Major Educational Publisher Pledges to Waiting for "Superman"

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT PROVIDES $100,000 IN NEW CHILDREN’S BOOKS TO U.S. LIBRARIES IN NEED

Joins WaitingforSuperman.com “Pledge Progress Meter” at the 60,000 Pledge Level

HOLLYWOOD, CA (August 16, 2010) – Paramount Pictures, Participant Media and Walden Media jointly announced today that global education leader Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has joined the WaitingforSuperman.com “Pledge Progress Meter” by committing to provide $100,000 worth of new children’s books to U.S. libraries in need once 60,000 people pledge to see the award-winning documentary film WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN.”

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is the world’s largest provider of educational materials for pre-K–12 schools. Since 1832, the Boston-based company has combined its tradition of academic excellence with a commitment to innovation for the future.

"We are proud to support this film because it shares our mission to promote literacy and an appetite for learning among the nation's students," said Barry O'Callaghan, Chief Executive Officer of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. "An essential first step to improving our education system is providing those students with better quality and more accessible literacy-based resources within and outside of the classroom."

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is the fourth major organization to take the pledge and join the WaitingforSuperman.com “Pledge Progress Meter.” FirstBook, OfficeMax® and DonorsChoose.org have already committed to making a difference in education by taking the pledge.

WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN” directed by Davis Guggenheim (“An Inconvenient Truth”) will be released under the Paramount Vantage banner and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It examines the crisis of public education in the United States through multiple interlocking stories. Designed to start a national conversation, the movie and corresponding “Take the Pledge” campaign aim to inspire everyone to create innovative and long-term solutions to help change the course of our kids’ lives for the better. The “Pledge Progress Meter” launched in May as a way for non-profits, foundations and corporations to match individual pledge levels with powerful action items aimed at helping both students and public schools.

The film opens in New York and Los Angeles on September 24, nationwide in October.

The film is produced by Lesley Chilcott, with Participant Media’s Jeff Skoll and Diane Weyermann serving as executive producers. It is written by Davis Guggenheim & Billy Kimball.  For more information about the movie, or to take the pledge go to http://www.waitingforsuperman.com/ or text “PLEDGE” to 77177.

To join the conversation visit us on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/WaitingForSuperman

What does your school need? Tell us by Tweeting #MySchoolNeeds at http://www.Twitter.com/WaitingSuperman


About Paramount Pictures Corporation
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. The company's labels include Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films, and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Digital Entertainment, Paramount Famous Productions, Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., Paramount Studio Group, and Worldwide Television Distribution.

About Participant Media
Participant Media is a Los Angeles-based entertainment company that focuses on socially relevant, commercially viable feature films, documentaries and television, as well as publishing and digital media. Participant Media is headed by CEO Jim Berk and was founded in 2004 by philanthropist Jeff Skoll, who serves as Chairman. Ricky Strauss is President.

Participant exists to tell compelling, entertaining stories that bring to the forefront real issues that shape our lives. For each of its projects, Participant creates extensive social action and advocacy programs, which provide ideas and tools to transform the impact of the media experience into individual and community action. Participant’s films include The Kite Runner, Charlie Wilson’s War, Darfur Now, An Inconvenient Truth, Good Night, and Good Luck, Syriana, Standard Operating Procedure, The Visitor, The Soloist, Food, Inc., The Informant!, The Cove, The Crazies, Oceans, Furry Vengeance, CASINO JACK and the United States of Money, Countdown to Zero and Waiting for “Superman.”

About Walden Media
Walden Media specializes in entertainment for the whole family. Past award-winning films include: “The Chronicles of Narnia” series, “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” “Nim’s Island” and “Charlotte’s Web.” Upcoming films include the third installment in the Narnia series “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.”

About Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Boston-based Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company is a global education leader and the world’s largest publisher of educational materials for pre-K–12 schools. The Company publishes a comprehensive set of best-in-class educational solutions, ranging from research-based textbook programs to instructional technology to standards-based assessments for students and educators. The Company also publishes an extensive line of reference works and award-winning literature for adults and young readers. With origins dating back to 1832, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt combines its tradition of excellence with a commitment to innovation. To learn more about Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, visit www.hmhpub.com.