hired in June as its Senior Vice President of Corporate and Community Affairs. Blake's role was to oversee development of awareness and outreach campaigns around the social issues raised in the company's films in cooperation with nonprofit 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. The company's non-film production efforts continued to grow as well. It 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). The company also began its first socially-relevant outreach project, helping to finance screenings of the 1982 biographical film
Gandhi
in the Palestinian territories
for the first time as well as in the countries of Israel
, Jordan
, Lebanon
, and Syria. In support of its upcoming film, An Inconvenient Truth, the studio negotiated a deal whereby distributor Paramount Classics
would donate 5 percent of its U.S. domestic theatrical gross box office receipts (with a minimum guarantee of $500,000) to the Alliance for Climate Protection
.
The company had a very successful 2005 awards season, with 11 Oscar nominations and one win. Good Night, and Good Luck garnered six nominations, including art direction
, cinematography
, directing (George Clooney
), best picture
, best actor
(David Strathairn
), and original screenplay. Murderball was nominated for best feature documentary. North Country was nominated for best actress
(Charlize Theron
) and best supporting actress
(Frances McDormand
). Syriana was nominated for best supporting actor
(George Clooney) and original screenplay. But of the 11 nominations, only George Clooney won for Best Supporting Actor in Syriana.
Five more films were announced in 2006. 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. But the film never got beyond the development stage. Participant entered into an agreement in September to co-produce The Visitor
with Groundswell Productions, and two months later agreed to co-produce (with Sony Pictures Classics
) Errol Morris
' documentary about the Abu Ghraib torture scandal
, Standard Operating Procedure
. The company also took an equity position and co-production credit on Chicago 10
, a documentary about the famous 1969 Chicago Seven
conspiracy trial. Finally, in December, the company agreed to finance and produce Jonathan Demme
's documentary Man from Plains
, which follows former President
Jimmy Carter
as he promotes his book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. The company also co-financed, with Warner Independent Pictures
, the documentary Darfur Now
, and with Universal Studios
and others co-financed Charlie Wilson's War
. The film had the biggest budget of any Participant Productions picture since Syriana.
Three major corporate events also occurred in 2006. In September Jeffrey Skoll stepped down as chief executive officer of Participant Productions, and was replaced by James Berk, the founding executive director of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Foundation and former president and chief executive officer of Hard Rock Cafe International
. Berk's duties included daily operations and management, earned media efforts, and corporate branding. In December, Participant Productions won its first significant award when the Producers Guild of America
presented the 2007 Stanley Kramer Award to An Inconvenient Truth. The company was also one of the backers in April 2006 which invested $1 billion in Summit Entertainment
, allowing that company to restructure itself as a full-fledged movie studio. This did not become known, however, for near three years.
The company's success continued through the 2006 awards season. An Inconvenient Truth was nominated for an Oscar for Best Feature Documentary, and the song "I Need to Wake Up" (by Melissa Etheridge
) nominated for Best Original Song
. The film and song won their respective categories in February 2007.
- and Emmy
-winning event producer John Schreiber as Executive Vice President of Social Action and Advocacy to enhance the firm's earned media, non-profit and corporate outreach, and advocacy campaigns. February saw the hire of Adrian Sexton as Executive Vice President to oversee digital and global media projects, and April saw veteran production head Jonathan King join Participant as Executive Vice President of Production. Lynn Hirshfield was hired in May as Vice President of Business Development to launch the company's publishing division. In mid-June, Participant hired Bonnie Abaunza and Liana Schwarz each as Vice President of Social Action Campaign Development and Operations to assist with social outreach and advocacy campaigns. In November, the company signed a deal with actress Natalie Portman
's newly-formed production company, Handsomecharlie Films, under which the two studios would co-produce socially relevant films for a two-year period. The same month, the company hired veteran Showtime producer John Moser to oversee development and production of original programs for television and home cable. But despite the management activity and expansion, not all of the company's films did well. Chicago 10 did not sell for several months after its premiere at Sundance, and only significant editing and a reduction in running time led to a distribution deal.
The company also announced additional productions. In January it said it was co-financing The Kite Runner
with Sidney Kimmel Entertainment
and DreamWorks
. That spring, the company took an equity position in the Angels in the Dust
(a documentary about children orphaned by AIDS
) and paid for the filmmaker to update the film and shoot more footage. In April, it closed a deal with Warner Independent to turn Randy Shilts
' book, The Mayor of Castro Street
, into a film. The following month it announced a feature-length documentary about the 2007 Live Earth
concert (but the film was never produced). Five months later, in June, Participant agreed to co-produce and co-finance (with Broken Lizard
) the company's first comedy film, Taildraggers (five aimless young pilots for a regional airline in Alaska discover that a corporate competitor is illegally pumping oil from a wildlife preserve). As of June 2009, however, the film had not been produced. November saw Participant sign a co-production agreement with State Street Pictures to finance the biographical dramatic film, Bobby Martinez (about teenage Latino
surfing
sensation, Bobby Martinez
). By the end of 2007, Participant Productions was seen as one of the key players in the production of documentary films.
The 2007 awards season saw several more Oscar nominations for Participant films. The company had a combined seven Golden Globe Award
nominations, although it came away with no wins. Philip Seymour Hoffman
was nominated for his supporting actor role
in Charlie Wilson's War, Richard Jenkins
was nominated for Best Actor in The Visitor, and Alberto Iglesias
was nominated for best original score for The Kite Runner.
The company continued to expand its social advocacy and outreach efforts in 2008. In January 2008, it joined and made a financial contribution to a $100 million United Nations
-sponsored fund which would provide backing for films which combatted religious, ethnic, racial, and other stereotypes. Fueling the company's expansion was the creation of a $250 million fund with Imagenation
, a start-up film studio based in the United Arab Emirates
which is a division of the Abu Dhabi Media Company
. Each company contributed roughly half of the fund's total (although some funding came from loans). Participant and Imagenation agreed to produce 18 films over the next five years, which would add approximately four feature-length films per year to Participant's existing slate of four films a year. To boost its marketing efforts, the company also hired Jeffrey Sakson as Vice President of Publicity in April 2008. In September 2008, Participant Media and PublicAffairs Books
signed a deal under which PublicAffairs would publish four original paperback books designed to expand upon the social messages in Participant's films. The first book to be published under the pact will be Food Inc.: A Participant Guide: How Industrial Food Is Making Us Sicker, Fatter, and Poorer—And What You Can Do About It. The company also founded a new Web site, TakePart.com, to promote Participant Media's films as well as make viewers aware of the social advocacy efforts of Participant's outreach partners.
In March, Participant announced a co-financing deal with Tapestry Films to produce Minimum Wage, a comedy about a corrupt corporate executive sentenced to live for a year on a minimum wage
salary. A month later, the company announced it and Groundswell Productions were co-financing The Informant!
, a comedy directed by Steven Soderbergh
and starring Matt Damon
about the lysine price-fixing conspiracy
at Archer Daniels Midland
in the mid-1990s. July saw Participant set up a co-financing deal with three other studios to produce The Colony, an eco-horror film.
Participant's success during awards season did not extend into 2008. The company had only two films released during the year (Every Little Step, Pressure Cooker, and Standard Operating Procedure), and none of them was nominated for an award from a major arts organization. However, in November 2008, the Producers Guild of America gave Participant founder Jeff Skoll its Visionary Award.
