News

April 20, 2010 - [ The Salt Lake Tribune ]

Samuel Goldwyn, the great movie mogul, once said, "Pictures are for entertainment, messages should be delivered by Western Union." 



One movie production company, Participant Media, has found success disputing Goldwyn's maxim. Participant has discovered it's possible to present an entertaining movie and encourage action on a social cause -- and that marketing the movie can promote the cause and vice versa. 



"When Jeff Skoll formed the company six years ago, the intent was that powerful stories, well told, had an opportunity to start engagement," Participant's CEO Jim Berk told me over the phone last Friday from the United Kingdom (where he was stranded because of the eruption of a volcano in Iceland, which created an ash plume that disrupted air traffic). 



Participant has two environmental-themed movies hitting theaters in the next two weeks. "Oceans" is a documentary, to be released Thursday by Disney under the DisneyNature label, about life under the sea. "Furry Vengeance," opening April 30 by Summit Entertainment, is a kiddie comedy about a real-estate developer (Brendan Fraser) beset by animals who don't want their forest home destroyed.

April 16, 2010 - [ Deadline New York ]

The film roster for the 63rd Cannes Film Festival has been unveiled, and the star wattage and films with wide commercial appeal appear dim. We know that Robin Hood will open the festival with a March 12 premiere before the film is released days later, and that Woody Allen’s You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger and Oliver Stone’s Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps are locks for splashy premieres. Competition films that'll be evaluated by Tim Burton and his jury panel are more subdued, for the most part, but Cannes gets its pick of unseen films so there are discoveries to be made. The highest profile film is the Doug Liman-directed Fair Game, the drama about the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame, with Sean Penn and Naomi Watts starring. This was a pic that originated at Warner Bros, which then dropped the project. Private financiers River Road and Participant Media came to the rescue. In the U.S., the subject matter is polarizing, depending on whether you're a Republican or Democrat. When I reported on the formation of the film while George W. Bush was in the White House, reaction from the GOP was to discredit Plame's CIA cred, while Dems embraced the film's POV. but how the film plays on a world stage is anybody's guess.

April 16, 2010 - [ The Washington Post ]

For much of this week, the District of Columbia has been embroiled in a school controversy. Michelle A. Rhee, the city’s rock star schools chancellor, has negotiated a groundbreaking teachers’ contract, but questions have surfaced about how the city will fund it and, more pointedly, whether Rhee engineered a mass layoff of teachers to come up with the money. Her credibility, the politics of the upcoming mayor’s race and the sensibilities of the city’s budget office all share center stage. How little those things really matter hit home last night as I watched a screening of an extraordinary documentary on how this country educates -- or, more correctly, fails to educate -- its children. 
 


“Waiting for Superman” tells the stories of children in several cities -- Los Angeles, Harlem, Washington D.C. -- interspersed with interviews of educators -- Rhee, Harlem Children’s Zone founder Geoffrey Canada, the founders of the KIPP charter school network -- to demonstrate the appalling state of public schools in America. The film, directed by Davis Guggenheim of “An Inconvenient Truth” fame, takes its name from a child’s fantasy of being rescued. It’s chock full of depressing statistics on kids who can’t read or do math, those who drop out and how much this country spends on an education system that is fast losing out to its international rivals. What stays with you, though, are the faces of the children who are being cheated and the tears of their parents who want better for them. It is actually painful to watch these mothers and fathers and grandmothers lose out in lotteries for precious spots in charter schools.

April 12, 2010 - [ Newsweek ]

Fresh from signing a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russia, President Obama hosts a mini-U.N. in Washington next week as more than 40 heads of state convene for a nuclear summit to explore ways to limit the spread of unsecured nuclear material, commonly known as loose nukes.


A group called Global Zero, which, like Obama, is dedicated to the goal of ridding the world of nuclear weapons, is lobbying around the summit. Valerie Plame, the CIA officer whose outing in 2003 became a national scandal, is among the notables in that group, which assembled at the National Press Club Thursday morning to promote what Plame colloquially calls "making sure the bad guys don't get the bomb."


