Like any rich geek with a conscience, Jeff Skoll wanted to give back. So the first president of eBay launched the Skoll Foundation to bankroll worthy causes. He established Oxford's Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, endowed three chairs at the University of Toronto, and even underwrote a PBS series on nonprofit entrepreneurs that I helped produce. And, after cashing out of eBay with $2 billion in his pocket, he started Participant Productions, a movie company that had a remarkable burst of critically acclaimed films last year: Syriana, an antipetroleum political thriller starring George Clooney; Good Night, and Good Luck, which revisits Joe McCarthy's Red Scare; and North Country, about a landmark sexual harassment lawsuit. If you notice a lack of boneheaded action, smarmy romance, and brain-dead comedy, it's because Participant's mission was to make not blockbusters but messages - movies that promote social and economic justice. So Skoll is still giving back. This time, though, he may get an Oscar in return.
Why pick Hollywood as a vehicle for social change?
When I was a kid, I realized the power of stories to make a difference. Even then, it seemed that the world was going the wrong way: environmental degradation, new diseases, terrible weapons. And I thought, wouldn't it be great to write stories that got people involved before these problems could get even bigger?
So, you've always wanted to be a professional writer?
No, my goal was to become financially independent enough to write these stories. EBay provided more financial independence than I could have dreamed of, but I didn't have time to write. Then I realized it wasn't the act of writing stories that mattered, but the message they conveyed. Instead of writing, why not fund movies that could reach people in a big way?
What have you learned so far?
To do this right, I have to do it myself. A few years before I formed Participant, I met a producer named Richard Lewis who had been very successful with a number of big movies. I asked him why there weren't more movies like Erin Brockovich and Schindler's List coming out of Hollywood. And he said, "People just don't finance those movies. Though, by the way, those are the kinds of movies I'd like to do." I invested in his company, Ovation. But he ended up focusing on commercial films. We made a few that were eminently forgettable. But I learned.
George Clooney's paycheck for Ocean's Eleven was reportedly $20 million. You got him to star in, cowrite, and direct Good Night, and Good Luck - a movie with a $7 million budget. How?
The actors have to believe in the material so much that they are willing to take a break on their rates. And the production needs to be scaled to the money it's likely to make.
How does Hollywood differ from Silicon Valley?
There is this weird irony that change happens faster in Silicon Valley, but the thinking is more long-term. In Hollywood, change happens slowly but people go from project to project every three to six months, so there's a very short-term mindset.
Do you find the slower pace frustrating?
The pace at eBay was frantic and urgent. We knew that if we didn't move fast, somebody would come into the market and quash us. Participant doesn't make a lot of sense from a financial investment perspective, so it's unlikely that other people will be approaching the business in the same way. So you see less urgency; you see a thoroughness and willingness to spend extra time to get things right. Which I think is really important.
Hollywood has fleeced innumerable starry-eyed billionaires. What makes you different?
I think of this as philanthropy. I have to think of it that way because the film business is not really financially attractive. Participant is the only production company in town that has a double bottom line: social good plus financial returns. It's too early to tell how our returns are going to look - though all signs are promising - but social good is what we're really after.
How do you measure social good?
Last weekend I was reading Yahoo! News and saw an article that explained how groups like the National Resources Defense Council are using Syriana to galvanize people to save energy and lobby for alternatives to fossil fuels. At the same time, ultra right-wing groups are using the movie to argue for getting off oil because it compromises national security. That was an aha moment for me because I could actually see one of our movies begin to influence policy.
Coming from a guy who helped invent social networks, your Web site seems awfully thin.
Right now Participate.net is basic, practical - OK, dull. But, frankly, given everything else that's going on, it's a miracle we got anything online at all. This year, we'll have a big push to build the site. Picture the Skoll Foundation's SocialEdge.org mixed with Friendster or MySpace, but with a little more of an edge.
Ten years ago, you wanted to stay under the radar. Today, you're being profiled on 20/20. Do you enjoy the attention?
When I was on the set of House of D with David Duchovny, these screaming fans would hand me a camera and say, "Would you take a picture of us with David?" A few days later, Robin Williams arrived on the set. Then they ran up to David Duchovny and said, "Would you take a picture of us with Robin?" So there are different hierarchies of celebrity. My profile has risen over the last year, but I can still go out on the street and nobody knows who I am. Thank God.
Michael S. Malone (msmalone@aol.com) wrote about Yahoo! in issue 13.03.
credit Frank Ockenfels 3
Jeff Skoll
credit Glen Wilson
Skollés critically acclaimed films in 2005 included Syriana.
credit Melinda Sue Gordon-2005
Skollés critically acclaimed films in 2005 included Good Night, and Good Luck.
credit ThinkFilm
Skollés critically acclaimed films in 2005 included Murderball.