2009 saw the company continue to aggressively produce both feature films and documentaries. In January it announced that it would produce Paul Dinello
's Mr. Burnout (about a burned out
teacher seeking to rekindle his love of teaching) and Furry Vengeance
(a comedy starring Brendan Fraser
about an Oregon
real estate developer who is opposed by animals). That same month Participant signed a five-year production and distribution deal with Summit Entertainment. The agreement, which covered titles financed by Participant's $250 million production agreement with Imagenation Media, was nonexclusive (meaning Participant could seek distribution of films by other companies) and was limited to four projects a year. The agreement allowed Summit to charge a distribution fee, and to co-finance titles if it wished. The pact covered home video and pay TV distribution as well. Furry Vengeance would be the first picture produced under the agreement. In April, the company hired screenwriter Miles Chapman to pen an untitled environmentally themed action-adventure script about the hunt for a mystical gem in the heart of Africa. The same month, the company agreed to co-finance (with Krasnoff/Foster Entertainment) a biographical drama titled History on Trial—which will document the true story of Deborah Lipstadt
, a professor of Jewish studies
who was sued by Holocaust deniers
for libel. The company also announced a number of productions in May 2009, including: The Crazies
, a remake of the 1973 film of the same name; Casino Jack, a film starring Kevin Spacey
about the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal
; Help Me Spread Goodness, a comedy starring and directed by Ben Stiller
about a banking executive who is caught by a Nigerian Internet scam; and The Soloist
, a drama starring Jamie Foxx
and Robert Downey, Jr. based on the true story of Nathaniel Ayers
, a brilliant musician who develops schizophrenia
and becomes homeless
.
The company also expanded in non-film production as well. In March 2009, Participant Media agreed to conduct outreach and social advocacy efforts on behalf of the Lionsgate
/Roadside Attractions
documentary film The Cove (about the killing of dolphins by Japanese villages in a cove near their fishing grounds). The firm's TakePart.com Web site also released a new iPhone
application, Givabit, which solicits charitable donations for Participant Media's nonprofit advocacy partners from iPhone users once a day. In June, the company established a new book publishing subsidiary, headed by Vice President of Publishing Lynn Hirshfield (who changed titles within the company). Liana Schwarz was promoted to Senior Vice President of Campaign Development and Operations.
In September 2009, Participant Media signed an agreement with Submarine Entertainment under which Submarine would handle North American sales of its upcoming documentaries, and act as a consultant on worldwide sales of its documentaries.
, and sold distribution rights to Climate of Change to Tribeca Film (a division of Robert DeNiro's Tribeca Enterprises).
The company also received a $248,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
to raise awareness about access to quality food and childhood obesity. The studio linked its campaign to its promotional efforts for the film Food, Inc. and signed a deal with Active Media to help run the campaign. It also signed a deal with Planet Illogica, a Web site collaboratively produced by artists, filmmakers, musicians, and fashion designers, to generate a social action campaign associated with its documentary Oceans (which was released by Walt Disney Pictures). The "Save My Oceans Tour" involved concerts, art installations, and screenings of Oceans on college campuses.
In April, Noah Manduke (former president of the consulting firm Durable Good and president of the marketing firm Siegel + Gale
) was named chief strategy officer of the Jeff Skoll Group. Skoll created the Group to oversee his various enterprises, including Participant Media, and Manduke began working with Skoll and Participant Media's top management to begin a strategic planning process and strengthen collaboration between Participant and Skoll's other organizations and companies. The following month, studio executive James Berk was one of only 180 individuals invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
.
film series, Summit Entertainment announced on March 8, 2011, that it was making a $750 million debt refinancing with cash distribution to its investors, which included Participant Media.
On June 5, the New York Times
ran a major piece about the studio, declaring: "Participant Media, the film industry's most visible attempt at social entrepreneurship, turned seven this year without quite sorting out whether a company that trades in movies with a message can earn its way in a business that has been tough even for those who peddle 3-D pandas and such." Author Michael Cieply
noted that The Beaver
, Participant's latest released, cost $20 million but had garnered just $1 million in gross box office sales after a month in theaters—making the film a "flop
". The company's biggest success to date, the newspaper noted, was 2007's Charlie Wilson's War
($66.7 million in gross domestic box office revenue). Founder Skoll was quoted as saying that he had poured "hundreds of millions to date [into the company], with much more to follow", and that the studio had yet to break even. Skoll and Berk, however, noted that Participant Media performs slightly above-average when compared to similarly-sized peers. The advantage is in home video sales, the companies long-term attempts to build social movements around its films, and its stake in Summit Entertainment (which allowed it to win more favorable distribution terms).
Quoting unnamed sources, the Times said that audiences may be turned off by Participant's relentless focus on upsetting issues. The company hoped that it would change this attitude about its films (and make money) with 2011's The Help
(about racial reconciliation in the American South during the 1960s) and Contagion
(a Steven Soderberg picture about the outbreak of a virulent, deadly disease). Skoll also said that Participant had purchased the rights to a New York Times article about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
of 2010, and that the film would likely focus not simply on oil drilling but on a number of critical issues (such as climate change and the ecological health of oceans).
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
production company
Production company
A production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video.- Tasks and functions :...
which finances and produces socially relevant films and documentaries. The company is described as being politically active: its films are typically based on current events and topical
Topical
In medicine, a topical medication is applied to body surfaces such as the skin or mucous membranes such as the vagina, anus, throat, eyes and ears.Many topical medications are epicutaneous, meaning that they are applied directly to the skin...
subjects and presented in such a way to inspire viewers to advocate for social change. The studio has produced or co-produced a number of award-winning fiction films and documentaries. By the end of its second year in business, its films had been nominated for 11 Academy Awards.
Founding
The company was founded in June 2004 as "Participant Productions" by Jeffrey SkollJeffrey Skoll
Jeffrey Skoll is a Canadian-born engineer and internet entrepreneur who lives in Los Angeles, California. With an estimated net worth of $US 3.2 billion , Skoll was ranked by Forbes as the 7th wealthiest Canadian and 347th in the world.He was the first employee and also first president of internet...
, the "second employee" of eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
, to produce projects that were both commercially viable and socially relevant. Skoll had earlier co-founded Ovation Entertainment, a start-up film production company, in 2001 but quit the company in the summer of 2003. Skoll began discussions with Hollywood insiders, technical experts, and financiers in September 2003 to educate himself about film production. One of Skoll's critical advisors was Peter Schlessel (formerly the president of Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
and later the president of Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. is the television and film production/distribution unit of Japanese multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony...
). By January 2004, the company had pulled together most of its staff, many of whom attended the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
. The company believed it had a deal to distribute
Film distributor
A film distributor is a company or individual responsible for releasing films to the public either theatrically or for home viewing...
Michael Moore
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore is an American filmmaker, author, social critic and activist. He is the director and producer of Fahrenheit 9/11, which is the highest-grossing documentary of all time. His films Bowling for Columbine and Sicko also place in the top ten highest-grossing documentaries...
's Fahrenheit 9/11
Fahrenheit 9/11
Fahrenheit 9/11 is a 2004 documentary film by American filmmaker and political commentator Michael Moore. The film takes a critical look at the presidency of George W. Bush, the War on Terror, and its coverage in the news media...
, but lost the distribution rights to the Fellowship Adventure Group (a film distribution company formed by Bob
Bob Weinstein
Robert "Bob" Weinstein is an American film and theatre producer, the founder and head of Dimension Films, former co-chairman of Miramax Films, and current head, with his brother Harvey Weinstein, of The Weinstein Company.-Career:...
and Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein, CBE is an American film producer and movie studio chairman. He is best known as co-founder of Miramax Films. He and his brother Bob have been co-chairmen of The Weinstein Company, their film production company, since 2005...
specifically to release Fahrenheit 9/11).
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
s to ask them 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 utilize the film to push their own agendas.
The new company quickly announced an ambitious slate of productions. Its first film (announced on September 7, 2007) was American Gun
American Gun
American Gun is a 2005 film produced by Participant Productions, IFC Films, IFC First Take, and Spirit Dance Entertainment. It was written in 2001 by Steven Bagatourian and Aric Avelino and directed by Avelino as his directorial debut....
, on which IFC Films
IFC Films
IFC Films is an American film distribution company based in New York, owned by AMC Networks. It distributes independent films and documentaries under the IFC Films, Sundance Selects and IFC Midnight. It operates the IFC Center....
was an equity partner
Equity partner
An equity partner is a partner in a partnership who is a part owner of the business, and is entitled to a proportion of the distributable profits of the partnership...
