How Participant Media Stays on the Cutting Edge of Cultural Awareness
Participant Media is not a typical Hollywood company. Founded by former eBay chief Jeff Skoll in 2004, Participant aims to back movies and TV shows that inspire social action, not just simply...
View ArticleParticipant Media Partners With Filmmaker Steve James on Documentary ‘Chicago...
Participant Media is reteaming with Oscar-nominated filmmaker Steve James and his longtime production home, Kartemquin Films, on his latest documentary, “Chicago Story.” Participant Media will finance...
View ArticleParticipant Media, Diane Weyermann to be Honored by Italy’s Biografilm...
Italy’s Biografilm Festival, the unique event billed as a cinematic celebration of human lives, will pay special tribute to Participant Media this year and in particular to Diane Weyermann, head of the...
View ArticleAlfonso Cuaron’s ‘Roma’ Sets China Theatrical Release in May
Alfonso Cuaron’s triple-Oscar winning “Roma” is to get a theatrical release in China on May 10. The release will be handled through distributor Estars, making use of the circuit of 3,900 screens...
View ArticleHow HBO Doc ‘Foster’ Gives ‘Unprecedented’ Look Into Children in Foster Care...
The documentary “Foster” features numerous individuals in the foster care system, but the inspiration for the film started with just one child. About 25 years ago, producer Deborah Oppenheimer met a...
View ArticleParticipant Media Film and TV President Jonathan King to Step Down
Participant Media’s president of narrative film and television Jonathan King is stepping down from his role and transitioning to independent producing. King, who has been with Jeff Skoll’s shop for 12...
View ArticleMatt Damon Teams with ‘Spotlight’ Director Tom McCarthy on New Film (EXCLUSIVE)
Even as buzz grows for his upcoming race car drama “Ford v. Ferrari,” Matt Damon looks to keep the pedal to the metal: the A-lister is set to star in the Participant Media feature film “Stillwater”...
View ArticleParticipant Taps Anikah McLaren, Robert Kessel to Head Film Department
Participant Media has named industry veterans Anikah McLaren and Robert Kessel as co-heads of the company’s film department with the titles of executive vice president. Both executives will report...
View ArticleParticipant Media Promotes Diane Weyermann to Chief Content Officer
Participant Media has promoted longtime executive Diane Weyermann to the newly created post of chief content officer. In her new role, Weyermann will focus on documentary film and TV, alongside...
View ArticleToronto Film Review: ‘Sing Me A Song’
Documentarian Thomas Balmès was handed a gift when he made “Happiness.” That 2013 documentary, about the rapid development of Bhutan seen through the eyes of an 8-year-old monk, begat the idea for a...
View ArticleKew Media Distribution Signs Distribution Deal With Participant
Kew Media Distribution has signed a multi-year distribution agreement with Participant, the L.A.-based company behind “Spotlight,” “Green Book” and “Roma,” to start handling global television and...
View ArticleAFM: Participant Media Strikes Output Deal With Japan’s Gaga
Japanese distributor Gaga Corporation has struck an output deal with U.S. financier and producer Participant Media, giving it the Japanese release of Participant’s films that are financed via its...
View ArticleSubmarine, Cinephil Team With Participant to Distribute Nazism-Themed Doc...
U.S. documentary specialist Submarine Entertainment and Israel-based sales company Cinephil are teaming up with Participant Media to distribute the Luke Holland-directed documentary “Final Account,”...
View ArticleFocus Features Sets Matt Damon-Tom McCarthy Drama ‘Stillwater’ for July Release
Matt Damon and director Tom McCarthy’s thriller “Stillwater” will be coming to theaters this summer. Focus Features announced the highly anticipated film from the pair of Academy Award winners will hit...
View ArticleParticipant’s Laura Kim Named Executive Vice President of Marketing
Participant’s Laura Kim has been promoted to executive vice president of marketing. The seven-year-veteran of the company had previously served as a senior vice president in film marketing. She will...
View ArticleWith Socially Conscious Films ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ and ‘Collective,’...
Participant is back in the thick of the Oscar race with two films, “Judas and the Black Messiah” and “Collective,” that seem to respond to the current political tumult. On paper, the movies appear...
View ArticleParticipant, MK2 Films, Endeavor Content Team on Nadine Labaki Starrer ‘Costa...
Participant is teaming up with leading French sales agent MK2 Films and Endeavor Content to represent worldwide distribution rights on “Costa Brava, Lebanon,” the anticipated feature debut of Lebanese...
View ArticleParticipant Promotes Emma Shapiro, Taps Sarah Sobel — Film News in Brief
Participant has bolstered its leadership team with new senior V.P. roles, promoting Emma Shapiro to senor V.P. of communications and naming Sarah Sobel as senior V.P. of business and legal affairs....
View ArticleDiane Weyermann, Participant Executive and ‘Inconvenient Truth’ Producer,...
Diane Weyermann, chief content officer at Participant and former director of the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program died Thursday of cancer in New York. She was 66. For the last three...
View ArticleUtopia Snaps Up Distribution Rights to Participant’s Yaara Bou Melhem Doc...
Sales and distribution company Utopia, co-founded by filmmaker Robert Schwartzman, has swooped on the distribution rights to documentary “Unseen Skies” by Yaara Bou Melhem, a two-time UN Peace...
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