please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages a major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject . it may require cleanup to comply with wikipedia s content policies particularly neutral point of view . please discuss further on the talk page . april 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message this article contains wording that promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information . please remove or replace such wording and instead of making proclamations about a subject s importance use facts and attribution to demonstrate that importance . april 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message participant media participant media logo formerly called participant productions 2004 2007 type private industry film production founded january 2004 ; 12 years ago 2004 01 founder jeffrey skoll headquarters los angeles california united states area served worldwide key people jeffrey skoll chairman david linde ceo products movies television films and specials new media divisions pivot takepart amblin partners 25 % soulpancake website official website participant media is an american film production company founded in 2004 by jeffrey skoll specializing in film production and finance . 1 2 they are well known for financing and co producing films as well as television shows with its takepart and pivot divisions . after founding the company was originally named participant productions troubled from a number of failed attempts and projects subsequently entering development hell but entered success after a series of trial and error and went on to become one of the most well known independent financiers . the company s name descriptively politicizes 3 its basis on currently topical subjects presented to induce awareness in problematic social aspects . 1 4 5 the studio has produced financed or co produced a number of 63 films . its films have been nominated for 50 academy awards and have won 11 including best picture for spotlight . 6 7 8 contents 1 history 1.1 founding and early investments 1.2 first films and financial problems maturing growth 1.3 film line up addition and continued growth 1.4 portman deal and name change more political outreach 1.5 documentary focused production 1.6 criticism 1.7 2012 1.8 2013 1.9 2015 1.10 2016 2 films 3 see also 4 references 5 external links history edit founding and early investments edit the company was founded in january 2004 as participant productions by jeffrey skoll the second employee of ebay 2 7 to produce projects that were both commercially viable and socially relevant . 9 skoll had earlier co founded ovation entertainment a start up film production company in 2001 but quit the company in the summer of 2003 . 1 4 10 11 skoll began discussions with hollywood insiders technical experts and financiers in september 2003 to educate himself about film production . 10 one of skoll s critical advisors was peter schlessel formerly the president of columbia pictures and later the president of sony pictures entertainment . 12 by january 2004 the company had pulled together most of its staff many of whom attended the cannes film festival . 1 10 the company believed it had a deal to distribute the documentary film fahrenheit 9 11 2004 directed by michael moore 4 10 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 . 13 the corporate logo of participant media from 2004 to 2007 when it was still known as participant productions . with 100 million in cash from skoll s personal funds 1 skoll was the company s first chief executive officer but stepped down from that position in august 2006 . 1 participant productions initial plans were to produce four to six films per year each with a budget of 40 million . 4 9 the company focused on films in six areas the environment healthcare human rights institutional responsibility peace and tolerance and social and economic justice . 1 it evaluated projects by running them past its creative executives first assessing their cost and commercial viability second and then analyzing their social relevance last . 1 10 once the decision was made to go ahead with production the company reached out to non profit organizations to ask them to build campaigns around the release . 1 4 in some cases the studio has spent years creating positive word of mouth with advocacy groups which are often encouraged to use the film to push their own agendas . 14 the new company quickly announced an ambitious slate of productions . its first film announced on september 7 2007 clarification needed was the drama film american gun 2005 with equity partner ifc films . 4 5 two weeks later the company announced a co production deal with warner bros. on two films the geopolitical thriller film syriana 2005 and the drama film class action later retitled north country 2005 . 5 15 participant productions contributed half the budget of each film . 5 its fourth production a documentary film was announced in november 2004 . titled the world according to sesame street 2005 the film examined the impact of the children s television show sesame street on world culture focusing on kosovo bangladesh south africa and el salvador . 16 17 at the same time the company began to implement an environmentally friendly strategy syriana was the company s first carbon neutral production and the company created carbon offsets for the documentary film an inconvenient truth 2006 . 