‘Spotlight’ Wins Best Picture Oscar®

Participant Media is a part of two films that collectively won three Oscars^®at the 88th Academy Awards^® ceremony, including Best Picture for Spotlight, which Participant developed and financed.

The Best Picture Oscar^® marks the first for Participant. Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer also won for Best Original Screenplay.

In addition, Mark Rylance picked up the Best Supporting Actor Oscar^® for his performance in Bridge of Spies.

David Linde, CEO, Participant Media commented on the awards. “Jeff Skoll, the entire team at Participant Media and I are extremely grateful for Spotlight and Bridge of Spies‘ Academy Award wins – best picture and original screenplay for Spotlight, and best supporting actor for Mark Rylance in Bridge of Spies. Spotlight gave a voice to the voiceless and empowers other survivors to tell their stories to impact societal change. We are immensely proud of our films and the profound effect that these important stories have on so many people.”

Bridge of Spies, a DreamWorks Pictures and Fox 2000 Pictures production, is directed by Steven Spielberg, and produced by Spielberg, Marc Platt and Kristie Macosko Krieger. Executive producers are Adam Somner, Daniel Lupi, and Participant’s Jeff Skoll and Jonathan King. The title marks the seventh film Participant has collaborated with DreamWorks Studios, to which the partnership continues to grow through the recently formed Amblin Partners, a new film, television and digital content creation company.

Spotlight, the true story about The Boston Globe’s coverage of the 2003 Catholic Church sex abuse scandal, is produced Steve Golin and Michael Sugar of Anonymous Content, and Nicole Rocklin and Blye Faust of Rocklin/Faust. Participant Media’s Jeff Skoll and Jonathan King are executive producers, with Michael Bederman, Open Road Films’ Tom Ortenberg and Peter Lawson, and Entertainment One’s Patrice Theroux and Harold van Lier. Kate Churchill is co-producer and David Mizner is associate producer.

Inspired by the film and The Boston Globe Spotlight Team’s reporting, the Spotlight Investigative Journalism Fellowship was established. Aimed at supporting the work of investigative journalists, the fellowship of up to $100,000 will be awarded by The Boston Globe. The chosen journalist(s) will collaborate with established investigative reporters and editors from the Pulitzer Prize-winning Spotlight Team. The fellowship sponsors include The Globe, Open Road Films, and Participant, with support from First Look Media.

Participant Media would like to acknowledge all partners on the two Oscar^®-winning projects: Open Road, Entertainment One, First Look Media, The Boston Globe, and Knight Ridder on behalf of Spotlight; and Amblin Partners, DreamWorks Studios, and Disney for Bridge of Spies.

Click here to see the complete list of Academy Award^® winners.