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Participant Media (formerly known as Participant Productions) is an American film-and television-production company which finances and produces socially relevant films and documentaries.〔Solomon, Lewis (2008). "Participant Productions", (''Tech Billionaires: Reshaping Philanthropy in a Quest for a Better World'' ). New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 2008. p. 76-81. ISBN 1-4128-0847-2.〕〔Stern, Stefan (June 12, 2009). ("Lunch with the FT: Jeff Skoll" ). ''Financial Times''.〕 The company has been described as being politically active.〔Thompson, Anne (March 10, 2008). ("West, Atkinson Earn 'Minimum Wage'" ). ''Variety''.〕 Its films are typically based on current events and topical subjects and presented in such a way to inspire viewers to advocate for social change.〔〔Pinsker, Beth (September 7, 2004). "Millionaire Report Cards". ''Variety''.〕〔Graser, Marc (September 22, 2004). "eBay Guru in Bidness on WB Pix". ''Variety''.〕 The studio has produced or co-produced a number of award-winning fiction films and documentaries. By the end of its second year in business, its films had been nominated for 11 Academy Awards.〔Gaghan, Stephen (April 30, 2006). ("Jeff Skoll" ). ''Time''.〕〔Thompson, Anne (September 13, 2007). ("Participant President Staying Active" ). ''Variety''.〕 By the end of the 2011 awards season, its films had been nominated for Oscars 22 times, and won eight. Its 2012 films received another 12 Oscar nominations.〔 ==Founding== The company was founded in January 2004 as Participant Productions by Jeffrey Skoll, the "second employee" of eBay,〔〔 to produce projects that were both commercially viable and socially relevant.〔Harris, Dana (June 16, 2004). "Skoll Toasts New Shingle". ''Variety''.〕 Skoll had earlier co-founded Ovation Entertainment, a start-up film production company, in 2001 but quit the company in the summer of 2003.〔〔〔 Shulgan, Chris (April 5, 2009). ("Mr. Skoll Goes to Hollywood" ). ''The Globe and Mail''.〕〔Abramowitz, Rachel (April 13, 2003). "Big-Money Dreamers". ''Los Angeles Times''. Bing, Jonathan (August 3, 2003). "Mall Mogul Makes Movie Moves". ''Variety''.〕 Skoll began discussions with Hollywood insiders, technical experts and financiers in September 2003 to educate himself about film production.〔 One of Skoll's critical advisors was Peter Schlessel (formerly the president of Columbia Pictures and later the president of Sony Pictures Entertainment).〔Siegel, Tatiana (January 24, 2008). "New Strategy for Sony Prez". ''Variety''.〕 By January 2004, the company had pulled together most of its staff, many of whom attended the Cannes Film Festival.〔〔 The company believed it had a deal to distribute the documentary film ''Fahrenheit 9/11'' (2004), directed by Michael Moore,〔〔 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'').〔Epstein, Edward Jay (May 3, 2005). ("Paranoia for Fun and Profit How Disney and Michael Moore Cleaned Up on Fahrenheit 9/11" ). ''Slate''. Retrieved July 8, 2012. Staff (June 2, 2004). ("''Fahrenheit 9/11'' Finds Coalition of Willing Distributors" ). ''The Guardian''. Retrieved July 8, 2012. Rooney, David; Harris, Dana (June 1, 2004). "'9/11': Moore the Merrier". ''Variety''. Snyder, Gabriel (September 7, 2004). "Case Study: 'Fahrenheit 9/11'". ''Variety''.〕 With $100 million in cash from Skoll's personal funds,〔 Skoll was the company's first chief executive officer, but stepped down from that position in August 2006.〔 Participant Productions' initial plans were to produce four to six films per year, each with a budget of $40 million.〔〔 The company focused on films in six areas the environment, healthcare, human rights, institutional responsibility, peace and tolerance, and social and economic justice.〔 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.〔〔 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.〔〔 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.〔Graser, Marc (September 9, 2008). "More Pluck for Less Buck". ''Variety''.〕 The new company quickly announced an ambitious slate of productions. Its first film (announced on September 7, 2007) was the drama film ''American Gun'' (2005), on which IFC Films was an equity partner.〔〔 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)).〔〔 Biskind, Peter (2004). ''Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film''. New York City: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-86259-0.〕 Participant Productions contributed half the budget of each film.〔 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.〔Harris, Dana (November 22, 2004). "'Sesame' Impact Felt". ''Variety''.〕〔McClintock, Pamela (January 8, 2006). "Skoll Bankrolls 'Sesame'". ''Variety''.〕 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).〔Thompson, Anne (April 30, 2007). "Studios Go Green, Scene By Scene". ''Variety''.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Participant Media」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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