. Two weeks later, the company announced a co-production deal with Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
on two films, Syriana
Syriana
Syriana is a 2005 geopolitical thriller film written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, and executive produced by George Clooney, who also stars in the film with an ensemble cast. Gaghan's screenplay is loosely adapted from Robert Baer's memoir See No Evil...
and Class Action (later retitled North Country
North Country (film)
North Country is a 2005 American drama film directed by Niki Caro. The screenplay by Michael Seitzman was inspired by the 2002 book Class Action: The Story of Lois Jenson and the Landmark Case That Changed Sexual Harassment Law by Clara Bingham and Laura Leedy Gansler, which chronicled the case of...
). Participant Productions contributed half the budget of each film. The company's fourth production, a documentary, was announced in November 2004. Titled The World According to Sesame Street
The World According to Sesame Street
The World According to Sesame Street is a 2005 feature-length documentary created by Participant Productions, looking at the cultural impact of the children's television series Sesame Street, and the complexities of creating international adaptations...
, the documentary examines the impact of the children's television show Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
on world culture, focusing on Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, and El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
. At the same time, the company began to implement an environmentally friendly
Environmentally friendly
Environmentally friendly are terms used to refer to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies claimed to inflict minimal or no harm on the environment....
strategy: Syriana was the company's first carbon neutral production, and the company created carbon offset
Carbon offset
A carbon offset is a reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide or greenhouse gases made in order to compensate for or to offset an emission made elsewhere....
s for An Inconvenient Truth.
2005
Vadim Perelman
Vadim Perelman is a Ukrainian-American film director. Perelman made his feature film directorial debut in 2003 with House of Sand and Fog, following a successful career as a commercial director. The film, nominated for three Academy Awards, also marks his first screenplay credit...
's second feature, Truce. Although Perelman claimed he'd "never been moved by a script to such an extent", the film never went into production. North Country did poorly at the box office despite having recent Oscar-winner Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron is a South African actress, film producer and former fashion model.She rose to fame in the late 1990s following her roles in 2 Days in the Valley, Mighty Joe Young, The Devil's Advocate and The Cider House Rules...
in the lead. The World According to Sesame Street never found a distributor for theatrical release, and eventually only aired on PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
, Sesame Streets broadcast home. In June 2005, the company agreed to produce Luna, a film based on the book The Legacy of Luna
The Legacy of Luna
The Legacy of Luna is a book written by Julia Butterfly Hill about her experiences while protecting a tree named "Luna." It is based on a true story, written like a diary of two years spent in an ancient redwood....
(the real-life story about a woman who lives in the branches of a giant redwood
Redwood
-Trees:Conifers* Family Cupressaceae *** Sequoia sempervirens - coast redwood**** Albino redwood*** Sequoiadendron giganteum - giant sequoia*** Metasequoia glyptostroboides - dawn redwood* Family Pinaceae...
tree for two years to protect it from logging). The film has yet to be produced
Development hell
In the jargon of the media-industry, "development hell" is a period during which a film or other project is trapped in development...
as of June 2009.
The company continued to mature and grow, however. The company announced in March 2005 that it would co-executive produce
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
the Warner Bros. film Good Night, and Good Luck. In May 2005 at the Cannes Film Festival, Participant bought the right to distribute Richard Linklater
Richard Linklater
-Early life:Linklater was born in Houston, Texas. He studied at Sam Houston State University and left midway through his stint in college to work on an off-shore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. While working on the rig he read a lot of literature, but on land he developed a love of film through...
's forthcoming film, Fast Food Nation
Fast Food Nation (film)
Fast Food Nation is a 2006 American/British drama film directed by Richard Linklater. The screenplay was written by Linklater and Eric Schlosser, loosely based on the latter's bestselling 2001 non-fiction book of the same name...
, in North America in return for an equity stake in the film. A month later, it bought the distribution rights to the documentary Murderball
Murderball (documentary)
Murderball is a 2005 American documentary film about tetraplegic athletes with partial arm function who play wheelchair rugby. It centers on the rivalry between the Canadian and U.S. teams leading up to the 2004 Paralympic Games. It was directed by Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro, and...
for an equity stake in the film. Participant also executive produced and co-financed Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
's global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
documentary film, An Inconvenient Truth
An Inconvenient Truth
An Inconvenient Truth is a 2006 documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate citizens about global warming via a comprehensive slide show that, by his own estimate, he has given more than a thousand times.Premiering at the...
. As the production schedule grew heavier, the company added staff as well. The company named Ricky Strauss as its first president in March 2005, with oversight of production, marketing, and business development. Attorney and former non-profit chief executive Meredith Blake was hired in June as its Senior Vice President of Corporate and Community Affairs. Blake's role was to oversee development of awareness and outreach campaigns around the social issues raised in the company's films in cooperation with nonprofit organizations, corporations, and earned media
Earned media
Earned media refers to favorable publicity gained through promotional efforts other than advertising, as opposed to paid media, which refers to publicity gained through advertising...
. Diane Weyermann, director of the Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by Robert Redford in 1981 that actively advances the work of filmmakers and storytellers worldwide...
's Documentary Film Program, joined the company in October 2005 as Executive Vice President of Documentary Production. The company's non-film production efforts continued to grow as well. It provided an undisclosed amount of financing in February 2005 to film distributor Emerging Pictures
Emerging Pictures
Emerging Pictures is a theatrical exhibition company, founded in 2002 by Giovanni Cozzi, Ira Deutchman and Barry Rebo. The stated mission of the company is to create a national alternative theatrical network out of independent venues such as art house theaters, museums and performing arts centers,...
to finance that company's national network of digitally equipped cinemas
Digital cinema
Digital cinema refers to the use of digital technology to distribute and project motion pictures. A movie can be distributed via hard drives, optical disks or satellite and projected using a digital projector instead of a conventional film projector...
(with Emerging Pictures distributing Participant's films). The company also began its first socially-relevant outreach project, helping to finance screenings of the 1982 biographical film
Biographical film
A biographical film, or biopic , is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their...
Gandhi
Gandhi (film)
Gandhi is a 1982 biographical film based on the life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who led the nonviolent resistance movement against British colonial rule in India during the first half of the 20th century. The film was directed by Richard Attenborough and stars Ben Kingsley as Gandhi. They both...
in the Palestinian territories
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...
for the first time as well as in the countries of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, and Syria. In support of its upcoming film, An Inconvenient Truth, the studio negotiated a deal whereby distributor Paramount Classics
Paramount Vantage
Paramount Vantage is the specialty film division of Paramount Pictures , charged with producing, purchasing, distributing and marketing films, generally those with a more "art house" feel than films made and distributed by its parent company.Paramount Classics was launched in 1998 and...
would donate 5 percent of its U.S. domestic theatrical gross box office receipts (with a minimum guarantee of $500,000) to the Alliance for Climate Protection
Alliance for Climate Protection
The Alliance for Climate Protection was founded in 2006 by Nobel laureate and former United States Vice President Al Gore. The Alliance is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed to educating the global community about the urgency of implementing comprehensive solutions to the climate crisis...
.
The company had a very successful 2005 awards season, with 11 Oscar nominations and one win. Good Night, and Good Luck garnered six nominations, including art direction
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
, cinematography
Academy Award for Best Cinematography
The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
, directing (George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
), best picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
, best actor
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
(David Strathairn
David Strathairn
David Russell Strathairn is an American actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for portraying journalist Edward R. Murrow in Good Night, and Good Luck...
), and original screenplay. Murderball was nominated for best feature documentary. North Country was nominated for best actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
(Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron is a South African actress, film producer and former fashion model.She rose to fame in the late 1990s following her roles in 2 Days in the Valley, Mighty Joe Young, The Devil's Advocate and The Cider House Rules...
) and best supporting actress
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
(Frances McDormand
Frances McDormand
Frances Louise McDormand is an American film and stage actress. She has starred in a number of films, including her Academy Award-winning performance as Marge Gunderson in Fargo, in 1996...
). Syriana was nominated for best supporting actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
(George Clooney) and original screenplay. But of the 11 nominations, only George Clooney won for Best Supporting Actor in Syriana.
2006
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
(a subsidiary of Warner Bros.) to produce The Crusaders, a drama about Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...
, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), a landmark ruling of the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
which ended racial segregation
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
in public schools. But the film never got beyond the development stage. Participant entered into an agreement in September to co-produce The Visitor
The Visitor (2008 film)
The Visitor is a 2008 American drama film written and directed by Thomas McCarthy and produced by Michael London and Mary Jane Skalski. Executive producers were Jeff Skoll and Omar Amanat...
with Groundswell Productions, and two months later agreed to co-produce (with Sony Pictures Classics
Sony Pictures Classics
Sony Pictures Classics is an art-house film division of Sony Pictures Entertainment founded in December 1991 that distributes, produces and acquires specialty films from the United States and around the world. Its co-presidents are Michael Barker and Tom Bernard...
) Errol Morris
Errol Morris
Errol Mark Morris is an American director. In 2003, The Guardian put him seventh in its list of the world's 40 best directors. Also in 2003, his film The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.-Early life and...
' documentary about the Abu Ghraib torture scandal
Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse
Beginning in 2004, human rights violations in the form of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, including torture, rape, sodomy, and homicide of prisoners held in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq came to public attention...
, Standard Operating Procedure
Standard Operating Procedure (film)
Standard Operating Procedure is a 2008 documentary film which explores the meaning of the photographs taken by U.S. military police at the Abu Ghraib prison in late 2003, the content of which revealed the torture and abuse of its prisoners by U.S. soldiers and subsequently resulted in a public...
. The company also took an equity position and co-production credit on Chicago 10
Chicago 10 (film)
Chicago 10: Speak Your Peace is a partially animated film written and directed by Brett Morgen that tells the story of the Chicago Eight...
, a documentary about the famous 1969 Chicago Seven
Chicago Seven
The Chicago Seven were seven defendants—Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, and Lee Weiner—charged with conspiracy, inciting to riot, and other charges related to protests that took place in Chicago, Illinois on the occasion of the 1968...
conspiracy trial. Finally, in December, the company agreed to finance and produce Jonathan Demme
Jonathan Demme
Robert Jonathan Demme is an American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. Best known for directing The Silence of the Lambs, which won him the Academy Award for Best Director, he has also directed the acclaimed movies Philadelphia, Rachel Getting Married, the Talking Heads concert movie Stop...
's documentary Man from Plains
Man from Plains
Man from Plains is a 2007 American documentary film written and directed by Jonathan Demme, which chronicles former President Jimmy Carter's book tour across America to publicize his new book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.For the book promotion, Carter grants interviews to selected newspapers,...
, which follows former President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
as he promotes his book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. The company also co-financed, with Warner Independent Pictures
Warner Independent Pictures
Warner Independent Pictures was the specialty division of film studio Warner Bros. Entertainment. Established in August 2003, its first release was 2004's Before Sunset...
, the documentary Darfur Now
Darfur Now
Darfur Now is a 2007 documentary film examining the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. It was written and directed by Ted Braun and produced by Don Cheadle, Mark Jonathan Harris and Cathy Schulman. Executive Producers were Jeffrey Skoll and Omar Amanat...
, and with Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
and others co-financed Charlie Wilson's War
Charlie Wilson's War
Charlie Wilson's War is a 2007 American biographical comedy drama film recounting the true story of U.S. Congressman Charlie Wilson who partnered with "bare knuckle attitude" CIA operative Gust Avrakotos to launch Operation Cyclone, a program to organize and support the Afghan mujahideen in their...
. The film had the biggest budget of any Participant Productions picture since Syriana.
Three major corporate events also occurred in 2006. In September Jeffrey Skoll stepped down as chief executive officer of Participant Productions, and was replaced by James Berk, the founding executive director of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Foundation and former president and chief executive officer of Hard Rock Cafe International
Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe is a chain of theme restaurants founded in 1971 by Americans Peter Morton & Isaac Tigrett. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll memorabilia, a tradition which expanded to others in the chain. In 2006, Hard Rock was sold to the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and...
. Berk's duties included daily operations and management, earned media efforts, and corporate branding. In December, Participant Productions won its first significant award when the Producers Guild of America
Producers Guild of America
Producers Guild of America is a trade organization representing television producers, film producers and New Media producers in the United States. The PGA's membership includes over 4,700 members of the producing establishment worldwide...
presented the 2007 Stanley Kramer Award to An Inconvenient Truth. The company was also one of the backers in April 2006 which invested $1 billion in Summit Entertainment
Summit Entertainment
Summit Entertainment LLC is an independent film studio headquartered in Santa Monica, California with international offices in London.-History:...
, allowing that company to restructure itself as a full-fledged movie studio. This did not become known, however, for near three years.
The company's success continued through the 2006 awards season. An Inconvenient Truth was nominated for an Oscar for Best Feature Documentary, and the song "I Need to Wake Up" (by Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Lou Etheridge is an American rock singer-songwriter and musician.Etheridge is known for her mixture of confessional lyrics, pop-based folk-rock, and raspy, smoky vocals...
) nominated for Best Original Song
Academy Award for Best Original Song
The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
. The film and song won their respective categories in February 2007.
2007
Corporate growth continued in 2007. On January 8, the company hired motion picture marketing veterans Buffy Shutt and Kathy Jones (each with the title of Executive Vice President of Marketing) to coordinate marketing of Participant's films. Eight days later, the company hired TonyTony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
- and Emmy
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
-winning event producer John Schreiber as Executive Vice President of Social Action and Advocacy to enhance the firm's earned media, non-profit and corporate outreach, and advocacy campaigns. February saw the hire of Adrian Sexton as Executive Vice President to oversee digital and global media projects, and April saw veteran production head Jonathan King join Participant as Executive Vice President of Production. Lynn Hirshfield was hired in May as Vice President of Business Development to launch the company's publishing division. In mid-June, Participant hired Bonnie Abaunza and Liana Schwarz each as Vice President of Social Action Campaign Development and Operations to assist with social outreach and advocacy campaigns. In November, the company signed a deal with actress Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman
Natalie Hershlag , better known by her stage name Natalie Portman, is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was as an orphan taken in by a hitman in the 1994 French action film Léon, but major success came when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel...
's newly-formed production company, Handsomecharlie Films, under which the two studios would co-produce socially relevant films for a two-year period. The same month, the company hired veteran Showtime producer John Moser to oversee development and production of original programs for television and home cable. But despite the management activity and expansion, not all of the company's films did well. Chicago 10 did not sell for several months after its premiere at Sundance, and only significant editing and a reduction in running time led to a distribution deal.
The company also announced additional productions. In January it said it was co-financing The Kite Runner
The Kite Runner (film)
The Kite Runner is a 2007 drama film directed by Marc Forster based on the novel of the same name by Khaled Hosseini. It tells the story of Amir, a well-to-do boy from the Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul, who is tormented by the guilt of abandoning his friend Hassan, the son of his father's...
with Sidney Kimmel Entertainment
Sidney Kimmel
Sidney Kimmel is a film producer also working as such under the names Caesar Kimmel and Sydney Kimmel. Some of his many films include Death at a Funeral and The Kite Runner...
and DreamWorks
DreamWorks
DreamWorks Pictures, also known as DreamWorks, LLC, DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC, DreamWorks Studios or DW Studios, LLC, is an American film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games and television programming...
. That spring, the company took an equity position in the Angels in the Dust
Angels in the Dust
"Angels in the Dust" is a documentary film by filmmaker Louise Hogarth.An inspiring story about Marion Cloete, a university-trained therapist whose self-sacrificial courage motivates change and hope....
(a documentary about children orphaned by AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
) and paid for the filmmaker to update the film and shoot more footage. In April, it closed a deal with Warner Independent to turn Randy Shilts
Randy Shilts
Randy Shilts was a pioneering gay American journalist and author. He worked as a freelance reporter for both The Advocate and the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as for San Francisco Bay Area television stations....
' book, The Mayor of Castro Street
The Mayor of Castro Street
The Mayor of Castro Street is a book written by Randy Shilts telling the story of Harvey Milk. It was first published by St. Martin's Press in 1982.- Adaptations :...
, into a film. The following month it announced a feature-length documentary about the 2007 Live Earth
Live Earth
-Background:Founded by Emmy-winning producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Live Earth was built upon the belief that entertainment has the power to transcend social and cultural barriers to move the world community to action...
concert (but the film was never produced). Five months later, in June, Participant agreed to co-produce and co-finance (with Broken Lizard
Broken Lizard
Broken Lizard is an American comedy troupe, consisting of five friends, best known for its films, including Super Troopers and Beerfest. Its five members are Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske. They collaborate on the screen-writing, acting and...
