we help cut through all the noise.

OUR MISSION

With 10,000+ messages barraging each of us every single day, it’s easy to lose sight of what truly matters.

The Podium Society partners with the world’s leading philanthropists and organizations to create impact-driven media that leverages the power of storytelling in order to drive awareness of solutions and address humanity's most urgent challenges.

We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded on altruistic values and dedicated to ensuring the projects we produce impact as many people as possible.

OUR Focus

We currently are focused on developing, producing, and distributing annual programming in the following cause areas:

MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS
THE ENVIRONMENT
SOCIAL JUSTICE
GENDER EQUITY

Our Why

Olympic legend Michael Phelps was angry. He had recently started publicly sharing his own mental health challenges and, following a number of athlete suicides, was frustrated that Team USA was not dedicating more resources to address the issue. He also wanted to help destigmatize therapy for as many people as possible.

But Michael wasn’t quite sure what to do.

Podium Society Founder, Brett Rapkin, reached out to Phelps and suggested partnering on a documentary film that would address the issue. Together Phelps and Rapkin recruited an incredible list of other Olympic legends such as Shaun White, Apolo Ohno, and Lolo Jones to share their own stories.

Funded largely through donations, “The Weight of Gold” was ultimately acquired by HBO Sports and covered everywhere from The New York Times to The Jerusalem Post.

Nominated for a 2020 Sports Emmy Award, the film continues to make billions of media impressions and has been a major asset for families, teams, and organizations of all types globally to discuss mental health.

Podium Society was created in order to help repeat that same impact with consistency and scale for long-term change.

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Testimonials

Candace Parker, WNBA Legend, Executive Producer "37 Words"

“I was fortunate enough to grow up in a time where Title IX afforded me great opportunities and impacted my life. I was so excited to have the chance to tell this important story in a documentary for the younger generation to show the significance Title IX has on culture and life beyond sports.”

Michael Phelps, Olympic Legend, Executive Producer "The Weight of Gold"

“There’s a massive stigma around mental health. It’s a journey I’ve started on and I’m breaking the wall down as fast as I can. The more that people stand up and talk about their stories and their struggles we are going to break it down piece by piece. Doing a documentary was an awesome first step. It’s something I’m super proud of. I was a kid in a candy store working on it. It’s like my baby.”

Hugh Jackman, Actor/Producer/Philanthropist

“I recommend ‘The Weight of Gold.’ It is just incredibly vulnerable and revealing and honest. I watched it about a week ago and I haven’t stopped thinking about it. We’re all human and we should never worry alone."

Dave Morin, Venture Capitalist/Mental Health Advocate

“Not in my wildest dreams did I think I'd get to see "The Weight of Gold" make it all the way to HBO when Podium first asked me to get involved. The topic of mental health is so stigmatized I just never believed anyone would give it the airtime it deserves. You never know where creative projects will go over time, I am just so proud to have been involved. Podium delivered.”