Jeff Skoll Gives $10-Million to UCLA to Boost Social-Impact Entertainment

Internet billionaire-turned-Hollywood mogul Jeff Skoll has donated $10-million to the University of California at Los Angeles to endow a program dedicated to advancing entertainment and the performing arts as vehicles for social messages, writes The Hollywood Reporter. The Skoll Center for Social Impact Entertainment will conduct research on the influence storytelling to create change and provide programming to spur debate on the role of entertainment in tackling social problems.

Mr. Skoll, a former president of eBay, now heads Participant Media, which produces movies, TV shows, and other content aimed at addressing social issues and inspiring change. Its filmography includes Oscar winners Lincoln, The Help, and An Inconvenient Truth. The new center is slated to open next year under the auspices of UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and Television.