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Participant, An Oscar Darling Production Company, To Close After 20 Years
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Participant, the production company founded by billionaire Jeff Skoll to make movies and TV shows while also amplifying social messages and seeking to spur change, announced on April 16 that it is winding down operations after 20 years.
Why it matters: Participant made a lot of serious films for adult audiences, and its work garnered an impressive number of awards, including 21 Academy Awards and 18 Emmys. Approximately 100 people will lose their jobs, and the company’s demise means that creatives lose an outlet committed to telling stories relating to such issues as climate change (An Inconvenient Truth), race relations (Green Book, John Lewis: Good Trouble) and corporate malfeasance (Food, Inc., White Coat Rebels).
Why Participant is no more: Although Skoll did not elaborate on his reasoning for shutting down Participant, the market for issue-oriented films for adults is not what it was in the mid-2000s when he started the company. These kind of films have less opportunity at the box office, and streaming services have also shown less appetite for them, despite their pedigree.
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