) the company's first comedy film, Taildraggers (five aimless young pilots for a regional airline in Alaska discover that a corporate competitor is illegally pumping oil from a wildlife preserve). As of June 2009, however, the film had not been produced. November saw Participant sign a co-production agreement with State Street Pictures to finance the biographical dramatic film, Bobby Martinez (about teenage Latino
Latino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
surfing
Surfing
Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...
sensation, Bobby Martinez
Bobby Martinez
Bobby Martinez is a professional surfer from Santa Barbara, California.-Career:Martinez began surfing at age 6. When he was old enough, he joined the National Scholastic Surfing Association where he went on to win a record seven national titles. After several injury prone years he joined the...
). By the end of 2007, Participant Productions was seen as one of the key players in the production of documentary films.
The 2007 awards season saw several more Oscar nominations for Participant films. The company had a combined seven Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
nominations, although it came away with no wins. Philip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Seymour Hoffman is an American actor and director. Hoffman began acting in television in 1991, and the following year started to appear in films...
was nominated for his supporting actor role
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
in Charlie Wilson's War, Richard Jenkins
Richard Jenkins
Richard Dale Jenkins is an American stage, film, and television actor. After beginning his career in theatre, Jenkins made his film debut in 1974, and appeared in supporting roles in numerous film productions in the 1980s and the 1990s. His breakthrough came in the 2000s for playing the deceased...
was nominated for Best Actor in The Visitor, and Alberto Iglesias
Alberto Iglesias
Alberto Iglesias Fernández-Berridi is a Spanish composer. He wrote the music for several Spanish films, mostly from Pedro Almodóvar...
was nominated for best original score for The Kite Runner.
2008
In March 2008, Participant Productions changed its name to Participant Media to reflect the firm's expansion into television and non-traditional entertainment media.The company continued to expand its social advocacy and outreach efforts in 2008. In January 2008, it joined and made a financial contribution to a $100 million United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
-sponsored fund which would provide backing for films which combatted religious, ethnic, racial, and other stereotypes. Fueling the company's expansion was the creation of a $250 million fund with Imagenation
Imagenation
Imagenation is an organization based out of Harlem, New York. The organization was founded in the late 1990s by Moikgantsi Kgama. Moikgantsi Kgama has been involved in the promotion of independent movies and documentaries which share the theme of the African Diaspora...
, a start-up film studio based in the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
which is a division of the Abu Dhabi Media Company
Abu Dhabi Media Company
Abu Dhabi Media is a media company with its headquarters in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates...
. Each company contributed roughly half of the fund's total (although some funding came from loans). Participant and Imagenation agreed to produce 18 films over the next five years, which would add approximately four feature-length films per year to Participant's existing slate of four films a year. To boost its marketing efforts, the company also hired Jeffrey Sakson as Vice President of Publicity in April 2008. In September 2008, Participant Media and PublicAffairs Books
PublicAffairs
PublicAffairs is an imprint of the Perseus Books Group, an American book publishing company located in New York City. From PublicAffairs' web site:...
signed a deal under which PublicAffairs would publish four original paperback books designed to expand upon the social messages in Participant's films. The first book to be published under the pact will be Food Inc.: A Participant Guide: How Industrial Food Is Making Us Sicker, Fatter, and Poorer—And What You Can Do About It. The company also founded a new Web site, TakePart.com, to promote Participant Media's films as well as make viewers aware of the social advocacy efforts of Participant's outreach partners.
In March, Participant announced a co-financing deal with Tapestry Films to produce Minimum Wage, a comedy about a corrupt corporate executive sentenced to live for a year on a minimum wage
Minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...
salary. A month later, the company announced it and Groundswell Productions were co-financing The Informant!
The Informant (2009 film)
The Informant! is a 2009 American fact-based comic drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh. It depicts Mark Whitacre's involvement as a whistle blower in the lysine price-fixing conspiracy of the mid-1990s as described in the 2000 nonfiction book The Informant, by journalist Kurt Eichenwald. The...
, a comedy directed by Steven Soderbergh
Steven Soderbergh
Steven Andrew Soderbergh is an American film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, and an Academy Award-winning film director. He is best known for directing commercial Hollywood films like Erin Brockovich, Traffic, and the remake of Ocean's Eleven, but he has also directed smaller less...
and starring Matt Damon
Matt Damon
Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting , from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck...
about the lysine price-fixing conspiracy
Lysine price-fixing conspiracy
The lysine price-fixing conspiracy was an organized effort during the mid-1990s to raise the price of the animal feed additive lysine. It involved five companies that had commercialized high-tech fermentation technologies, including American company Archer Daniels Midland , Japanese companies...
at Archer Daniels Midland
Archer Daniels Midland
The Archer Daniels Midland Company is a conglomerate headquartered in Decatur, Illinois. ADM operates more than 270 plants worldwide, where cereal grains and oilseeds are processed into products used in food, beverage, nutraceutical, industrial and animal feed markets worldwide.ADM was named the...
in the mid-1990s. July saw Participant set up a co-financing deal with three other studios to produce The Colony, an eco-horror film.
Participant's success during awards season did not extend into 2008. The company had only two films released during the year (Every Little Step, Pressure Cooker, and Standard Operating Procedure), and none of them was nominated for an award from a major arts organization. However, in November 2008, the Producers Guild of America gave Participant founder Jeff Skoll its Visionary Award.
2009
Paul Dinello
Paul Dinello is an American actor, comedian, writer, director, and an alumnus of Chicago-based The Second City, Improv Institute, and Annoyance Theatre...
's Mr. Burnout (about a burned out
Burnout (psychology)
Burnout is a psychological term for the experience of long-term exhaustion and diminished interest. Research indicates general practitioners have the highest proportion of burnout cases; according to a recent Dutch study in Psychological Reports, no less than 40% of these experienced high levels of...
teacher seeking to rekindle his love of teaching) and Furry Vengeance
Furry Vengeance
Furry Vengeance is a 2010 American comedy film directed by Roger Kumble. It stars Brendan Fraser, Matt Prokop, and Brooke Shields.-Plot:It all started when a prairie dog screams after Riggs' car passes by it and throwing a cigar, not minding about the environment...
(a comedy starring Brendan Fraser
Brendan Fraser
Brendan James Fraser is a Canadian-American film and stage actor. Fraser portrayed Rick O'Connell in the three-part Mummy film series , and is known for his comedic and fantasy film leading roles in major Hollywood films, including Encino Man , George of the Jungle , Dudley Do-Right , Monkeybone ,...
about an Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
real estate developer who is opposed by animals). That same month Participant signed a five-year production and distribution deal with Summit Entertainment. The agreement, which covered titles financed by Participant's $250 million production agreement with Imagenation Media, was nonexclusive (meaning Participant could seek distribution of films by other companies) and was limited to four projects a year. The agreement allowed Summit to charge a distribution fee, and to co-finance titles if it wished. The pact covered home video and pay TV distribution as well. Furry Vengeance would be the first picture produced under the agreement. In April, the company hired screenwriter Miles Chapman to pen an untitled environmentally themed action-adventure script about the hunt for a mystical gem in the heart of Africa. The same month, the company agreed to co-finance (with Krasnoff/Foster Entertainment) a biographical drama titled History on Trial—which will document the true story of Deborah Lipstadt
Deborah Lipstadt
Deborah Esther Lipstadt, Ph.D. is an American historian and author of the book Denying the Holocaust and The Eichmann Trial. She is the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies at Emory University...
, a professor of Jewish studies
Jewish studies
Jewish studies is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history , religious studies, archeology, sociology, languages , political science, area studies, women's studies, and ethnic studies...
who was sued by Holocaust deniers
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
for libel. The company also announced a number of productions in May 2009, including: The Crazies
The Crazies (2010 film)
The Crazies is a 2010 American horror film directed by Breck Eisner. Written by Scott Kosar and Ray Wright, the film is a remake of the 1973 film of the same name by George A. Romero, who is also the executive producer and co-writer of the remake....
