A group of high-profile film and television creatives is calling on Hollywood to support more social impact storytelling following the demise of Spotlight, Roma and An Inconvenient Truth backer Participant Media.
In an open letter to the entertainment industry made public on Tuesday, A-listers including George Clooney, Ava DuVernay, Matt Damon and Kerry Washington stated that “values-based storytelling is needed now more than ever” to “expand the room for debate, to open our hearts to experiences vastly different from our own, to immerse us in the beauty of humanity’s complexities.” The group of 118 filmmaker, activist and nonprofit signatories, which also includes Kerry Washington, Jane Fonda, Michael Mann, Alejandro González Iñárritu and Alfonso Cuarón, added, “We call upon Hollywood to meet the moment. There is a whole ecosystem of people, connected by the work of the last 20 years of Participant, ready to work with you.”
Participant founder Jeff Skoll surprised many in the industry when he announced on April 16 that the company would be shutting down. Launched by the EBay co-founder in 2004, Participant operated under a “double bottom line” principle that sought to both make a profit and inspire social change with the stories it backed. Over the course of its 20-year run, the company was behind scripted and documentary films including Citizenfour, Green Book, The Help, RBG, Flee, American Factory, Lincoln, Contagion, Food Inc. and A Most Violent Year. In the process, it racked up more than $3.3 billion in box office earnings and 21 Oscars and 18 Emmys.
The letter states that, with its work, Participant “never underestimated the public’s appetite for thought provoking subject matter.” Behind the scenes, meanwhile, Participant “forever changed the landscape of our public conversation and popular culture” by pairing filmmakers with advocacy groups and activists dedicated to causes that intersected with their stories. (Signatories of the letter include advocates like #MeToo movement founder Tarana Burke, Color of Change president Rashad Robinson and Equal Justice Initiative executive director Bryan Stevenson.)
The group added, “As we reflect on the accomplishments of Participant, we look forward to championing the next generation of producers that will build upon Participant’s extraordinary body of work, integrating learnings it has offered, seeding new partnerships and innovating within this new media landscape.”
Ai-jen Poo, president of the National Domestic Workers Alliance and executive director of Caring Across Generations, was part of a small group that conceived off the letter and gathered signatures and support for its message. Poo noted in an interview on Monday that Cuarón’s 2018, Participant-backed film Roma — focused on a housekeeper in Mexico City in the 1970s — helped tee up the introduction of the National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights bill in 2019. The U.S. bill, which sought to scrap domestic workers’ exemption from federal labor protections like paid overtime, is set to be reintroduced again this year.
Roma and its impact campaign “created an opportunity when there was a little bit more space in the public imagination for the experiences of domestic workers,” Poo said. “It created an opportunity for us to turn audiences towards real world change opportunities that they can get involved with.”
Poo — who also worked with Participant on The Help, Shirley and Out of My Mind — continued that, even as an industry-wide contraction sweeps Hollywood, social-impact films “need to get made.” She added, “There’s a market for this and it just needs to continue. And everyone in Hollywood I think has a role to play in making sure that it does.”
Read the letter and see the list of signatories in full below.
Friends of Filmmaking and Impact,
20 years ago, long before social impact had a place in Hollywood, Participant launched stories into our culture with the explicit goal of changing it. Participant empowered bold storytelling with their faith in the vision of filmmakers, trust in advocates and social movements to utilize those narratives in dynamic campaigns, and most importantly, they never underestimated the public’s appetite for thought provoking subject matter that could power new narratives and offer fresh perspectives.
As artists inspired by and connected to social movements, we have experienced the unique role Participant has played in empowering filmmakers to experiment, innovate, and grow. As advocates, we have seen the real world change sparked by the power of filmmaking and campaigning. Participant, through its model of impact filmmaking combined with forging authentic partnerships between advocates, storytellers and distributors has forever changed the landscape of our public conversation and popular culture. For that we are filled with gratitude and pride in our collaborations with this groundbreaking entertainment institution.
