(UnitedVoice.com) – The entertainment industry has changed drastically over the last several years. It’s now more expensive to make and distribute films. The changes have finally led to the closure of one of the Left’s most popular entertainment companies.
On April 16, Variety broke the news that Participant was shutting down. Owner Jeff Skoll sent a memo to the company announcing the news. He said he founded it to create great content that “inspires positive social change, prioritizing impact alongside commercial sustainability.” However, he noted the changes in the entertainment industry threw a wrench in his plans.
Skoll, the billionaire who was the first president of eBay, did put his mark on the film industry. Participant produced some of the most well-known socially conscious films, including “Spotlight,” a 2015 film about the investigative journalists at The Boston Globe who uncovered the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. The studio also produced the 2006 films “An Inconvenient Truth,” about climate change, and “The Help,” about black housekeepers during the Civil Rights Movement.
The company’s films were nominated for 86 Academy Awards and won 21. Five of its television series received a total of 18 Emmy nominations. Skoll applauded his employees for driving “real-world change,” like the passage of labor protections in Mexico, and the US and Europe taking action to address toxic forever chemicals.
Although the studio’s movies grossed over $3.3 billion at the worldwide box office, it was never quite able to make money consistently. Distributors like Netflix and other streaming services have started running ads, which opened up a new can of worms for companies like Skoll’s. Advertisers prefer content geared toward everyone, making it harder to convince streamers to distribute progressive content.
According to reports, almost all of the company’s 100 employees will be laid off. However, a small staff will remain to work on its final projects.
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