, a remake of the 1973 film of the same name; Casino Jack, a film starring Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey, CBE is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and crooner. He grew up in California, and began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television...
about the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal
Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal
The Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal is a United States political scandal relating to the work performed by political lobbyists Jack Abramoff, Ralph E. Reed, Jr., Grover Norquist and Michael Scanlon on Indian casino gambling interests for an estimated $85 million in fees. Abramoff and Scanlon...
; Help Me Spread Goodness, a comedy starring and directed by Ben Stiller
Ben Stiller
Benjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....
about a banking executive who is caught by a Nigerian Internet scam; and The Soloist
The Soloist
The Soloist is a 2009 American/French/British drama film directed by Joe Wright, and starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey, Jr. The screenplay by Susannah Grant is based on the book, The Soloist by Steve Lopez...
, a drama starring Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx
Eric Marlon Bishop , professionally known as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, singer-songwriter, stand-up comedian, and talk radio host. As an actor, his work in the film Ray earned him the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Actor as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a...
and Robert Downey, Jr. based on the true story of Nathaniel Ayers
Nathaniel Ayers
Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, Jr. is an American musician. He is the subject of numerous newspaper columns, a book, and a 2009 film adaptation based on the columns. A foundation bearing his name was started in 2008 with an aim to support artistically gifted people with mental illness.-School and...
, a brilliant musician who develops schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
and becomes homeless
Homelessness
Homelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...
.
The company also expanded in non-film production as well. In March 2009, Participant Media agreed to conduct outreach and social advocacy efforts on behalf of the Lionsgate
Lions Gate Entertainment
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation is a North American entertainment company. The company was formed in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1997, and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California...
/Roadside Attractions
Roadside Attractions
Roadside Attractions is a US film distributor based in Los Angeles, California, founded in 2003, specializing largely in independent films.Lionsgate bought a partial stake in Roadside in 2007.-List of films released by Roadside Attractions:...
documentary film The Cove (about the killing of dolphins by Japanese villages in a cove near their fishing grounds). The firm's TakePart.com Web site also released a new iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
application, Givabit, which solicits charitable donations for Participant Media's nonprofit advocacy partners from iPhone users once a day. In June, the company established a new book publishing subsidiary, headed by Vice President of Publishing Lynn Hirshfield (who changed titles within the company). Liana Schwarz was promoted to Senior Vice President of Campaign Development and Operations.
In September 2009, Participant Media signed an agreement with Submarine Entertainment under which Submarine would handle North American sales of its upcoming documentaries, and act as a consultant on worldwide sales of its documentaries.
2010
In January 2010, Participant Media co-presented director Mark Lewis' documentary film, Cane Toads: The Conquest at the Sundance Film Festival. The film was the "first specialty doc filmed in digital 3D." A month later, Bonnie Stylides left Summit Entertainment to become Participant Media's senior vice-president in charge of business affairs. The studio's hit documentary, Waiting for Superman, garnered significant media attention and Participant Media inked a worldwide distribution deal with Paramount Pictures shortly before its premiere at Sundance. It also sold North American distribution rights to Countdown to Zero to Magnolia PicturesMagnolia Pictures
Magnolia Pictures is an American film distributor, and is a holding of 2929 Entertainment, owned by Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban. Magnolia was formed in 2001 by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles, and specializes in both foreign and independent films....
, and sold distribution rights to Climate of Change to Tribeca Film (a division of Robert DeNiro's Tribeca Enterprises).
The company also received a $248,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the United States' largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care; it is based in Princeton, New Jersey. The foundation's mission is to improve the health and health care of all Americans...
to raise awareness about access to quality food and childhood obesity. The studio linked its campaign to its promotional efforts for the film Food, Inc. and signed a deal with Active Media to help run the campaign. It also signed a deal with Planet Illogica, a Web site collaboratively produced by artists, filmmakers, musicians, and fashion designers, to generate a social action campaign associated with its documentary Oceans (which was released by Walt Disney Pictures). The "Save My Oceans Tour" involved concerts, art installations, and screenings of Oceans on college campuses.
In April, Noah Manduke (former president of the consulting firm Durable Good and president of the marketing firm Siegel + Gale
Siegel + Gale
Siegel+Gale is a global strategic branding firm that employs over 200 people, including corporate branding specialists, designers, writers, account managers and consultants. The company was founded in 1969 by Alan Siegel and Robert Gale. Siegel remains at the firm as the Chairman. Siegel+Gale is a...
) was named chief strategy officer of the Jeff Skoll Group. Skoll created the Group to oversee his various enterprises, including Participant Media, and Manduke began working with Skoll and Participant Media's top management to begin a strategic planning process and strengthen collaboration between Participant and Skoll's other organizations and companies. The following month, studio executive James Berk was one of only 180 individuals invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
.
2011
Based on the success of its Twilight SagaThe Twilight Saga (film series)
The Twilight Saga is a series of supernatural romance fantasy films from Summit Entertainment based on the four Twilight series novels by the American author Stephenie Meyer. The films star Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner. The series has grossed over $2 billion in worldwide...
film series, Summit Entertainment announced on March 8, 2011, that it was making a $750 million debt refinancing with cash distribution to its investors, which included Participant Media.
On June 5, the New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
ran a major piece about the studio, declaring: "Participant Media, the film industry's most visible attempt at social entrepreneurship, turned seven this year without quite sorting out whether a company that trades in movies with a message can earn its way in a business that has been tough even for those who peddle 3-D pandas and such." Author Michael Cieply
Michael Cieply
Michael Cieply is an entertainment industry writer, first for the Wall Street Journal and then for Talk magazine. In the 1990s, he also worked as a film producer for Sony....
noted that The Beaver
The Beaver (film)
The Beaver is a 2011 drama film directed by Jodie Foster and starring Mel Gibson and Foster in their first film together since 1994's Maverick.-Plot:...
, Participant's latest released, cost $20 million but had garnered just $1 million in gross box office sales after a month in theaters—making the film a "flop
Box office bomb
The phrase box office bomb refers to a film for which the production and marketing costs greatly exceeded the revenue regained by the movie studio. This should not be confused with Hollywood accounting when official figures show large losses, yet the movie is a financial success.A film's financial...
". The company's biggest success to date, the newspaper noted, was 2007's Charlie Wilson's War
Charlie Wilson's War
Charlie Wilson's War is a 2007 American biographical comedy drama film recounting the true story of U.S. Congressman Charlie Wilson who partnered with "bare knuckle attitude" CIA operative Gust Avrakotos to launch Operation Cyclone, a program to organize and support the Afghan mujahideen in their...
($66.7 million in gross domestic box office revenue). Founder Skoll was quoted as saying that he had poured "hundreds of millions to date [into the company], with much more to follow", and that the studio had yet to break even. Skoll and Berk, however, noted that Participant Media performs slightly above-average when compared to similarly-sized peers. The advantage is in home video sales, the companies long-term attempts to build social movements around its films, and its stake in Summit Entertainment (which allowed it to win more favorable distribution terms).
Quoting unnamed sources, the Times said that audiences may be turned off by Participant's relentless focus on upsetting issues. The company hoped that it would change this attitude about its films (and make money) with 2011's The Help
The Help (film)
The Help is a 2011 comedy-drama film adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's novel of the same name. The film is about a young white woman, Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, and her relationship with two black maids during Civil Rights era America in the early 1960s...
(about racial reconciliation in the American South during the 1960s) and Contagion
Contagion (film)
Contagion is a 2011 American medical thriller disaster film directed by Steven Soderbergh. The film has an ensemble cast that includes Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, and Bryan Cranston. Contagion follows the rapid progress of a lethal...
(a Steven Soderberg picture about the outbreak of a virulent, deadly disease). Skoll also said that Participant had purchased the rights to a New York Times article about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which flowed unabated for three months in 2010, and continues to leak fresh oil. It is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry...
of 2010, and that the film would likely focus not simply on oil drilling but on a number of critical issues (such as climate change and the ecological health of oceans).
