FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 7, 2024
CONTACT: Daniela Perez, dperez@domesticworkers.org
George Clooney, Matt Damon, Alfonso Cuarón, Ava Duvernay, Jane Fonda, Regina King, Artists And Changemakers Honor Participant’s Legacy With Open Letter To Hollywood
LOS ANGELES — MAY 7, 2024 — Today, the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), the leading voice for dignity and fairness for millions of domestic workers across the country, in partnership with filmmakers and changemakers across fields of advocacy and entertainment released an open letter to the entertainment industry signed by 120 leading actors, directors, advocates, and nonprofit organizations calling on Hollywood to prioritize social impact in the wake of film and television production company Participant’s closure. Signatories include George Clooney, Matt Damon, Alfonso Cuarón, Jane Fonda, Ava Duvernay, Regina King, Kerry Washington, Viola Davis, Michael Keaton, Diego Luna, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Mann, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Destin Daniel Cretton, Shaka King, Vera Farmiga, Davis Guggenheim, David Oyelowo, Martin Sheen, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, and Joshua Oppenheimer, as well as advocates and organizers Ai-jen Poo, #MeToo leader Tarana Burke, Civil Rights Lawyer Bryan Stevenson, Color of Change President Rashad Robinson, and more.
On April 16, 2024, Participant announced it is shutting down after 20 years of social impact filmmaking. The company partnered with leading artists, changemakers and distributors to create stories and campaigns that not only garnered numerous Academy Awards and Emmys, but led to real-world social change on many of the most urgent and important issues of our time. The letter rallies key voices in the worlds of film, television and advocacy together under the banner of social impact storytelling and invites others in the entertainment industry to join in building on Participant’s legacy.
“As we say goodbye to Participant, we must underscore that values-based storytelling is needed now more than ever,” the letter states. “There is a whole ecosystem of people, connected by the work of the last 20 years of Participant, ready to work with you.”
The National Domestic Workers Alliance worked alongside Participant and Alfonso Cuarón for the Oscar-winning film “Roma” to increase the visibility and value of domestic work and uplift the voices of domestic workers. The campaign helped catalyze a renewed cultural conversation about the rights of domestic workers in the United States and Mexico and resulted in the first introduction of the National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights into Congress, which will be imminently re-introduced and continues to garner support and momentum.
“The stories we tell in Hollywood reflect or shape the lives of so many people around the country,” actor/producer Regina King said. “I wanted to tell Shirley Chisolm’s story for more than a decade because she embodied the Black women who do the important, hard work in the background and whose work is often overlooked. With “Shirley,” Participant gave her story – and mine – space to be seen.”
“Participant’s model of filmmaking and partnerships showed us the power of storytelling to open our hearts and inspire action in times of change and uncertainty. ” National Domestic Workers Alliance President Ai-jen Poo said. “The open letter is a re-commitment to this work, and an invitation to others to join us in harnessing the power of art to change the world.”
Here is a full list of the letter’s signatories:
Cristela Alonzo
Courtney Andrialis-Vincent
Yalitza Aparicio
Rosanna Arquette
Riz Ahmed
AV Squad
Justin Baldoni
John Battsek
J.A. Bayona
LaTosha Brown, Black Voters Matter
Scott Budnick, The Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC) and 1Community
Tarana Burke, Me Too Movement
Sophia Bush
CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment)
Caring Across Generations
Linda Yvette Chávez
Don Cheadle
George Clooney
Julie Cohen
Gabriela Cowperthwaite
Julie Ann Crommett, Collective Moxie
Alfonso Cuarón
Alan Cumming
Richard Curtis
Matt Damon
Destin Daniel Cretton
Viola Davis
Heino Deckert
Define American
Juan Devis
June Diane Raphael
Daveed Diggs
Abigail Disney
Mark Duplass
Ava DuVernay
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Enfield Road
Brandee Evans
Evotion Media
Vera Farmiga
Jane Fonda
DeVon Franklin
Geena Davis Institute
Anna Gerb
GLAAD
Gold House
Goldcrest Films
Yoni Golijov
Good Energy
Fatima Goss Graves, National Women’s Law Center
Clark Gregg
Davis Guggenheim
Mark Hamill
Ed Harris
Crystal Echo Hawk, IllumiNative
Jamey Heath
Matthew Heineman
Dr. Alisha Hines, The Center for Scholars & Storytellers at UCLA
Louise Hogarth
honto88
IllumiNative
In Creative Company
Alejandro G. Iñarritu
Maikiko James, Women in Film
Steve James
Raquel Jaramillo
Michael Keaton
Daniel Dae Kim
Regina King
Shaka King
Elba Luis Lugo
Diego Luna
MACRO
Michael Mann
Stephanie Marin
Neyda Martinez, THE NEW SCHOOL
Paola Mendoza
Alyssa Milano
Andria Wilson Mirza, Women in Film
National Domestic Workers Alliance
New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT)
Yvette Nicole Brown
Sue Obeidi, Muslim Public Affairs Council Hollywood Bureau
Joshua Oppenheimer
Anshantia Oso, BLD PWR/BLD PWR Productions
David Oyelowo
Piper Perabo
Pierpoline Films
Pillars Fund
Laura Poitras
Ai-jen Poo, The National Domestic Workers Alliance & Caring Across Generations
Pop Culture Collaborative
PopShift
Dawn Porter
Mónica Ramírez, Justice for Migrant Women & The Latinx House
Jonas Poher Rasmussen
Rashad Robinson, Color of Change
Jess Morales Rocketto, Equis Institute
Anthony D. Romero, American Civil Liberties Union
Audrey Rosenberg
Yvonne Russo
Kendrick Sampson, BLD PWR/BLD PWR Productions
Liz Sargent
Steve Sarowitz
Vicki Shabo, New America Better Life Lab’s Entertainment Initiative
Martin Sheen
Octavia Spencer
Bryan Stevenson, Equal Justice Initiative
Storyline Partners
tao/s
The League
Baratunde Thurston
Yalda T. Uhls, The Center for Scholars & Storytellers at UCLA
USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center
Christine Vachon
Gloria Walton, The Solutions Project
Kerry Washington
Betsy West
Women in Animation (WIA)
Sophie Yan, Everytown for Gun Safety
For more information, visit https://www.domesticworkers.org/invitation-to-hollywood.
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National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) is the leading voice for dignity and fairness for millions of domestic workers in the United States. Founded in 2007, NDWA works for respect, recognition and inclusion in labor protections for domestic workers, the majority of whom are immigrants and women of color. NDWA is powered by over 70 affiliate organizations and local chapters and by a growing membership base of nannies, house cleaners and care workers in over 20 states. Learn more at
www.domesticworkers.org. NDWA is a non-partisan non-profit organization that does not endorse, support, or oppose any candidates for public office.
