Jeff Skoll and Participant Media fascinate me. Skoll is rather famously known as the “second employee at eBay.” After cashing out his eBay stock (reportedly for $2 billion), Skoll founded Participant Pictures which has in a short time been involved in the production of a strong slate of movies including Good Night and Good Luck (2005), North Country (2005), Syriana (2005), An Inconvenient Truth (2006), Fast Food Nation (2006), The Visitor (2007), The Kite Runner (2007), and Charlie Wilson’s War (2007).

All excellent movies which have won numerous awards including two Oscars and most of them profitable to boot. But what is most truly impressive to me is that crafting a “message movie,” one that makes an overt political and/or social point is probably the hardest type of film to do well because it’s so easy for the story to get swallowed up in good intentions or burdened with a sort of “heaviosity” (with apologies to Woody Allen) because it’s so laden with the story’s theme.

Samuel Goldwyn is quoted as having said to a group of screenwriters, “If you want to send a message, use Western Union.” And yet here is Participant Media with their company’s vision right there on the front page of their website:

Participant believes that a good story well told can truly make a difference in how one sees the world. Whether it is a feature film, documentary or other form of media, Participant exists to tell compelling, entertaining stories that also create awareness of the real issues that shape our lives.

We seek to entertain our audiences first, then to invite them to participate in making a difference next. Participant believes that people are basically good and that everyone deserves the chance to be a participant!

Here’s your chance to ‘meet’ Jeff Skoll, another video interview courtesy of the wonderful outfit Ted.org.

http://static.videoegg.com/ted/flash/loader.swf