The group boasts star power along with intellectual heft. Queen Noor of Jordan recalled her American childhood growing up in the shadow of the Cold War, pointing out that the generations born since then haven't experienced the terrifying implications of a nuclear attack. Making young people aware of the danger and mobilizing them to act is what Global Zero is all about, with events on college campuses building toward the July 9 release of the documentary Countdown to Zero, which, if all goes according to producer Lawrence Bender's plan, will raise the visibility of the nuclear issue much the way his previous film An Inconvenient Truth dramatized climate change and prodded policymakers to take action.


Unlike Dr. Strangelove, Stanley Kubrick's tragicomic 1964 spoof of nuclear war, subtitled "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb," Bender's film is all too real as it describes how hundreds of cities could be destroyed in seconds, recounts close calls of near nuclear accidents, and reveals the thriving black market in nuclear material. Harvard professor Graham Allison, author of Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe, says in the film that the goal of terrorists is to kill 4 million people, and they can't achieve that level of death and destruction flying planes into buildings, so they're trying to buy, build, or steal what nuclear material they can in a race that daily becomes more urgent.
 

April 12, 2010 - [ Film Journal International ]

Participant Media isn’t a Google or Apple or Starbucks or Miramax in its heyday, but it has to be one of the coolest companies in the world. Only six years old and a far quieter force in the “Gimme five” film industry, the Jeff Skoll-backed company, now profitable in its own right, is probably today’s most active, bull’s-eye-hitting film/TV/social-action conglomerate.
 


Participant is also unique among its peers as it wraps social-action campaigns around each of the films it embraces as financier, producer, cause marketer or all of the above. But, Participant CEO Jim Berk assures, “Great storytelling comes first in terms of the projects we take on.” Entertainment first, of course, makes sense, as that’s how to get films seen, messages out, action taken, and change enabled.
 


And let’s not forget money made. Says Berk, “We are a for-profit company that is profitable.”
 


A look at just a handful of past projects is ample proof of these priorities to entertain, inform and motivate audiences to make a difference. Most recently, Louie Psihoyos’ The Cove, propelled by Participant’s far-reaching social-action campaign, won the Oscar for Best Documentary. Other jewels in the company’s crown include doc hit Food, Inc., fact-based mainstream features that became critical smashes like Charlie Wilson's War, and critically acclaimed art-house and crossover hits like The Kite Runner, The Visitor, Fast Food Nation, An Inconvenient Truth, and George Clooney’s Good Night, and Good Luck and Syriana.
 


Participant’s many Oscar-nominated and award-winning films are also a testament to a commitment to quality. Besides The Cove, Participant in February also took pride in big Oscar winner The Hurt Locker, thanks to its investment stake in Summit Entertainment.
 


The company’s bottom line is one part financial return and one part social impact, Berk explains. “Our core mission is to be a leading provider of entertainment that inspires and compels social change.”

April 12, 2010 - [ Huffington Post ]

Earlier this week, I was excited to be in Washington, DC with Jeff Skoll, founder of Participant Media and the leaders of Global Zero, to screen our new film, Countdown to Zero, for a high-level DC group. The film is an edge of the seat wake up call about the global nuclear threat. We scheduled the screening for the lead up to President Obama's global nuclear security summit, which is taking place today, convening almost 50 heads of state in Washington. We wanted to ensure that the conversation about the movie helps to create a sense of urgency at the summit. Adding to the momentousness of the past few days, the screening actually ended up taking place on the eve of the historic signing of the new START treaty -- the bilateral agreement between the U.S. and Russia, which, if ratified, will bring about the largest reduction in strategic nuclear arms in a generation.

