Skydance Media Announces Proposed Executive Leadership Team for Paramount Following Anticipated Completion of Merger
Ellison’s new executive team will bring unparalleled industry expertise, visionary thinking, and a winning spirit to support a strong culture of innovation and excellence
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| Skydance's new executive team, clockwise from top left: David Ellison, Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Shell, President, Andy Gordon, Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Operating Officer, George Cheeks, Chair of TV Media, Dana Goldberg, Co-Chair of Paramount Pictures and Chair of Paramount Television, Josh Greenstein, Co-Chair of Paramount Pictures and Vice Chair of Platforms, Cindy Holland, Chair of Direct-to-Consumer, Stephanie Kyoko McKinnon, General Counsel and Acting Chief Legal Officer, Jim Sterner, Chief People Officer, Melissa Zukerman, Chief Communications Officer | Paramount |
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 04, 2025 -- Skydance Media today announced the future executive team expected to lead the combined company following the close of its pending merger with Paramount Global (NASDAQ: PARA, PARAA) (the “Transaction”).
The new executive team will be comprised of highly accomplished industry veterans, who bring with them complementary capabilities and strategic insight spanning entertainment, technology, business operations, and the world at large to drive Paramount’s transformation for the future.
The Company is expected to be structured into three primary business segments: 1) Studios; 2) Direct-to-Consumer; and 3) TV Media.
The following is the expected full executive leadership team (bios below):
- David Ellison, Chief Executive Officer
- Jeff Shell, President
- Andy Gordon, Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Operating Officer
- George Cheeks, Chair of TV Media
- Dana Goldberg, Co-Chair of Paramount Pictures and Chair of Paramount Television
- Josh Greenstein, Co-Chair of Paramount Pictures and Vice Chair of Platforms
- Cindy Holland, Chair of Direct-to-Consumer
- Stephanie Kyoko McKinnon, General Counsel and Acting Chief Legal Officer
- Jim Sterner, Chief People Officer
- Melissa Zukerman, Chief Communications Officer
Andrew Warren will continue as Interim CFO.
David Ellison, the future Chairman and CEO of Paramount, commented:
"I’m thrilled to introduce our new executive leadership team — backed by deep industry experience, proven track records, and a shared commitment to excellence, this world-class team is uniquely equipped to rise to the occasion and deliver on our bold vision for a new Paramount. 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.”
Executive Leadership Team Bios, assuming completion of the Transaction
David Ellison, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
David Ellison is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Paramount, a Skydance Corporation, a premier global media and entertainment company that creates and distributes award-winning content across television, film, streaming, and digital platforms through brands like CBS Entertainment, CBS News and CBS Sports, Paramount Pictures, Paramount Television, Nickelodeon, MTV, Paramount+, and Pluto TV.
David previously served as CEO of Skydance Media, the diversified media company he founded in 2010. In this role, he oversaw the entire Skydance slate of blockbuster and critically acclaimed films, including 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick, which broke box office records, became the highest-grossing film of the year, and was nominated for six Academy Awards, including “Best Picture.” In 2022, Skydance formed a multi-year deal with Apple to develop and produce an annual slate of live-action films for Apple TV+. David is an Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-nominated producer, whose films have grossed nearly $10 billion globally.
In 2013, he launched Skydance Television, which boasts a diverse slate of series across a range of platforms. The studio’s slate includes Emmy-nominated series such as Grace and Frankie, Foundation, and Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan.
David established Skydance Animation in 2017, which expanded to Madrid in 2020, and has since partnered with Apple TV+ and Netflix. In 2021, he launched Skydance Sports with the NFL, producing acclaimed content like Good Rivals and Air, followed by numerous sports documentaries and films.
David is an accomplished pilot and a lifelong film enthusiast. He attended the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California and is a member of the Producers Guild of America, as well as the Television Academy. He is a Member of the Board of the Ellison Institute of Technology, which applies advanced science and technology to address global challenges in health, climate, energy, and education.
