At a time when mature films are hard to find outside of arthouse theaters, the news Tuesday that Participant Media has shut down after 20 years in Hollywood was a crushing blow for many movie lovers. But for the documentary market, it may be even worse.
“There are other places to go to get a social impact doc funded…but Participant was so good at bringing a doc into the world in a big high impact way,” award-winning director Julie Cohen told TheWrap.
Cohen should know. Participant was a co-producer on two documentaries she co-directed with Betsy West: “RBG,” the 2018 Oscar-nominated doc on Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and the 2021 doc “My Name is Pauli Murray,” about the lawyer and activist who served as one of Ginsburg’s greatest influences.
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