April 8, 2010 - [ MSNBC ]

MSNBC'S DAILY RUNDOWN FEATURES LAWRENCE BENDER TALKING ABOUT COUNTDOWN TO ZERO

April 7, 2010 - [ Politico ]

TOP TALKER – Every seat is booked for tonight’s D.C. premiere of Participant Media’s “Countdown to Zero,” “a stunning documentary about the escalating global nuclear arms crisis” by Lawrence Bender (“An Inconvenient Truth”). The A-list screening falls on the eve of the U.S.-Russia nuclear treaty signing. With the slogan, “It’s only a matter of time,” the film “features an array of important international experts and statesmen and makes a case for worldwide nuclear disarmament.” (Seems to be going around!) Lots of buzz about the film since it premiered at Sundance, and Secretary Clinton screened it for several national security officials (Brennan, Blair, Napolitano) on a recent flight. Made by Jeff Skoll (Participant Media), produced by Lawrence Bender (“Pulp Fiction” and “Inglourious Basterds”), and brought to you by the same team as “An Inconvenient Truth,” the film seeks to generate the kind of interest in nuclear proliferation that “Truth” did for global warming.

April 6, 2010 - [ The Christian Science Monitor ]


When Hollywood producer Lawrence Bender put out Al Gore's film, "An Inconvenient Truth," he had no idea it would so strongly hit the public zeitgeist on climate change. Now he is preparing to release in July a different kind of apocalyptic docudrama – depicting a nuclear event.
 


"Countdown to Zero" is designed to counter the idea that the threat of a nuclear catastrophe has receded because of the end of the cold war. Screened at the Sundance Film Festival, the movie left audiences abuzz.
 

April 6, 2010 - [ Politico ]

When Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently viewed producer Lawrence Bender’s latest documentary, “Countdown to Zero,” she gave it two thumbs up. 



Bender — who produced “Good Will Hunting” and many, many films by Quentin Tarantino, among other projects — predicts this documentary, about the nuclear arms race, will be as big as his Oscar-winning film about climate change, “An Inconvenient Truth.”

April 5, 2010 - [ Fast Company ]

The way America eats has to change, that's no secret. Thanks to the efforts of these ten trailblazers, that change might be closer than we think.

March 30, 2010 - [ Salt Lake Tribune ]

DisneyNature, the documentary arm of the House of Mouse, and Participant Media are going all out to get public attention and activism going for the world's oceans — which happen to be the stars of their upcoming film, "Oceans."
 
The "Save My Oceans" Tour is planning free concerts at college campuses around the country — as well as giving away free tickets for a preview screening to college kids.
 

March 30, 2010 - [ Washington Post ]

Just a little in-flight entertainment: On the trip back from Mexico last week, Hillary Clinton screened for her high-powered traveling companions (Janet Napolitano, Dennis Blair, etc.) an advance copy of the much-buzzed-about "Countdown to Zero," a new documentary (from "An Inconvenient Truth" producer Lawrence Bender) about the possibility of the world ending in nuclear holocaust. A thumbs-up, we're told.

March 23, 2010 - [ BuisnessWire ]

Philanthropist and entrepreneur Jeff Skoll, the first president of eBay and the founder of the Skoll Foundation, the Skoll Global Threats Fund, and Participant Media, will be the first-ever guest speaker to address a Stanford Graduate School of Business graduation ceremony on June 12, 2010.
 


The Skoll speech will start a new tradition at the annual business school degree ceremony. “Our students asked us for an inspirational speaker on this important day to help them envision the roles they may undertake to change lives, change organizations, and change the world through managed organizations of all kinds,” said Garth Saloner, Dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Business. “I can’t think of anyone better to model the life of meaning and impact we want our students to pursue than Jeff Skoll. He built a remarkable organization at eBay, and now has gone on to have an enormous impact on social issues through both his film and his philanthropic work.”

March 23, 2010 - [ Variety ]

Recent Academy Award winners "The Cove" and "Up" took top nods at the 24th Humane Society Genesis Awards, which honor news and entertainment media for raising awareness of animal protection issues. 
"The Cove" took the documentary film award, while "Up" and "Hotel for Dogs" tied for feature film honors.
 