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Jeff Shell, President
Jeff Shell is the President of Paramount, a Skydance Corporation, responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Company’s media businesses under the strategic leadership of CEO David Ellison.
Prior to joining Paramount, Jeff was the Chairman of RedBird Sports and Media, where he played a central leadership role in directing the firm’s investments and strategy across sports and entertainment assets. He also previously served as Chief Executive Officer of NBCUniversal from January 2020 until April 2023, where he oversaw the company's valuable portfolio of news, sports, and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks.
Prior to being named CEO, Jeff held several roles at NBCUniversal, including Chairman of Film and Entertainment, Chairman of Universal Film Group, and Chairman of NBCUniversal International. His career also includes an executive role at Comcast running its programming group, and executive positions at News Corporation, Fox, The Walt Disney Company, and Salomon Brothers.
Jeff holds a B.A. in Economics and Applied Mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MBA from Harvard University.
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Andy Gordon, Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Operating Officer
Andy Gordon is the Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Paramount, a Skydance Corporation, where he leads corporate strategy and operations, focused on translating strategy into operational plans that drive performance, scalability, efficiency, and long-term growth across the Company.
Prior to joining Paramount, Andy was a Partner at RedBird Capital Partners, leading the firm’s Los Angeles office as well as its Technology, Media & Telecom (“TMT”) investment team and its Capital Markets activities.
While at RedBird, Andy was responsible for the firm’s West Coast business and established the firm’s Los Angeles office in 2021. In addition, he helped lead the firm’s Capital Markets initiatives, supporting RedBird’s existing investment portfolio as well as strategic opportunities for new investments. Within the portfolio, Andy helped source the firm’s investments in Skydance Media with the Ellison family, Talent Systems, and Hidden Pigeon. He also led the firm’s investment in Paramount.
Prior to joining RedBird, Andy had a distinguished 35-year career at Goldman Sachs, where he was the global chairman of Investment Banking Services, head of the Investment Bank’s West Region, global head of media and telecommunications for the Technology, Media and Telecom Group, and co-head of the One Goldman Sachs family office initiative in the Americas. He advised some of the most prominent industry leaders in Media, Entertainment, and Telecommunications, including Disney, AT&T, Liberty Global, Live Nation, IAC/Expedia, and Activision, and was the first leader to build and unify the West Region, which now spans three offices, generating over $3 billion in revenue.
Philanthropically, Andy is the founding Chairman of the Sierra Canyon School, an early kindergarten through grade 12 college preparatory school in Los Angeles. He serves as a Trustee Emeritus for Wesleyan University and is the Co-Chairman Emeritus and Trustee of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Andy holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University and a General Course degree from the London School of Economics.
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George Cheeks, Chair of TV Media
George Cheeks is the Chair of TV Media at Paramount, a Skydance Corporation, where he oversees the Company’s broadcast and cable television businesses. His portfolio includes all CBS-branded properties—such as CBS Television Network, CBS News & Stations, CBS Sports, and CBS Studios—as well as BET Studios, Nickelodeon TV Studios, See It Now Studios, and Paramount Media Networks, home to iconic brands like MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, and BET.
George was previously the co-CEO of Paramount Global, as well as President and CEO of CBS. Since joining Paramount in March 2020, George has helped transform the CBS brand from a singular broadcast network to a global content provider for broadcast and streaming. Under George’s leadership, CBS has continued its reign as America’s Most-Watched Network, a streak that has reached an industry-record 17 consecutive seasons, while adding new hit programs such as
Tracker,
Fire Country,
Ghosts, and
Matlock that drive audiences for both CBS and Paramount+. George has also overseen the expansion of CBS Sports programming on Paramount+, while extending CBS News content to both Paramount+ and Pluto TV.