Films
| Year | Film | Director | Awards | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Arna's Children Arna's Children Arna's Children is a 2003 Israeli/Dutch documentary film directed by Juliano Mer Khamis and Danniel Danniel about a children's theater group in Jenin in the Palestinian territories established by Arna Mer-Khamis, the director's mother, an Israeli Jewish political and human rights activist.The film... |
Juliano Mer Khamis Danniel Danniel Danniel Danniel Danniel Danniel is an award winning Israeli film director, screenwriter and film editor living in the Netherlands since at least 1980.He graduated from the Netherlands Film and Television Academy in 1981... |
Best Documentary Feature, 2004 Tribeca Film Festival Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Film Festival is a film festival founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff in a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the TriBeCa neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.The mission of the festival... |
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| 2005 | Syriana Syriana Syriana is a 2005 geopolitical thriller film written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, and executive produced by George Clooney, who also stars in the film with an ensemble cast. Gaghan's screenplay is loosely adapted from Robert Baer's memoir See No Evil... |
Stephen Gaghan Stephen Gaghan Stephen Gaghan is an American screenwriter and director. He is noted for writing the screenplay for Steven Soderbergh's film Traffic, based on a Channel 4 series, for which he won the Academy Award, as well as Syriana which he wrote and directed.-Childhood and education:Born in either Louisville,... |
2 Academy Award Nominations
|
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| North Country North Country (film) North Country is a 2005 American drama film directed by Niki Caro. The screenplay by Michael Seitzman was inspired by the 2002 book Class Action: The Story of Lois Jenson and the Landmark Case That Changed Sexual Harassment Law by Clara Bingham and Laura Leedy Gansler, which chronicled the case of... |
Niki Caro Niki Caro Niki Caro is film director, producer and screenwriter who was born in Wellington, New Zealand. Her 2002 film Whale Rider was critically praised and won a number of awards at international film festivals.... |
2 Academy Award Nominations | ||
| Good Night, and Good Luck | George Clooney George Clooney George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award... |
6 Academy Award Nominations | ||
| Murderball | Henry Alex Rubin Henry Alex Rubin Henry-Alex Rubin studied film at Phillips Academy, Andover and Columbia University. The son of a French mother and American father Henry-Alex Rubin studied film at Phillips Academy, Andover and Columbia University. The son of a French mother and American father Henry-Alex Rubin studied film at... Dana Adam Shapiro Dana Adam Shapiro Dana Adam Shapiro is an American film director, best known for his directorial work on the 2006 Academy Award nominated documentary Murderball.-Career:... |
1 Academy Award Nomination | ||
| American Gun American Gun American Gun is a 2005 film produced by Participant Productions, IFC Films, IFC First Take, and Spirit Dance Entertainment. It was written in 2001 by Steven Bagatourian and Aric Avelino and directed by Avelino as his directorial debut.... |
Aric Avelino | |||
| The World According to Sesame Street The World According to Sesame Street The World According to Sesame Street is a 2005 feature-length documentary created by Participant Productions, looking at the cultural impact of the children's television series Sesame Street, and the complexities of creating international adaptations... |
Linda Hawkins Costigan Linda Goldstein-Knowlton |
TV and DVD release only | ||
| 2006 | Fast Food Nation Fast Food Nation (film) Fast Food Nation is a 2006 American/British drama film directed by Richard Linklater. The screenplay was written by Linklater and Eric Schlosser, loosely based on the latter's bestselling 2001 non-fiction book of the same name... |
Richard Linklater Richard Linklater -Early life:Linklater was born in Houston, Texas. He studied at Sam Houston State University and left midway through his stint in college to work on an off-shore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. While working on the rig he read a lot of literature, but on land he developed a love of film through... |
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| An Inconvenient Truth An Inconvenient Truth An Inconvenient Truth is a 2006 documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate citizens about global warming via a comprehensive slide show that, by his own estimate, he has given more than a thousand times.Premiering at the... |
Davis Guggenheim Davis Guggenheim Philip Davis Guggenheim is an Academy Award-winning American film director and producer. His credits as a producer and director include Training Day, The Shield, Alias, 24, NYPD Blue, ER, Deadwood, and Party of Five and the documentaries An Inconvenient Truth and Waiting for 'Superman... |
2 Academy Award Nominations
|
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| 2007 | Angels in the Dust Angels in the Dust "Angels in the Dust" is a documentary film by filmmaker Louise Hogarth.An inspiring story about Marion Cloete, a university-trained therapist whose self-sacrificial courage motivates change and hope.... |
Louise Hogarth | ||
| Jimmy Carter Man from Plains | Jonathan Demme Jonathan Demme Robert Jonathan Demme is an American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. Best known for directing The Silence of the Lambs, which won him the Academy Award for Best Director, he has also directed the acclaimed movies Philadelphia, Rachel Getting Married, the Talking Heads concert movie Stop... |
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| Darfur Now Darfur Now Darfur Now is a 2007 documentary film examining the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. It was written and directed by Ted Braun and produced by Don Cheadle, Mark Jonathan Harris and Cathy Schulman. Executive Producers were Jeffrey Skoll and Omar Amanat... |
Ted Braun Ted Braun Theodore Braun is an American film director and screenwriter best known for his Image Award-winning documentary film Darfur Now. He is also an associate professor in the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts' Writing Division.... |
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| The Kite Runner The Kite Runner (film) The Kite Runner is a 2007 drama film directed by Marc Forster based on the novel of the same name by Khaled Hosseini. It tells the story of Amir, a well-to-do boy from the Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul, who is tormented by the guilt of abandoning his friend Hassan, the son of his father's... |
Marc Forster Marc Forster Marc Forster is a German-Swiss filmmaker and screenwriter. He is best known for directing the films Monster's Ball, Finding Neverland, Stranger than Fiction, The Kite Runner, and Quantum of Solace.- Life and career :... |
1 Academy Award Nomination | ||
| Charlie Wilson's War Charlie Wilson's War Charlie Wilson's War is a 2007 American biographical comedy drama film recounting the true story of U.S. Congressman Charlie Wilson who partnered with "bare knuckle attitude" CIA operative Gust Avrakotos to launch Operation Cyclone, a program to organize and support the Afghan mujahideen in their... |
Mike Nichols Mike Nichols Mike Nichols is a German-born American television, stage and film director, writer, producer and comedian. He began his career in the 1950s as one half of the comedy duo Nichols and May, along with Elaine May. In 1968 he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film The Graduate... |
1 Academy Award Nomination | ||
| Chicago 10 Chicago 10 (film) Chicago 10: Speak Your Peace is a partially animated film written and directed by Brett Morgen that tells the story of the Chicago Eight... |
Brett Morgen | |||
| 2008 | The Visitor The Visitor (2008 film) The Visitor is a 2008 American drama film written and directed by Thomas McCarthy and produced by Michael London and Mary Jane Skalski. Executive producers were Jeff Skoll and Omar Amanat... |
Thomas McCarthy Thomas McCarthy Thomas McCarthy may refer to:*Thomas McCarthy , Irish poet*Thomas McCarthy , Quebec businessman and political figure*Thomas McCarthy , American actor, director and screenwriter... |
1 Academy Award Nomination | |
| Standard Operating Procedure Standard Operating Procedure (film) Standard Operating Procedure is a 2008 documentary film which explores the meaning of the photographs taken by U.S. military police at the Abu Ghraib prison in late 2003, the content of which revealed the torture and abuse of its prisoners by U.S. soldiers and subsequently resulted in a public... |
Errol Morris Errol Morris Errol Mark Morris is an American director. In 2003, The Guardian put him seventh in its list of the world's 40 best directors. Also in 2003, his film The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.-Early life and... |
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| Pressure Cooker Pressure Cooker (documentary) Pressure Cooker is a 2008 award-winning documentary film directed by Mark Becker and Jennifer Grausman.-Background:The film revolves around a teacher of a culinary course, Wilma Stephenson, who has been instrumental in leading her students in working-class Northeast Philadelphia to receive large... |
Mark Becker Jennifer Grausman |
TV and DVD release only | ||
| Food, Inc. Food, Inc. Food, Inc. is a 2008 American documentary film directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Robert Kenner. The film examines corporate farming in the United States, concluding that agribusiness produces food that is unhealthy, in a way that is environmentally harmful and abusive of both animals and... |
