THE HOLLYWOOD STUDIO behind Oscar-winning films like ‘Spotlight’ and ‘The Green Book’ is closing down after 20 years in business.
Participant, the studio that co-produced and co-financed films and TV series with a social justice angle, has told its staff of roughly 100 people that they are to be let go.
The employees received the news from company founder Jeff Skoll on Tuesday, Variety reported.
“After much reflection, I have made the very difficult decision to wind down company operations,” he wrote in a letter to staff.
Participant’s catalogue includes a long list of well-known titles such as ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, ‘Good Night and Good Luck’, ‘Contagion’ and ‘Lincoln’.
Explaining his decision, Skoll said that the industry has changed significantly in the last 20 years, with an indirect reference to streaming models that have upended the business model for studios.
“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.”
The industry also faced significant challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the recent writers’ strike, which shut down productions around the world.
Participant will continue to maintain its library and the studio will finish projects that are ongoing, but there will be no future productions and all staff will be let go, Variety reported.
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