"The Ellen DeGeneres Show" won talkshow for a segment highlighting the inhumane treatment of animals raised for food, and Fox's "Bones" and "Family Guy" won other accolades in the television drama and comedy categories.
 


Melanie Griffith presented her mother, Tippi Hedren, with a lifetime achievement award for her advocacy on behalf of captive big cats.
 


Celebrity presenters and attendees included Antonio Banderas, Kirsten Bell, Teri Hatcher, Ginnifer Goodwin, Jon Lovitz and Moby. 
 


The show took place Saturday at the Beverly Hilton and will air on Animal Planet on April 24 and 25.

March 18, 2010 - [ Sampurn Wire ]

Last night, the city was left spellbound and fascinated, as Mr. Lawrence Bender, multiple Academy Award winner and celebrated Hollywood producer and documentary film maker, showcased his latest documentary ‘COUNTDOWN TO ZERO’ on March 17 at Fun Cinemas hosted by Niret and Nikhil Alva, India’s Ace documentary film makers.

March 17, 2010 - [ Treehugger ]

American Express teams with the 'Reluctant Businessman', Patagonia's Yvon Chouinard.
 
"We're part of nature and as we destroy nature, we destroy ourselves. It's a selfish thing to wanna protect nature." So starts this short advert for the American Express Members Project, which features Yvon Chouinard talking first about how he helped bring about the clean climbing movement. Now he wants to be dam buster. The clip shot and directed by Oscar winners and nominees is part of a partnership Amex has with community action group, TakePart.com

March 11, 2010 - [ Big Fat MARKETING ]

We’ve all seen TV-to-text cross-platform campaigns, but seldom with such show-biz glitz. When the eco-conscious documentary “The Cove” won an Academy award in last Sunday’s ceremonies and the team responsible went on stage to deliver their short and sweet acceptance speech, one of the producers, Ric O’Barry, held up a sign asking viewers to “text DOLPHIN to 44144”.
 


The instructions bring users a mobile message that directs them to ThePetitionSite.com , an online site for communal action run by Care2, where Participant Media, the production company behind “The Cove”, has set up a letter to president Obama and the Japanese ambassador to the U.S. asking to halt the slaughter of dolphins that the movie documented off the coast of Japan.
 


The Oscar night producers cut away from the acceptance speech and O’Connor’s sign as quickly as if he’d BabaBooied like a witless Howard Stern fan.
 

March 8, 2010 - [ Huffington Post ]

It was a big night for Participant Media at the Oscars. Their TakePart.com web presence was shown during a series of American Express commercials, and their film "The Cove" won Best Documentary.


The film about dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan, captivated millions and inspired many to take action. During the film's victory speech, film subject and animal activist Ric O'Barry held up a sign that said "Text Dolphin To 44144."



Well, what happens if you do that?
 


According to TakePart.com, going forward on that text will sign you up to receive information about how to end the dolphin slaughter in Japan.
 


ABC quickly cut away from the stage once O'Barry held up the sign.
 


For more Cove-related actions, you can visit TakePart.com/thecove and sign on to the campaign to help spread the word. Through Zannel, you can also share photos and videos through your mobile device.

March 2, 2010 - [ IndieWire ]

Robert DeNiro and Jane Rosenthal’s are launching Tribeca Film, a new distribution initiative building on their annual Tribeca Film Festival in New York. Ten films are set to launch the new initiative.

In the major announcement today, DeNiro and Rosenthal’s Tribeca Enterprises, the for-profit wing of the umbrella group that produces the annual Tribeca Film Festival unveiled Tribeca Film today as, “a comprehensive distribution and marketing platform for independent film.” Additionally the group will launch Tribeca Film Festival Virtual (TFFV), an online venture that will offer work screening in the April festival to audiences through its website: www.tribecafilm.com/virtual. American Express, which is the premiere sponsor of the Tribeca Film Festival, will come on board with these initiatives as the “Founding Partner of Tribeca Film and TFFV.”