Jeff Skoll
Birth Name:
Jeffrey Skoll
Birth Place:
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Profession
Producer
Fast Facts
- Honored by government officials in 2011 when he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada for his various philanthropic efforts
- Joined AMPAS in 2008
- Established the Skoll Foundation in 1999, a non-profit that connects social entrepreneurs and innovators
- Has funded various social activism sites and organizations including www․takepart․com and The Gandhi Project
- Graduated from the University of Toronto with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1987 and later studied at Stanford for his master's certificate
- After graduating college, he worked as an engineer for several years before meeting eBay's founder Pierre Omidyar in 1996 who would eventually hire Skoll as the company's first full-time employee
- Established Participant Media in 2004 after gaining considerable wealth from his eBay venture, an L․A․ based studio that would go on to produce multiple Oscar-winning films including "Syriana", "An Inconvenient Truth" and "Lincoln", among others
- Served as the first-ever President of eBay before Meg Whitman took over in 1998
- Cashed out his initial stocks at eBay that earned him around $2 billion
Awards
- 2008Christopher Award - Feature Films:Winner
- 2009IDA Award - Feature Documentary:Nominated
- 2009Pare Lorentz AwardNominated
- 2010Primetime Emmy - Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking:Nominated
- 2011Emmy - Best Documentary:Winner
- 2011Emmy - Outstanding Informational Programming - Long Form:Winner
- 2012Christopher Award - Feature Films:Winner
- 2013Christopher Award - Feature Films:Winner
- 2013IDA Award - Best Feature:Winner
- 2013Humanitas AwardNominated
- 2015Emmy - Outstanding Historical Programming - Long Form:Nominated
- 2016Emmy - Outstanding Coverage of a Current News Story - Long Form:Nominated
- 2017Emmy - Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary:Nominated
- 2018Christopher Award - Feature Films:Winner
- 2018Emmy - Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary:Nominated
- 2019Black Reel - Outstanding TV Movie/Limited Series:Winner
- 2019Gotham Independent Film Award - Breakthrough Series - Longform:Winner
- 2019Emmy - Outstanding Social Issue Documentary:Nominated
- 2019Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Limited Series:Nominated
- 2020PGA Award - Outstanding Producer of Limited Series Television:Nominated
- 2021Audience Award - Narrative Feature:Winner
- 2021Independent Spirit Award - Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series:Nominated
- 2021Gotham Independent Film Award - Breakthrough Nonfiction Series:Nominated
- 2021IDA Award - Best Multi-Part Documentary:Nominated
- 2021Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded):Nominated
- 2022IDA Award - Best Multi-Part Documentary:Nominated
- 2025Television Academy Honors - TV Movie:Winner