George has been an innovative business and creative force in the television industry for more than 30 years, which includes senior leadership roles at NBC and Viacom Music and Entertainment Groups. He served more than seven years at NBCUniversal in senior executive positions that spanned creative, business, and operational roles, including co-Chairman of NBC Entertainment, where he oversaw primetime, late-night and scripted daytime programming for the network.
George started his career in 1992 as an entertainment associate at Loeb & Loeb. He moved to Castle Rock Entertainment as senior counsel, business and legal affairs in 1995 before joining the boutique entertainment firm of Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren & Richman in Beverly Hills as an entertainment attorney.
George holds an undergraduate degree from Yale University, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and received a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School [...].
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Dana Goldberg, Co-Chair of Paramount Pictures and Chair of Paramount Television
Dana Goldberg serves as Co-Chair of Paramount Pictures with Josh Greenstein, and as Chair of Paramount Television Studio for Paramount, a Skydance Corporation, where she oversees the vision and long-term strategy of both. She has oversight of production, marketing, distribution, and strategic planning, and will lead Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Films, and Paramount Television Studios.
Previously, Dana was the Chief Creative Officer of Skydance, where she developed and produced numerous record-breaking features, as well as Skydance Television’s slate of original, Emmy-nominated series. Dana joined Skydance in 2010 as President of Production, where she was responsible for the entire film slate, including The Adam Project, The Tomorrow War, The Old Guard, The Family Plan, The Gorge, and several entries in the Mission: Impossible franchise (Dead Reckoning, Fallout, Rogue Nation, Ghost Protocol), as well as World War Z, True Grit, and many others.
Dana also founded Skydance Television in 2013 and has developed and produced over 20 series, including Grace & Frankie, Reacher, Jack Ryan, Cross, Foundation, The Runarounds, and more.
Before joining Skydance, Dana served as President of Production at Village Roadshow Pictures, where she oversaw and executive produced many of the studio’s blockbuster and award-winning films, including I Am Legend and Happy Feet. Earlier in her career, she served as Vice President of Production at Baltimore/Spring Creek Pictures.
Dana has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 2007 and is also a member of the Producers Guild of America and the Television Academy.
She holds a B.A. from the University of Missouri.
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Josh Greenstein, Co-Chair of Paramount Pictures and Vice Chair of Platforms
Josh Greenstein serves as Co-Chair of Paramount Pictures with Dana Goldberg, and as Vice Chair of Platforms for Paramount, a Skydance Corporation, where he oversees the vision and long-term strategy and has oversight of production, marketing, distribution, and strategic planning, and will lead Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Films. As Vice Chair of Platforms, he collaborates on all platform strategy, leveraging his extensive creative, distribution, and marketing experience.
Prior to joining Paramount, Josh was the President of Sony Pictures’ Motion Picture Group, where he helped oversee the production, development, marketing, and distribution for all the studios’ labels, including Columbia Pictures, TriStar Pictures, Screen Gems, Stage 6 Films, AFFIRM Films, and Sony Pictures Animation. His tenure at Sony included work on films such as
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,
Spider-Man,
Spiderverse,
Venom,
James Bond,
Jumanji,
Ghostbusters,
The Equalizer,
Insidious,
Bad Boys,
Uncharted,
Little Women,
28 Years Later,
Baby Driver,
Where the Crawdads Sing, and
Anyone But You.
Under Josh’s leadership, Spider-Man: No Way Home became the studio’s highest-grossing film of all time, earning $1.91 billion worldwide; Into the Spider-Verse won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature; and Across the Spider-Verse grossed $690.8 million globally – making it the highest-grossing animated release in Sony’s history.
Before joining Sony in 2014, Josh served as Chief Marketing Officer at Paramount Pictures, where he led global marketing efforts for major titles such as
Iron Man,
Mission Impossible,
Captain America: The First Avenger,
Interstellar,
World War Z,
Wolf of Wall Street,
Anchorman,
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,
Tropic Thunder,
True Grit,
The Devil Inside, and
Super 8. He was instrumental to the success of the
Transformers,
Star Trek,
Jackass, and
Scary Movie franchises, as well as numerous DreamWorks Animation hits, including
Kung Fu Panda 2,
How to Train Your Dragon,
Monsters vs. Aliens,
Shrek Forever After, and the
Madagascar series.
