Participant Shutting Down Operations After 20 Years: Film Studio Was Behind Oscar Winners ‘Spotlight,’ ‘Green Book’ (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Participant, the 20-year-old film and television production company whose mission was to inspire social justice and humanitarian action, is shutting down.

Founder Jeff Skoll broke the news to a staff of roughly 100 on Tuesday. Established in 2004, Participant co-produced or co-financed a number of notable movies including best picture Oscar winners “Spotlight” and “Green Book,” as well as Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” and the breakthrough documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.” Almost all of Participant’s employees will be dismissed, multiple sources familiar with its plans said, and no new content development or production will be pursued.

What’s left will be a skeletal holdings company overseeing the Participant library, which represents interest in the 135 films it has made. “I founded Participant with the mission of creating world-class content that inspires positive social change, prioritizing impact alongside commercial sustainability.

Since then, the entertainment industry has seen revolutionary changes in how content is created, distributed and consumed,” Skoll wrote in a companywide memo obtained by Variety.