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Ellison Announces Skydance Leadership Team Post-Warner Bros. Discovery Merger
Confirmed
In Short: Paramount Skydance Corporation CEO David Ellison has unveiled the leadership team for the newly merged company, set to be named Skydance.
Paramount Skydance Corporation on Monday announced the CEO Leadership Team that will run the combined company, to be named Skydance, once the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery closes.
James Gunn will serve as Co-Chairman DC Studios at Skydance, partnering with Peter Safran, as part of the CEO Business Leadership Team.
Gunn and Safran will report directly to Chairman and CEO David Ellison and Co-CEO Ynon Kreiz, reflecting the ambition behind this historic combination.
David Ellison, in a statement, said, 'I'm incredibly proud to introduce the team that will lead Skydance forward, a group that reflects the ambition behind this historic combination. Together, Paramount and Warner Bros. will form a creative-first home with the scale, imagination and technology to define entertainment for a generation.'
The new leadership structure includes George Cheeks as co-chair and chief content officer of Skydance TV, and Casey Bloys as co-chair and chief content officer of Skydance DTC streaming.
Discovery’s CEO and president of global streaming and games will serve as co-chair and chief business officer of both Skydance TV and Skydance DTC.
Cindy Holland, who was Chair of Direct-To-Consumer at Paramount Skydance, will leave the company, with Ellison praising her significant impact on Paramount.
Sources close to the situation told Variety that De Luca and Abdy will not be part of the new leadership structure under David Ellison.
Ellison has also kept CNN's top executive in place, maintaining a commitment to independent news alongside entertainment.
Ellison has broadly denied any interest in interfering politically in newsrooms under his control, despite critics' concerns.
The new leadership team includes several senior Warner Bros. executives, with Paramount executives filling out the rest.
David Ellison has named his leadership team for the merged Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery, ahead of the expected closing of the $111bn deal tomorrow.
What this adds
The release puts DC Studios on the CEO Business Leadership Team next to the company’s film, TV, and streaming chiefs.
The news of De Luca and Abdy's departure adds to the uncertainty surrounding the leadership structure post-merger, as Paramount Skydance maintains a tight lid on details.
Ellison has named the product of two mergers Skydance, relegates two of Hollywood’s founding studios to a sub-brand stew, and attempts to erase a bunch of controversial hires.
The transaction marks the departures of high-level Warner executives, including Chief Executive David Zaslav, Chief Financial Officer Gunnar Wiedenfels, and Warner Bros.
What's confirmed
- Cindy Holland is leaving Paramount Skydance where she was Chair of Direct-To-Consumer having previously served as an advisor to Skydance CEO David Ellison.
- “Cindy is one of the most exceptional executives in our industry — a force of nature whose impact on Paramount over the past year has been significant,” Paramount CEO Ellison said.
What's still developing
- When Ellison told Gunn and Safran to “keep doing what you’re doing,” it was unknown whether DC would answer to Ellison directly or to the new film chiefs.
- Recognized for building enduring entertainment brands and franchises, he combines creative leadership with business acumen.
- Holland hinted at that in her email to staff, indicating that Ellison had shared with her his plan for the leadership of the combined HBO Max and Paramount+ streamer, and it involved him “optimizing for HBO stability” (aka going with Bloys), something Holland supported.
- Despite the success of these films, the new leadership at Paramount Skydance is keeping its plans for the post-merger structure under wraps.
- The news of De Luca and Abdy's departure adds to the uncertainty surrounding the leadership structure post-merger, as Paramount Skydance maintains a tight lid on details.
- Thompson told employees he has "real confidence" that Ellison will "understand and will fully support the principle and practice of the kind of independent news that CNN has always stood for."
- Leadership at Ellison's new-look media giant has "seen our digital strategy and are as excited about it as we are," Thompson said.
- Ellison shook up CBS News by hiring Bari Weiss as the network's top editor last October.
- "Don't jump to conclusions that we become one with CBS News," CNN CEO Mark Thompson had told staffers at a September town hall, a person familiar with the meeting said.
- The merger will put CNN and CBS News under one corporate roof.
- Critics were concerned Ellison and his father, Larry — the Oracle billionaire and longtime Trump ally — could bend the operation to be more favorable to the president.
- David Ellison picked the name that launched his Hollywood ambitions. ◆ Dane Glasgow, a former vice president at Facebook who recently joined Paramount, who becomes chief product officer. ◆ Rebecca Mall, a former Google and William Morris executives, who will become chief marketing officer. ◆ Spokeswoman Melissa Zukerman, who will stay on as Skydance chief communications officer.