Participant proved that audiences crave films with purpose, having collected 21 Academy Awards out of 86 nominations, and 18 Emmy nominations across five television series. Alongside critical acclaim, its catalog including “Spotlight,” “Roma,” “An Inconvenient Truth,” “A Fantastic Woman,” and “When They See Us,” grossed over $3.3 billion at the worldwide box office. The mission was to achieve the “double bottom line,” creating world-class content that inspired social change, which it did.
As we say goodbye to Participant, we must underscore that values-based storytelling is needed now more than ever; to expand the room for debate, to open our hearts to experiences vastly different from our own, to immerse us in the beauty of humanity’s complexities. And in the face of unprecedented change and uncertainty, we need deep partnerships between great storytellers, advocates and movements for change now more than ever, to remind us of our agency in shaping the future and the power of our actions. The future and health of our culture and democracy requires more of us to participate, spread hope, and humanity. Democracy is a living, breathing being that we, as participants, give life.
As we reflect on the accomplishments of Participant, we look forward to championing the next generation of producers that will build upon Participant’s extraordinary body of work, integrating learnings it has offered, seeding new partnerships and innovating within this new media landscape. We call upon Hollywood to meet the moment. There is a whole ecosystem of people, connected by the work of the last 20 years of Participant, ready to work with you.
Signed,
Cristela AlonzoCourtney Andrialis-VincentYalitza AparicioRosanna ArquetteAV SquadJustin BaldoniJohn BattsekLaTosha Brown, Black Voters MatterScott Budnick, The Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC) and 1CommunityTarana Burke, Me Too MovementSophia BushCAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment)Caring Across GenerationsLinda Yvette ChávezDon CheadleGeorge ClooneyJulie CohenGabriela CowperthwaiteJulie Ann Crommett, Collective MoxieAlfonso CuarónAlan CummingRichard CurtisMatt DamonDestin Daniel CrettonViola DavisHeino DeckertDefine AmericanJuan DevisJune Diane RaphaelDaveed DiggsAbigail DisneyMark DuplassAva DuVernayChiwetel EjioforEnfield RoadBrandee EvansEvotion MediaVera FarmigaJane FondaDeVon FranklinGeena Davis InstituteAnna GerbGLAADGold HouseGoldcrest FilmsYoni GolijovGood EnergyFatima Goss Graves, National Women’s Law CenterClark GreggDavis GuggenheimMark HamillEd HarrisCrystal Echo Hawk, IllumiNativeJamey HeathMatthew HeinemanDr. Alisha Hines, The Center for Scholars & Storytellers at UCLALouise Hogarthhonto88IllumiNativeIn Creative CompanyAlejandro G. IñarrituMaikiko James, Women in FilmSteve JamesRaquel JaramilloMichael KeatonDaniel Dae KimRegina KingShaka KingElba Luis LugoDiego LunaMACROMichael MannStephanie MarinNeyda Martinez, THE NEW SCHOOLPaola MendozaAlyssa MilanoAndria Wilson Mirza, Women in FilmNational Domestic Workers AllianceNew York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT)Yvette Nicole BrownSue Obeidi, Muslim Public Affairs Council Hollywood BureauJoshua OppenheimerAnshantia Oso, BLD PWR/BLD PWR ProductionsDavid OyelowoPiper PeraboPierpoline FilmsPillars FundLaura PoitrasAi-jen Poo, The National Domestic Workers Alliance & Caring Across GenerationsPop Culture CollaborativePopShiftDawn PorterMónica Ramírez, Justice for Migrant Women & The Latinx HouseJonas Poher RasmussenRashad Robinson, Color of ChangeJess Morales Rocketto, Equis InstituteAnthony D. Romero, American Civil Liberties UnionAudrey RosenbergYvonne RussoKendrick Sampson, BLD PWR/BLD PWR ProductionsLiz SargentSteve SarowitzVicki Shabo, New America Better Life Lab’s Entertainment InitiativeMartin SheenOctavia SpencerBryan Stevenson, Equal Justice InitiativeStoryline Partnerstao/sThe LeagueBaratunde ThurstonYalda T. Uhls, The Center for Scholars & Storytellers at UCLAUSC Annenberg Norman Lear CenterChristine VachonGloria Walton, The Solutions ProjectKerry WashingtonBetsy WestWomen in Animation (WIA)Sophie Yan, Everytown for Gun Safety
