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First Look Media
Media production company
- 101-200 employees
- B2C
- Publishing
- Content
- Media
- Midtown Manhattan, New York, NY
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Company mission
To empower the most ambitious, independent voices in journalism, art, and entertainment.
Our take
Founded in 2012, First Look Media fits the trend of media companies founded or funded by tech entrepreneurs. Launched by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, First Look originally had two wings, its non-profit investigative journalism wing The Intercept, and for-profit production company Topic Studios, which was behind award-winning films such as the Mauritanian and Spencer.
Though its production company wing has seen great success, The Intercept broke off from First Look in 2023 to become a non-profit, albeit with initial financial support from First Look. As with its founding, this break-off indicates a revision of the tech entrepreneur and media relationship - First Look had plenty of friction with The Intercept’s journalists throughout the 2010s, and print media sales, in general, having floundered in the face of digital.
Moving forward, First Look will have to rely more heavily on its production arm, and reconfigure its relationship, if any, with journalism in the digital age.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Funding (1 round)
Dec 2013
$50m
LATE VC
Total funding: $50m
Leadership
Pierre Omidyar
(Founder)Currently CEO and Publisher at Honolulu Civil Beat, Co-Founder at Peer News LLC, Founding Partner at Omidyar Network and Founder and Chairman at eBay.