Streaming chief Tom Ryan among those to exit, while Paramount TV Studios set to be revived
David Ellison has unveiled his senior exec team at Paramount ahead of the expected completion of its merger with Skydance later this week, with a raft of high-profile exits confirmed and the revival of Paramount TV Studios on the cards.
Chairman and chief exec Ellison and president Jeff Shell, formerly NBCUniversal chief, are joined by Andy Gordon in the C suite, the latter appointed chief strategy officer and chief operating officer. He joins from RedBird Capital, which helped finance the deal.
Paramount will comprise three segments: a streaming unit will be led by former Netflix and Sister exec Cindy Holland; Studios is to be overseen by Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg; and TV media will be helmed by George Cheeks.
Holland, whose remit includes Paramount+ and Pluto TV, had been working with Skydance as a consultant over recent months and before that was global chief exec at Sister, having left her role as Netflix’s chief content officer in 2020.
Greenstein is the former president of Sony Pictures Entertainment film group and takes the formal title of co-chair of Paramount Pictures and vice-chair of platforms alongside former Skydance chief creative officer Goldberg, who is now co-chair of Paramount Pictures and chair of Paramount Television.
Cheeks, who becomes chair of TV media, most recently was Paramount Global co-chief exec and oversaw the CBS network, which was at the heart of a controversial $16m settlement with Donald Trump and the recent closure of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Other senior additions include: Stephanie Kyoko McKinnon, general counsel and acting chief legal officer; chief people officer Jim Sterner; and chief communications officer Melissa Zukerman. Andrew Warren will continue as interim financial chief.
Former NBCUniversal exec Kevin MacLellan is also reportedly set to join former colleague Shell at the new-look Paramount, in a similar position to his former NBCU role of international chair.
Senior departures & Paramount TV Studios revival
The reorganisation will see a raft of senior execs departing, including Tom Ryan, Paramount’s head of streaming, who will exit after a transition period in which he will work with Holland.
Ryan oversaw the launch of the ad-supported Pluto TV in 2014 and said on social media he would be “returning to his entrepreneurial roots” to work as chairman at Struck Studio, which he helped launch in 2022 and which focuses on assisting AI-enabled start-ups.
Former Paramount Global co-chief exec Chris McCarthy previously announced he was leaving, and former co-CEO Brian Robbins, who led Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon, had also been widely expected to follow suit.
Paramount TV Studios is also set to be revived a year after it was shuttered, a move that saw the exit of now Amazon exec Nicole Clemens, and shows being moved to CBS Studios.
The new-look Paramount TV Studios will be run by Skydance Television’s president and former Netflix exec Matt Thunnell and house titles currently residing under the Showtime/MTV Entertainment banner including those from Taylor Sheridan, the prolific creator of Yellowstone and its spin-offs such as 1923, Landman and Tulsa King.
It will also be home to Showtime programming such as Dexter and Yellowjackets, as well as third-party titles like Netflix’s Emily in Paris.
The division will absorb Thunnell’s Skydance Television and oversee its output such as Reacher for Prime Video, which had been coproduced with Paramount.
Thunnell reports into Dana Goldberg, Paramount Pictures co-chair and chair of Paramount TV, following the exit of Paramount’s co-chief McCarthy, who had overseen Showtime/MTV Entertainment under the previous regime.
Other senior execs including head of scripted, Keith Cox, are expected to stay on but chief creative officer Nina L Diaz is exiting, according to US trade Deadline.
CBS Studios, which operates both in the US and internationally, sees David Stapf retaining his role atop the division, reporting into Cheeks, but distribution Dan Cohen is departing, as reported last week.
Addressing his new team, Ellison said: “Each member was chosen to align with our goals and with the intention to drive transformation. Together, we will foster an environment where creative and technical talent collaborate seamlessly, marrying leading technologies with powerful storytelling and artistic vision to unlock Paramount’s full potential and help shape the future of our industry.”
Besides Paramount Pictures, Paramount Television, and CBS, Paramount’s stable of brands includes Paramount+, Pluto TV, Nickelodeon, and MTV.
The merger is expected to close on 7 August.
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