How Participant Media Gets You To Care About Making The World A Better Place

HOW PARTICIPANT MEDIA GETS YOU TO CARE ABOUT MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE

BY USING ENTERTAINMENT TO COMPEL SOCIAL CHANGE, THE COMPANY PROVES THAT DOING GOOD CAN ALSO BE GOOD FOR BUSINESS.

By Lindsay Lavine

FastCompany – April 8, 2014

What do the films An Inconvenient Truth, Food, Inc., The Help, and Lincoln all have in common?

They were produced by Participant Media, and launched countless conversations across the globe. That’s the intent of the company, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, with the release of twelve new films in 2014.

We named Participant Media a Most Innovative Company in Film for its ability to shine light on issues that need attention – from mass dolphin killings in “The Cove,” to labor reform in last month’s “Cesar Chavez.” We recently spoke with CEO Jim Berk to find out how the company manages to keep investors happy while making the world a better place.

“The whole concept for the company is to focus on the double bottom line–commercial success and social impact,” Berk says. By telling a good story well, Participant Media has been able to extend conversations outside theaters and into communities.