Robert Kenner Robert Kenner Robert Kenner is an American film and television screenwriter, television director, film director, film producer, and television producer.His career began in 1971 as an assistant cinematographer, and produced his first motion picture, 3:15 - The Moment of Truth, in 1984... |
1 Academy Award Nomination | ||
| The Cove | Louie Psihoyos Louie Psihoyos Louis Psihoyos is an American photographer and documentary film director known for his still photography and contributions to National Geographic. Psihoyos, a licensed scuba-diver, has become increasingly concerned with bringing awareness to underwater life... |
1 Academy Award Win, Best Documentary | ||
| 2009 | The Soloist The Soloist The Soloist is a 2009 American/French/British drama film directed by Joe Wright, and starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey, Jr. The screenplay by Susannah Grant is based on the book, The Soloist by Steve Lopez... |
Joe Wright Joe Wright Joe Wright is an English film director best known for Pride and Prejudice, Atonement and Hanna.-Early life and career:... |
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| The Informant! | Steven Soderbergh Steven Soderbergh Steven Andrew Soderbergh is an American film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, and an Academy Award-winning film director. He is best known for directing commercial Hollywood films like Erin Brockovich, Traffic, and the remake of Ocean's Eleven, but he has also directed smaller less... |
1 Golden Globe Nomination | ||
| 2010 | Oceans Oceans (2009 film) Oceans is a 2009 French nature documentary film by Jacques Perrin distributed in the United States by Disneynature. It was released on April 22, 2010 in 1,200 theaters in the US for Earth Day. The film explores Earth's five oceans. It is Disneynature's third release following Earth and The Crimson... |
Jacques Perrin Jacques Perrin Jacques Perrin is a French actor and filmmaker. He is occasionally credited as Jacques Simonet. Simonet was his father's name and Perrin his mother's.-Life and career:... Jacques Cluzaud |
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| The Crazies The Crazies (2010 film) The Crazies is a 2010 American horror film directed by Breck Eisner. Written by Scott Kosar and Ray Wright, the film is a remake of the 1973 film of the same name by George A. Romero, who is also the executive producer and co-writer of the remake.... |
Breck Eisner Breck Eisner Michael "Breck" Eisner is an American television and film director.-Early life:Eisner was born Michael Eisner in California, the son of Jane Breckenridge, a business advisor and computer programmer, and Michael Eisner, the former Walt Disney Company chief executive... |
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| Casino Jack and the United States of Money Casino Jack and the United States of Money Casino Jack and the United States of Money is a 2010 documentary film directed by Alex Gibney.-Synopsis:The film focuses on the career of Washington, D.C. lobbyist, businessman, and con man Jack Abramoff, who was involved in a massive corruption scandal that led to the conviction of himself, two... |
Alex Gibney Alex Gibney Alex Gibney is an American documentary film director and producer. In 2010, Esquire magazine said Gibney "is becoming the most important documentarian of our time."... |
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| Furry Vengeance Furry Vengeance Furry Vengeance is a 2010 American comedy film directed by Roger Kumble. It stars Brendan Fraser, Matt Prokop, and Brooke Shields.-Plot:It all started when a prairie dog screams after Riggs' car passes by it and throwing a cigar, not minding about the environment... |
Roger Kumble Roger Kumble Roger Kumble is an American film director, screenwriter, and playwright.-Life and career:Kumble was raised in Harrison, New York and graduated from Harrison High School. He graduated from Northwestern University in 1988, where he wrote for the "Waa Mu" show... |
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| Countdown to Zero Countdown to Zero Countdown to Zero is a documentary film released in 2010 which argues that the likelihood of the use of nuclear weapons has increased since the end of the Cold War due to terrorism, nuclear proliferation, theft of nuclear materials and weapons, and other factors.The documentary film was set for a... |
Lucy Walker Lucy Walker Lucy Walker is a film director, mostly of theatrical feature documentaries. On January 25th, 2010 she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for Waste Land, which she directed.-Film career:... |
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| Waiting for "Superman" | Davis Guggenheim Davis Guggenheim Philip Davis Guggenheim is an Academy Award-winning American film director and producer. His credits as a producer and director include Training Day, The Shield, Alias, 24, NYPD Blue, ER, Deadwood, and Party of Five and the documentaries An Inconvenient Truth and Waiting for 'Superman... |
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| Fair Game Fair Game (2010 film) Fair Game is a 2010 biographical film drama directed by Doug Liman and starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn. It is based on Valerie Plame's memoir, Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House which details the scandalous events that took place in mid 2003, implicating senior White... |
Doug Liman Doug Liman Douglas Eric "Doug" Liman is an American film director and producer best known for Swingers , The Bourne Identity , Mr. & Mrs. Smith , Jumper , and Fair Game .-Early life:... |
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| Cane Toads: The Conquest | Mark Lewis Mark Lewis Mark Lewis may refer to:*Mark Lewis , infielder in Major League Baseball*Mark Lewis , documentary film and television producer*Mark Lewis , Arena Football League placekicker... |
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| Climate of Change | Brian Hill | |||
| 2011 | The Beaver The Beaver (film) The Beaver is a 2011 drama film directed by Jodie Foster and starring Mel Gibson and Foster in their first film together since 1994's Maverick.-Plot:... |
Jodie Foster Jodie Foster Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster is an American actress, film director, producer as well as a former child actress.... |
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| Page One: Inside the New York Times Page One: Inside the New York Times Page One: Inside the New York Times is an American documentary film by Andrew Rossi, which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Magnolia Pictures and Participant Media jointly acquired the U.S... |
Andrew Rossi Andrew Rossi Andrew Rossi is a director, producer, and cinematographer of documentary films. His first feature film, Eat This New York, aired on the Sundance Channel in 2004. He then directed Le Cirque: A Table In Heaven, a documentary about restaurateur Sirio Maccioni and his family, which premiered at the... |
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| The Help The Help (film) The Help is a 2011 comedy-drama film adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's novel of the same name. The film is about a young white woman, Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, and her relationship with two black maids during Civil Rights era America in the early 1960s... |
Tate Taylor Tate Taylor Tate Taylor is an American actor, screenwriter, film producer and director.He was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi. He is a close friend of a writer Kathryn Stockett, whom he has known since they were in preschool together in Jackson.... |
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| Circumstance Circumstance (2011 film) Circumstance is a 2011 dramatic film written and directed by Maryam Keshavarz. It explores homosexuality in modern Iran.-Plot:Atafeh is the teenage daughter of a well-to-do Iranian family in Tehran... |
Maryam Keshavarz Maryam Keshavarz Maryam Keshavarz is Iranian-American filmmaker.Keshavarz studied Persian literature at the University of Shiraz before turning to filmmaking. She has a B.A... |
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| Contagion Contagion (film) Contagion is a 2011 American medical thriller disaster film directed by Steven Soderbergh. The film has an ensemble cast that includes Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, and Bryan Cranston. Contagion follows the rapid progress of a lethal... |
Steven Soderbergh Steven Soderbergh Steven Andrew Soderbergh is an American film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, and an Academy Award-winning film director. He is best known for directing commercial Hollywood films like Erin Brockovich, Traffic, and the remake of Ocean's Eleven, but he has also directed smaller less... |
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| 2012 | The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is an upcoming British comedy-drama film directed by John Madden and written by Ol Parker. The film stars Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel, Tom Wilkinson and Maggie Smith. The plot follows the life of a group of British retirees staying in an elderly home in... |
John Madden John Madden (director) John Philip Madden is an English director of theatre, film, television, and radio.- Biography :Madden was educated at Clifton College. He was in the same house as friend and fellow director Roger Michell. He began his career in British independent films, and graduated from the University of... |
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| Last Call at the Oasis | Jessica Yu Jessica Yu Jessica Lingman Yu is an American film director, writer, producer, and editor. She has worked on documentaries, dramatic films, and television shows. Yu won an Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject for Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien .-Early life:Yu graduated from Gunn... |