Participant Media Announces New Programs and Initiatives for Pivot And Takepart.Com Targeting Conscious Consumers

NEW YORK (March 12, 2015) — Participant Media’s television network, Pivot, and digital platform, TakePart, today unveiled a new slate of original series and brand initiatives aimed at the conscious consumer.

Pivot has greenlit a new investigative series executive produced by Brian Knappenberger (The Internet’s Own Boy) currently scheduled to premiere Q4 2015; added projects with Alex Gibney, Wyatt Cenac and Mark Bittman to its development slate; and, on May 6, the network kicks off a new Wednesday night documentary programming block with the TV premiere of Gardeners of Eden, executive produced by Kristin Davis.

Pivot also announced premiere dates for four series including the return of the Emmy® Award-winning “Hit Record On TV with Joseph Gordon-Levitt,” as well as new seasons of “Human Resources” and “Angry Planet,” and the new series “Secret Lives of Americans.”

“With the return of popular series and addition of new originals and themed programming blocks, we have an exciting line-up that continues Pivot’s focus on entertainment that inspires,” said Kent Rees, the channel’s General Manager. “Pivot has distinguished itself as a network with compelling and award-winning content across a wide range of genres that keep audiences tuning in while encouraging them to take action on the issues that move them.”

Participant Media’s TakePart.com, the digital home for the conscious consumer offering original articles, video and paths to action on all of Participant’s programming, announced a new sponsored content collaboration, “Save Our Cities,” with the National Urban League in response to the organization’s latest The State Of Black America report. In a multi-part editorial program and social impact campaign featuring infographics, written features, op-eds and actions, TakePart and The National Urban League will detail the people, solutions and ideas that are driving progress in the areas of social justice, employment, housing, health, and education.

“TakePart always aims to provide context on important issues including why they matter and what we can do to drive progress and positive social change,” said Karina Kogan, EVP Digital. “We’re excited to announce this collaboration with the National Urban League because of the critical work they are doing and at a time when race is at forefront of the national dialogue.”

Participant Media recently commissioned a study with Miner & Co. Studio to examine the “conscious consumer” a demographic including approximately 44 million U.S. adults aged 18-49.*

Several themes emerged:
·      For the conscious consumer, engagement isn’t one-size-fits-all. Conscious consumers want choice in the types of activities offered to activate around an issue.
·      Awareness of a cause, learning about it and acting upon it through whatever means best suits them provides conscious consumers with a sense that they are connected, not just to their own day-to-day world, but to a greater interconnected whole impacting the world for the better.
·      Millennials are Pivot’s core of the conscious consumer audience but Pivot’s programming resonates with a wider demographic aligned through shared mindset.
*Source: 2014 Spring GfK MRI

“Using entertainment to propel change is the heart of Participant Media’s mission,” said Jennie Morris, EVP Acquisitions, Research, and Network Operations. “What our recent study has reinforced is that there is a sizable population that is passionate about the world and there are many different ways individuals choose to engage – all of equal merit. This is exactly how we build our campaigns, to be inclusive across a range of audiences and action types, and we’ve seen great success as a result.”

TAKEPART

Participant Media’s TakePart.com and the National Urban League to Collaborate on a Campaign, ‘Save Our Cities’

The National Urban League has joined with TakePart.com to create “Save Our Cities,” a campaign focusing on issues facing urban communities and those individuals driving positive social change.

Inspired by the National Urban League’s The State of Black America Report, TakePart will produce an editorial series and social action campaign on the five key issue areas highlighted in the report including social justice, employment, housing, health, and education. It will connect the coverage to a related social action delivered via TakePart’s proprietary Take Action Platform (TAP). The campaign will also include a series of screenings of Participant’s upcoming documentary 3 1/2 Minutes, chronicling the shooting of teenager Jordan Davis.

“For more than a decade, Participant Media has tackled urban social justice issues with creativity and sensitivity,” said Marc H. Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League. “We’re thrilled about this collaboration and look forward to an innovative and productive campaign.”

In addition to its upcoming work on race, this year TakePart will also be launching a number of tent-pole initiatives including multi-part programming around the health of our world’s oceans, the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, sustainability in the food industry, and social entrepreneurship.