Josh holds a B.A. in Communications from Boston University.
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Cindy Holland, Chair of Direct-to-Consumer
Cindy Holland is the Chair of Direct-to-Consumer for Paramount, a Skydance Corporation, overseeing the strategy, operations, and performance of the Company’s streaming platforms, Paramount+ and Pluto TV. She previously advised Skydance on the streaming business. Prior to that, Cindy was CEO of global independent studio SISTER, which she joined in July 2023.
Cindy had an 18-year tenure at Netflix, including nine years as Vice President of Original Content. In her role, she established the network’s original programming strategy and oversaw the teams behind culture-defining titles, including
House of Cards,
Orange is the New Black,
BoJack Horseman,
Grace and Frankie,
Narcos,
Making a Murderer,
Stranger Things,
The Crown,
Icarus,
Ozark,
Big Mouth,
Russian Doll,
When They See Us, and The Queen’s Gambit, among many others.
Cindy began her career on the producing side working at Spring Creek Productions with Paula Weinstein and at Mutual Film Company. She was named to the 2018 Time 100 list of most influential people, is a graduate of Stanford University, and is a Board Member of
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles.
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Stephanie Kyoko McKinnon, General Counsel and Acting Chief Legal Officer
Stephanie Kyoko McKinnon is the General Counsel and Acting Chief Legal Officer of Paramount, a Skydance Corporation, where she oversees all legal, regulatory, and compliance matters across the Company’s global operations, providing strategic legal guidance on transactions, intellectual property, litigation, employment, and corporate matters.
She was previously the General Counsel at Skydance Media, where she provided key legal and strategic guidance on major corporate transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, financing, and joint ventures, as well as oversaw corporate governance, litigation, and employment matters for the company. She also served as Co-President of Business Operations and oversaw Human Resources, Information Technology, and Facilities.
Prior to her time at Skydance, Stephanie served as Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel for VICE Media, where she oversaw legal for all of VICE’s strategic projects, including international expansion, joint ventures, market entry, investments, equity raises, and acquisitions. She was previously also the Vice President, Legal & Business Affairs for Whistle Sports, where she was responsible for the legal and business affairs, compliance, insurance, and human resources functions. She started her law career at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP in New York City.
Stephanie holds a B.A. from Simon Fraser University and received her Bachelor of Laws degree from McGill University.
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Jim Sterner, Chief People Officer
Jim Sterner is the Chief People Officer of Paramount, a Skydance Corporation, responsible for shaping the Company’s global talent vision, building high-performing creative and corporate teams, and fostering a culture that fuels innovation and long-term business success. Jim brings more than two decades of experience leading people strategy at the intersection of entertainment, media, and technology.
Prior to joining Paramount, Jim spent over 15 years at Amazon, most recently as the HR leader for Global Media and Entertainment, where he supported Prime Video, Amazon Studios, and Amazon Music. In this role, he partnered with senior leadership to scale global content and streaming businesses through rapid growth and transformation.
Earlier in his Amazon tenure, Jim led HR for Corporate Functions, supporting more than 40,000 employees globally across Finance, Legal, Corporate Affairs, and People Experience & Technology (HR). He also held global HR leadership roles in Operations and Customer Service and spent two years based in London as UK HR Director.
Before Amazon, Jim held senior HR positions at PepsiCo, Honeywell, and The Home Depot.
Jim holds an MBA from the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine, and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of the Pacific.
