Participant Media Delivers Batch of Films and Unfolds DreamWorks Idea

Participant Media is the intersection of stories that move people emotionally, issues that change the world and all those bothersome details that come with doing business in the entertainment world: financial backing, distribution, finding theaters, filling online platforms.

Participant is trying to forge a deal with Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks Studios. The alliance -- which has already led to films like “The Help,” “Lincoln,” and Spielberg’s coming “Bridge of Spies” -- would reach far beyond a simple agreement to keep working together on projects. Under one possible plan, a new company owned by Participant and Spielberg would replace DreamWorks. In a few years, that company is expected to create its own film distribution operation. The expansion would require outside backers and capitalization in the hundreds of millions of dollars, he said, and any interim deal with a major studio would eventually be superseded by the new distribution apparatus.