CURRENT PROGRAMMING (PIVOT)

Pivot’s Emmy® Award Winning Variety Series ‘Hit Record On TV with Joseph Gordon-Levitt’Premieres June 12 at 10PM

Participant Media and its television network, Pivot, today announced the return date of “Hit Record On TV with Joseph Gordon-Levitt.” The second season of the Emmy® Award winning show will premiere on Pivot, Friday June 12 at 10:00pm ET.

The second season will again see Joseph Gordon-Levitt and HitRECord’s global community of artists put a fresh spin on the traditional variety show format. Each weekly episode addresses a theme, around which thousands of writers, musicians, illustrators and animators from all over the world collaborate to create short films, songs, music videos, animation and more. Episode themes for the second season include Secrets, The Number Two, Your Mom, The Dark, Fire, and The Future.

“With thousands of contributors working together to create each episode, the first season of ’Hit Record on TV’ turned the variety series on its head,” said Belisa Balaban, executive vice president of Pivot’s Original Programming. “We’re thrilled to share season two with our audience.”

“Season one of Hit Record On TV was one of the most exciting and rewarding creative experiences of my life,” said Gordon-Levitt. “Collaborating with such a diverse range of artists around the world not only provides for a show with a multitude of perspectives, it also results in a show that’s incredibly entertaining. I can’t wait for people to see what we have in store for season two!”

Inspired by the series, Pivot and Henry Jenkins’ Media Activism and Participatory Politics (MAPP) will support Joseph Gordon-Levitt and the HitRECord community in creating four additional videos addressing the issue of digital media literacy (DML). The videos will complement a large curricular package being developed by MAPP, intended to educate students on how best to leverage media for social change. The package will be integrated into a series of DML-related conferences and professional development workshops attended by an extensive network of high school and college level educators.

Pivot’s Critically-Acclaimed Docu-series ‘Human Resources’ to Premiere Season Two Summer 2015

Called “spunky” by the New York Times, Pivot announced today that season two of “Human Resources” is currently in production and slated to premiere in Summer 2015. During the upcoming season Tom Szaky and his team at TerraCycle head to London, deal with puppies, and most importantly, continue to come up with bigger and better ways of transforming what we consider “waste.” “Human Resources” is produced by Left/Right.

“I am excited to show viewers what we have been working on at TerraCycle this past year to move forward the idea that recycling and up-cycling can be easy and useful,” said Szaky. “I’m also thrilled to continue our relationship with Recycle Across America to advocate for the use of standardized labels.”

Pivot continues its collaboration with Recycle Across America (RAA) on the “Recycle Right” campaign promoting standardized recycling labels to reduce waste and increase recycling. Through the campaign, Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony) adopted the labels to help implement its sustainability initiative at the Sony Open in Hawaii – targeting to improve recycling rates at the event. To help the next generation become better recyclers, Sony donated the standardized labels to all of the public schools in Oahu, Hawaii.

NEW PROGRAMMING (PIVOT)

Pivot Announces Premiere Dates for ‘Angry Planet’ and ‘Secret Lives of Americans’

Pivot announced premiere dates for a new season of “Angry Planet,” Friday, April 17 at 10pm ET, and for “Secret Lives of Americans” Friday, June 12 at 10:30pm ET.

“Angry Planet” follows all-new adventures for George Kourounis who comes face-to-face with the stark effects of the Earth’s evolving climate. Traveling to some of the most remote places around the globe, Kourounis gets up close and personal with the changing environment that is directly impacting our ever-increasing weather calamities.

The first five episodes of this season of “Angry Planet” air in April 2015, with another five episodes coming in Q4 2015. Alex Bystram and Kim Bondi serve as executive producers for Cineflix. Peter Rowe serves as series producer. Jeff Skoll and Lyle Gamm serve as executive producers for Pivot.

“Secret Lives of Americans” gives viewers an up-close and unflinching look at individuals’ lives as they expose powerful secrets to the most important people in their lives.

The series will be primarily shot by the subjects themselves, giving viewers an opportunity to experience immersive and intimate documentation, hearing firsthand about the turmoil caused by the skeletons in the subjects’ closets. As these journeys unfold, viewers will come to understand the subjects’ stories within the context of a greater social issue.

Eli Holzman, Stephen Lambert, and Danny Villa serve as executive producers for All3Media America. John Henshaw also serves as executive producer. Jeff Skoll and Christy Spitzer serve as executive producers for Pivot.

