David Ellison has revealed the leadership team that will oversee one of the largest collections of entertainment brands in Hollywood once Paramount Skydance completes its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Paramount Skydance announced Monday that Ellison and incoming co-CEO Ynon Kreiz have selected the senior executives expected to lead the combined company, which will operate under the corporate name Skydance.
The transaction is expected to officially close on October 6.
The new structure places Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., HBO, HBO Max, Paramount+, CBS, CNN, DC Studios, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Discovery, TNT, and dozens of other brands under a leadership group reporting directly to Ellison and Kreiz.
Ellison will remain chairman and CEO, with Kreiz serving as co-CEO. According to the company’s announcement, Ellison will concentrate on long-term strategy, creative direction, talent relationships, technology, strategic partnerships, and capital allocation, while Kreiz will oversee the day-to-day management and integration of the massive combined operation.
Andy Gordon will become president of Skydance and work alongside both executives.
“Together, Paramount and Warner Bros. will form a creative-first home with the scale, imagination and technology to define entertainment for a generation,” Ellison said in announcing the team.
Warner Bros. and Paramount Movies Get New Leadership
One of the biggest changes comes on the theatrical side.
Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein will serve as co-chairmen of the newly expanded Skydance Motion Picture Group, giving the two executives responsibility for both Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros.
The pair will oversee development, production, distribution, marketing, business affairs, strategy, and other operations across the combined movie portfolio.
The announcement confirms reports from last week that Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group bosses Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy will not remain with the company following the merger.
David Ellison in an interview with Bloomberg – YouTube, Bloomberg Podcasts
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Deadline previously reported that Goldberg and Greenstein were expected to take control of the combined film operation, while Variety reported that De Luca and Abdy would depart following the closing of the transaction.
It represents one of Ellison’s most substantial changes to Warner Bros. leadership.
Rather than maintaining separate top-level movie executives for Paramount and Warner Bros., Ellison is putting his existing Paramount leadership in charge of both studios.
Goldberg has been associated with Skydance since 2010 and worked on films including Top Gun: Maverick, Mission: Impossible, World War Z, The Gorge, and The Adam Project.
Greenstein previously served as president of Sony Pictures’ Motion Picture Group, where his tenure included Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Jumanji, Bad Boys for Life, and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Casey Bloys Gets a Much Bigger Streaming Role
HBO boss Casey Bloys is not merely surviving the transition. He’s receiving considerably more responsibility.
Bloys will become co-chair and chief content officer of Skydance’s direct-to-consumer division, overseeing original programming for both HBO Max and Paramount+.
His responsibilities will also extend into streaming strategy, operations, communications, and performance.
HBO Max Logo – Warner Bros. Discovery
Jean-Briac “JB” Perrette will serve alongside Bloys as co-chair and chief business officer of Skydance DTC while simultaneously holding the same business leadership position for Skydance TV.
Perrette will oversee areas including global distribution, advertising sales, content sales, DTC strategy, marketing, and business operations.
The arrangement gives two Warner Bros. Discovery veterans significant influence over the combined company’s streaming operation.
James Gunn and Peter Safran Will Remain at DC Studios
Another major question has now been answered, at least in the immediate future.
James Gunn and Peter Safran are officially included on Ellison and Kreiz’s CEO Business Leadership Team and will remain co-chairmen of DC Studios after the acquisition closes.
The announcement confirms an earlier report from Puck’s Matthew Belloni that Gunn and Safran were expected to be invited to remain at DC “at least initially.”
Under the announced structure, Gunn and Safran will continue overseeing DC while reporting into a much different corporate hierarchy than the one that hired them.
James Gunn sits for an interview – YouTube, GQ
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Safran’s official biography states that the pair will lead the “strategic and creative direction of the DC Universe across film, television, animation, themed entertainment and gaming.”
Their inclusion in the leadership team establishes that Ellison doesn’t intend to replace the DC Studios duo when the merger closes. It doesn’t, however, answer the longer-term question of what happens when their existing tenure runs its course in 2027.
Gunn is currently directing Man of Tomorrow, which Skydance’s announcement says is scheduled for theaters next summer.
George Cheeks Takes Control of an Enormous Television Portfolio
George Cheeks will become co-chair and chief content officer of Skydance TV.
His responsibilities will encompass Warner Bros. Television Studios, CBS Studios, Paramount Television Studios, the CBS Television Network, 27 local television stations, Skydance’s sports operation, and more than 50 cable networks.
Warner Bros Discovery Logo
Those networks include HGTV, Food Network, TBS, TNT, Discovery, BET, Comedy Central, MTV, and Nickelodeon.
The scale of Cheeks’ portfolio demonstrates just how dramatically the merger is consolidating Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery’s television operations beneath a smaller group of senior executives.
CNN and CBS News Remain Separate
Ellison also settled another major question surrounding the combined company: CNN and CBS News will retain separate editorial leaders.
Mark Thompson will remain chairman and editor-in-chief of CNN Worldwide, while Bari Weiss will continue as editor-in-chief of CBS News.
Bari Weiss and the CNN Logo – YouTube, The Free Press; CNN
Both will report directly to Ellison and Kreiz.
This structure means Weiss will not be placed above Thompson or given control over the entire news organization, something that had been the subject of speculation ahead of the merger.
Thompson reportedly told CNN employees Monday that he would continue leading the network with the same responsibilities he currently possesses, although some details regarding CNN’s place inside Skydance remain unfinished.
Ellison Begins Reshaping Warner Bros.
The leadership announcement provides the clearest look yet at how Ellison intends to organize the entertainment giant he is about to inherit.
Some Warner Bros. Discovery executives, including Bloys, Perrette, Thompson, Gunn, and Safran, are remaining in prominent positions. Others, most notably De Luca and Abdy, are departing.
Meanwhile, Ellison’s existing Paramount executives are assuming control over several portions of the former Warner Bros. operation.
Skydance says its strategy will revolve around three broad areas: becoming a major Hollywood content engine, accelerating an integrated direct-to-consumer streaming business, and optimizing its traditional television portfolio. The company is also placing considerable emphasis on technology, including AI-powered capabilities and a modernized technology platform.
David Ellison talks to Bloomberg – YouTube, Bloomberg Podcasts
The company isn’t finished reorganizing, either.
Monday’s announcement covers what Skydance calls its CEO Leadership Team. A complete Executive Leadership Team is expected to be announced shortly after the merger closes.
For now, however, the shape of the new Hollywood giant is becoming clear.
Paramount and Warner Bros. will retain their famous studio names, but the corporation sitting above them will be Skydance—and Ellison is wasting little time deciding exactly who will be running it.
How do you feel about the new Skydance leadership team? Sound off and let us know!
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