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Participant Media, the acclaimed film and television production company with a mission to advance social justice and humanitarian action through powerful storytelling, recently announced it is closing.
Founded in 2005 by philanthropist and first president of eBay, Jeff Skoll, Participant ushered in a new era of leveraging film and television to spread widespread awareness through a genre that has come to be known as activist entertainment.
I have been fortunate to have spent hundreds of hours talking with Jeff over the years, absorbing lessons about how to use social enterprise to create a movement and make a positive impact on the world, while also generating substantial profits to further the cause.
1. Use your influence to expand your offering
At the heart of the participants’ mission is a simple yet brilliant concept: using the influence and reach of the film industry to raise awareness and effect positive change on a large scale.
In retrospect, this seems like a simple model, but the world was very different in 2005. Today, films focusing on activism are commonplace, but back then such films were the exception and rarely achieved commercial success.
Participant helped change that by leveraging Hollywood institutions and A-list stars like George Clooney, Matt Damon and Charlize Theron to tell inspiring stories that inspire, educate and entertain audiences. The company has produced critically acclaimed (86 Academy Award nominations, 21 wins) and box office hits that have grossed more than $3.3 billion worldwide.
Of course, not every business can get a Hollywood star to help promote their cause, but in my experience, if your product or service is tied to a social impact, you can always find someone willing to help raise awareness of your product. It could be a player on a local sports team, a political leader, or a prominent local businessman. When there’s a clear cause to support, people are more likely to pitch in.
Related: Power Changes Your Brain (Not for a Good Reason), Use These Strategies to Counteract the Harmful Effects.
Involving influencers who are aligned with your cause will increase credibility and consumer trust.
I recall Jeff telling me that he was initially nervous about this new venture and the documentary that ultimately became one of its biggest successes, An Inconvenient Truth. On paper, it wasn’t the kind of project that would excite Hollywood executives: a politician with little public speaking ability (former US Vice President Al Gore) giving a slideshow talk about climate change. But he was well known and respected, which added instant credibility to the cause.
In the end, Jeff’s concerns proved unfounded and the film became one of the most successful documentaries of all time, winning the Academy Award for Best Documentary and grossing nearly $50 million on a production budget of $1.5 million.
The company has since highlighted the scourge of child abuse in the Catholic Church in Best Picture-winner “Spotlight,” tackled strict minimum sentence laws in “The Informant,” and shone a light on oil industry corruption in “Syriana,” starring George Clooney.
Related: The Power of Social Influence
2. Read the mood
The Participant films often sparked national discussion about pressing social issues, and Jeff often joked that he had a crystal ball because he could always predict what people would be talking about six months later. In reality, the timing was rarely coincidental.
For example, the film “North Country,” starring Charlize Theron, is based on a true story about the severe harassment suffered by female miners. Violence Against Women ActIt was due to be voted on by Parliament in 2005.
Theron was nominated for Best Actress for her role in North Country, and her media tours promoting the film have brought much attention to the bill and the upcoming vote, garnering daily coverage on shows like Ellen, The Today Show and CBS News.
While it was the film and Theron that the public saw on screen, Jeff and his team were doing the hard work off screen, pressuring lawmakers and driving the national conversation that led to the reauthorization and expansion of the law.
You don’t have to take the same approach as Participant, but your campaigns and offers should be sensitive to current issues. Providing products and services that take current societal challenges into account can help businesses and social enterprises increase their relevance and impact.
Related: Should your brand address social issues?
3. Leverage partnerships, big or small
Aside from collaborating with Hollywood’s biggest stars, Participant also actively partners with charities, schools, and religious organizations to spread awareness about the film’s message. I had the opportunity to see their outreach and awareness strategy from the inside. The academic division of my organization (Legacy+) collaborated with them on several campaigns that took their powerful messages about bullying, female empowerment, and diversity directly to students.
The film Wonder, the inspiring story of a boy with a facial disfigurement, saw lead actor Jacob Tremblay tour schools and arenas screening the film and speaking to kids about bullying and acceptance, while He Named Me Malala, a 2015 documentary telling the inspiring story of Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, was partly filmed in a school in Kenya during her first visit to Africa in 2014.
While these partnerships were primarily designed for educational purposes, they also led to significantly increased awareness of the films and the cause.
Similarly, the lessons can be applied to small businesses and social enterprises by partnering with individual schools, other businesses, community leaders, or faith-based organizations. While doing so may not bring obvious benefits, the opportunities to expand offerings could pay dividends in the long run.
“The Participant showed us that telling difficult stories can be an important tool in moving society forward. Its box office success proved that consumers value entertainment that educates and informs. We will miss this film, but its lessons will resonate for generations to come.”