18 first films and financial problems maturing growth edit actor george clooney won an academy award for best supporting actor in march 2006 for his role in the company s geopolitical thriller film syriana 2005 . in 2005 the company suffered its first stumble . it again agreed to co finance a picture with warner bros. this time vadim perelman s second feature truce . 19 although perelman claimed he had never been moved by a script to such an extent 19 the film never went into production . 20 north country did poorly at the box office despite having recent academy award winner charlize theron in the lead . 6 the world according to sesame street never found a distributor for theatrical release and eventually only aired on pbs television sesame street s broadcast home . 6 in june 2005 the company agreed to produce luna a film based on the non fiction book the legacy of luna 2005 the real life story about a woman who lived in the branches of a giant redwood tree for two years to protect it from logging . 21 the film went into development hell and was not made . citation needed the company continued to mature and grow however . the company announced in march 2005 that it would executive co produce the warner bros. drama film good night and good luck . 22 at the cannes film festival in may the company bought the right to distribute the forthcoming drama film fast food nation 2006 directed by richard linklater in north america in return for an equity stake in the film . 23 24 a month later it bought the distribution rights to the documentary film murderball in return for an equity stake in the film . 25 it also executive produced and co financed al gore s global warming documentary an inconvenient truth . 17 26 27 28 as heavier production scheduling grew the company added staff . ricky strauss was named first president in march 2005 with oversight of production marketing and business development . 29 attorney and former non profit chief executive meredith blake was hired in june as its senior vice president of corporate and community affairs 30 to oversee development of awareness and outreach campaigns around the social issues raised in the company s films in cooperation with non profit organizations corporations and earned media . 30 diane weyermann director of the sundance institute s documentary film program joined the company in october 2005 as executive vice president of documentary production . 31 the company s non film production efforts continued to grow as well . the company provided an undisclosed amount of financing in february 2005 to film distributor emerging pictures to finance that company s national network of digitally equipped cinemas with emerging pictures distributing participant s films . 32 the company also began its first socially relevant outreach project helping to finance screenings of the biographical film gandhi 1982 in the palestinian territories for the first time as well as in the countries of israel jordan lebanon and syria . 33 in support of its upcoming film an inconvenient truth the studio negotiated a deal whereby distributor paramount classics would donate five percent of its u.s. domestic theatrical gross box office receipts with a minimum guarantee of 500 000 to the alliance for climate protection . 34 the company had a very successful 2005 awards season with eleven academy award nominations and one win . 6 good night and good luck garnered six nominations including best art direction best cinematography best director george clooney best picture best actor in a leading role david strathairn and best original screenplay . 35 murderball was nominated for best documentary feature . 35 north country was nominated for best actress in a leading role charlize theron and best actress in a supporting role frances mcdormand . 35 syriana was nominated for best actor in a supporting role george clooney and best original screenplay . 35 but of the eleven nominations only george clooney won for best actor in a supporting role in syriana . 36 film line up addition and continued growth edit jeffrey skoll pictured with actress meg ryan in 2007 founder and chief executive officer of participant media stepped down in 2006 after appointing james berk to be chief executive officer . 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 . 37 but the film never got beyond the development stage . in september the company entered into an agreement to co produce the drama film the visitor 2008 with groundswell productions 38 and two months later agreed to co produce with sony pictures classics a documentary film about the abu ghraib torture scandal standard operating procedure 2008 directed by errol morris . 39 the company also took an equity position in and a co production credit for chicago 10 2007 an animated documentary film about the 1969 chicago seven conspiracy trial . 40 41 finally in december the company agreed to finance and produce the documentary film man from plains 2007 directed by jonathan demme that followed former u.s. president jimmy carter as he promoted his political science book palestine peace not apartheid 2006 . 42 the company also co financed with warner independent pictures the documentary film darfur now 2007 43 and with universal studios and others co financed the biographical film charlie wilson s war 2007 . 44 the film had the biggest budget of any of the company s films since syriana . 6 three major corporate events also occurred in 2006 . in september skoll stepped down as the company s chief executive officer and was replaced by james berk 45 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 . 45 in december the company won its first significant