Participant pioneered socially conscious storytelling at scale.
Founded in 2004 by Chairman Jeff Skoll, Participant’s films earned 86 Academy Award® nominations and 21 wins, including Best Picture for Green Book and Spotlight; Best Documentary Feature for American Factory, CITIZENFOUR, The Cove, and An Inconvenient Truth; and Best Foreign Language Film for A Fantastic Woman and Roma. Participant also earned 62 Emmy® Award nominations and 18 wins, including two wins for the groundbreaking When They See Us.
Participant partnered with key nonprofits and NGOs to drive real-world impact and awareness around some of the most vital issues on a global scale, and was the first major US entertainment company whose social and environmental impact has earned a B Corp Certification.
Stories are powerful. It’s a pathway to justice. It’s a pathway to understanding. It’s a pathway to healthier communities.
It was important to me to not only reach the greatest number of people possible, but also that the social impact would last longer than the lifecycle of the film.
Participant stands for commitment and passion for making the world a better place through experiences that fill people’s minds and hearts and motivates them to be that change.
Participant was founded in 2004 by social entrepreneur Jeff Skoll, with a commitment to creating content that stands at the intersection of art and activism.
Davis Guggenheim’s landmark documentary An Inconvenient Truth changed the way that people speak about an existential human crisis. The film is one of the highest grossing documentaries of all time.
Jeff Skoll gave a popular TED talk about the journey that led him to found Participant, and how movies can create real change.
The widely seen film had a substantial impact on behaviors and choices, and paved the way for a whole genre of food documentaries that came after.
Steven Soderbergh’s thriller predicts a global pandemic. As part of the “Control the Contagion” campaign in 2020, stars of the movie created PSAs providing information and encouraging COVID safety.
Visionary director Laura Poitras’ Oscar®-winning documentary is a real-life thriller about surveillance in the post-9/11 era, featuring one of the most famous whistleblowers of our time.
Cary Fukunaga’s Beasts of No Nation was acquired by Netflix, becoming their first original film.
In 2017, Participant became the only major US entertainment company whose social and environmental impact has earned a B Corp Certification, and in 2022 joined the UN Global Compact.
Wonder garners over $300M in worldwide box office, becoming one of Participant’s highest-grossing films and helping to push the company to over $3B worldwide, pre-pandemic.
TheRoma campaign, with CACEH and the NDWA, supported legislation bolstering domestic workers’ rights. The U.N.’s Mexican Ambassador coined the term “Roma Effect” to describe the cultural change.
The company received 17 Academy Award® nominations for Roma (10), Green Book(5) and RBG (2), winning 3 for Roma and 3 for Green Book.
Participant expanded into series with Steve James’ America to Meand Ava DuVernay’s groundbreaking When They See Us, which was nominated for 16 Emmy® Awards and received 2.
FLEEreceived a historic triple nomination for Best Documentary, Best International and Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards®.
Participant founded the Impact Advisory Council, a coalition of leaders in the impact and entertainment space whose invaluable expertise informs their guidance on impact campaign strategy.
After 20 years of producing groundbreaking content that inspired positive social change, Participant announced that it would wind down active operations. The company’s legacy lives on through its content and those that it inspired.