Pivot Unveils Weekly Documentary Programming Block Kicking Off with May 6 Premiere of ‘Gardeners of Eden’ Executive Produced by Kristin Davis

Pivot today unveiled a new documentary programming block to showcase impactful, award-winning documentaries, including ones never seen before on television. The new programming block kicks off Wednesday, May 6 with Gardeners of Eden at 9pm ET, executive produced by actor and philanthropist Kristin Davis.

“I’m proud to bring ‘Gardeners of Eden’ to Pivot and to engage its active audience to join the fight to save these magnificent creatures,” said Davis. “Elephants are headed towards extinction due to extreme poaching and the illegal ivory trade. In fact, an elephant is killed every 15 minutes and we are running out of time to save them unless we act quickly. With the help of Participant Media and Pivot, I am confident the film’s message will be widely heard, from activist to policymaker.”

“Over the past decade, Participant Media has been a leading voice in sharing important stories through its documentary films,” said Jennie Morris, EVP Acquisitions, Research, and Network Operations. “Pivot continues the company’s heritage with the new programming initiative that aims to share important stories affecting our planet. We couldn’t be more pleased to launch with this powerful documentary from executive producer Kristin Davis on the plight of elephants, ‘Gardeners of Eden.’”

Gardeners of Eden takes viewers to the front lines of the illegal ivory trade where Africa’s elephants are hurtling towards extinction. While conservationists howl and governments fail to address the ongoing slaughter, one brave family has been working for decades to stem the tide, one elephant at a time. Gardeners of Eden is a gripping, first person experience inside the operations of Kenya’s David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. From the front lines of the crisis, we witness their heroic efforts to stop the poachers in the bush, rescue the orphans of slain elephants and raise them by hand, until one day, returning them to their home in the wild.

GREENLIGHT (PIVOT)

Pivot announced today that it has greenlit a new series from award-winning director Brian Knappenberger (TheInternet’s Own Boy).

UNSCRIPTED

“Untitled Brian Knappenberger Project”
(10 x :30)
“Untitled Brian Knappenberger Project” is a documentary series that reimagines investigative journalism for the digital age. Executive produced by award-winning filmmaker Brian Knappenberger, this innovative series spotlights the untold stories of people who defend human rights and call out institutional failures. The show will use extensive research, probing interviews, and rigorous fact checking to examine abuses of power and the fight for transparency, knowledge and freedom of information. Each episode will follow a single story, using a personal point of entry to examine a larger issue.

Brian Knappenberger is executive producer for Luminant Media. Jeff Skoll and Christy Spitzer serve as executive producers for Pivot.

IN DEVELOPMENT

UNSCRIPTED

“Untitled Alex Gibney Project”
Executive Producer: Alex Gibney for Jigsaw Productions
(:30 docu-series)
An investigative food series that lives at the intersection of broadcast journalism and activism.

“Untitled Wyatt Cenac Project”
Pivot is developing a project with comedian Wyatt Cenac (“The Daily Show”) that would provide his unique take on topical issues in an unconventional format.

“Untitled Mark Bittman Project”
Executive Producers: Ken Druckerman and Banks Tarver for Left/Right, Mark Bittman, and Jesse Sweet
(:30 docu-series)
A food investigative project that looks at the interconnectedness of our food economy and its effects on real people.

About Participant Media
Participant Media (http://www.ParticipantMedia.com) is a global entertainment company founded in 2004 by Jeff Skoll to focus on feature film, television, publishing, and digital content that inspires social change. Through its films, social action campaigns, digital network, and its television network, Participant Media seeks to entertain, encourage and empower every individual to take action.

About Pivot
Pivot (http://www.Pivot.tv) is a television network from Participant Media with a diverse slate of original series, acquired programming, films and documentaries. Pivot focuses on entertainment that sparks conversation, inspires change and illuminates issues through engaging content and, through its affiliated websiteTakePart.com, connects audiences to a wealth of content and customizable actions. Pivot is available in 47 million homes via major television providers and offers authenticated subscribers a live and on-demand streaming option via its interactive, downloadable Pivot app. Follow Pivot on Twitter at @pivot_tv and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pivottelevision.

About TakePart
Participant Media’s TakePart (http://www.TakePart.com) is a digital news and lifestyle magazine and social action platform for the conscious consumer. TakePart’s mission is to inspire and accelerate social change by connecting compelling content to action, and its proprietary “TakePart Action Platform.” (TAP) is a widget that allows the site to embed petitions, pledges, and other actions within relevant editorial content. TAP also powers engagement for Participant Media films and for Participant’s television network Pivot.