Participants, studio behind ‘Spotlight,’ ‘An Inconvenient Truth,’ close after 20 years  

Participant, the activist film and television company that financed Oscar wins like “Spotlight” and socially aware documentaries like “Food, Inc.” and “Waiting For Superman,” is closing after 20 years. Billionaire Jeff Skoll informed his 100-person workforce in a memo to  Tuesday that they were closing the company.  

“This is not a step I am taking lightly,” Skoll wrote in the memo. “But after 20 years of groundbreaking content and world-changing impact campaigns, it is the right time for me to evaluate my next chapter and approach to tackling our most pressing issues.”  

Participant has published 135 films since Skoll launched the company in 2004, 50 of which were documentaries and many were awareness-raising impact projects. They have won 21 Academy Awards, including best picture for “Spotlight” and “Green Book,” documentary for “An Inconvenient Truth” and “American Factory,” and international feature for “Roma.”  

Participant produced “Contagion,” “Good Night, and Good Luck,” “Lincoln,” “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “When They See Us,” and a sequel to their documentary “Food Inc.” this month. Global box office earnings for their flicks exceed $3.3 billion. But the corporation had a “double bottom line” that monitored effect and earnings.  

Participant, the activist film and television company that financed Oscar wins like “Spotlight” and socially aware documentaries like “Food, Inc.” and “Waiting For Superman,” is closing after 20 years. Billionaire Jeff Skoll informed his 100-person workforce in a memo to The Associated Press Tuesday that they were closing the company.  

“This is not a step I am taking lightly,” Skoll wrote in the memo. “But after 20 years of groundbreaking content and world-changing impact campaigns, it is the right time for me to evaluate my next chapter and approach to tackling our most pressing issues.”  

Participant has published 135 films since Skoll launched the company in 2004, 50 of which were documentaries and many were awareness-raising impact projects. They have won 21 Academy Awards, including best picture for “Spotlight” and “Green Book,” documentary for “An Inconvenient Truth” and “American Factory,” and international feature for “Roma.”  

Participant produced “Contagion,” “Good Night, and Good Luck,” “Lincoln,” “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “When They See Us,” and a sequel to their documentary “Food Inc.” this month. Global box office earnings for their flicks exceed $3.3 billion. But the corporation had a “double bottom line” that monitored effect and earnings.  

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