The Indie Movie Mogul

WIRED.COM: 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.

=> Read the interview with Jeff Skoll in Wired here.