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Melissa Zukerman, Chief Communications Officer
Melissa Zukerman is the Chief Communications Officer of Paramount, a Skydance Corporation, where she leads the Company’s global communications strategy and serves as the Company’s chief spokesperson as well as advisor to the Chairman and CEO on external relations. In her role, she is responsible for overseeing all corporate messaging as well as executive, crisis, and internal communications to promote and protect the Company and its culture across all platforms and stakeholders. She also heads Paramount’s Corporate Social Responsibility division, guiding the Company’s advocacy initiatives and philanthropic priorities.
She brings to Paramount unparalleled industry experience and a proven track record partnering with business leaders and their teams to develop and communicate revenue objectives, growth strategies, and creative priorities and success. Melissa joins Paramount after 18 years as managing partner of a communications and public relations advisory firm where she represented some of the industry’s most high-profile media companies, studios, C-Suite executives, and production and distribution entities, including AT&T, Bad Robot, Chernin, Disney, Legendary, Live Nation, Marvel Studios, Warner Bros. Discovery, Skydance, and RedBird Capital Partners. Prior to that she was a consultant for several leading studios, technology, and gaming companies.
Earlier in her career Melissa held corporate communications positions at media and entertainment companies, including Universal Studios, E! Entertainment Television, Virgin, and IFILM, which was acquired by Viacom.
Melissa serves on the ADL’s Entertainment Leadership Council and is active in fighting homelessness in Los Angeles.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from Northwestern University.
Editors Note:
Headshots of the Executive Leadership Team are available by contacting the media relations team.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains both historical and forward-looking statements that involve significant risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, statements related to the consummation of the merger transactions among us, Paramount Global (“Paramount”) and Paramount Skydance Corporation (“New Paramount,” and together, the “Companies”) and the related transactions thereunder (the “Transactions”), expectations regarding the structure of New Paramount following the merger, and expectations regarding New Paramount’s management and leadership team upon closing of the merger. All statements that are not statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Similarly, statements that describe the Companies’ objectives, plans or goals are or may be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect current expectations concerning future results and events and generally can be identified by the use of statements that include phrases such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “foresee,” “likely,” “will,” “may,” “could,” “estimate” or other similar words or phrases, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are difficult to predict and which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these statements.
These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among others: challenges realizing synergies and other anticipated benefits expected from the Transactions, including integrating ours and Paramount’s businesses successfully; risks related to Paramount’s streaming business; the adverse impact on Paramount’s advertising revenues as a result of changes in consumer behavior, advertising market conditions and deficiencies in audience measurement; risks related to operating in highly competitive and dynamic industries, including cost increases; the unpredictable nature of consumer behavior, as well as evolving technologies and distribution models; risks related to the Companies’ decisions to make investments in new businesses, products, services and technologies, and the evolution of the Companies’ business strategy; the potential for loss of carriage or other reduction in or the impact of negotiations for the distribution of the Companies’ content; damage to the Companies’ reputation or brands; losses due to asset impairment charges for goodwill, intangible assets, FCC licenses and content; liabilities related to discontinued operations and former businesses; increasing scrutiny of, and evolving expectations for, sustainability initiatives; evolving business continuity, cybersecurity, privacy and data protection and similar risks; content infringement; domestic and global political, economic and regulatory factors affecting the Companies’ businesses generally, including tariffs and other changes in trade policies; the inability to hire or retain executives, key employees or secure creative talent, including following completion of the Transactions; disruptions to the Companies’ operations as a result of labor disputes; the dilution to the earnings per share of New Paramount which may negatively affect the price of New Paramount Class B Common Stock; the Companies’ continued incurrence of significant transaction and merger-related transaction costs in connection with the Transactions; business uncertainties, including the effect of the Transactions on the Companies’ employees, commercial partners, clients and customers, and contractual restrictions; tax consequences of the Transactions; lawsuits relating to the Transactions; the Transactions triggering change of control or other provisions in certain agreements which may allow third parties to terminate or alter existing contracts or relationships; changes and uncertainties with respect to taxes in the jurisdictions in which New Paramount will operate which may have an adverse effect on New Paramount’s business; volatility in the price of New Paramount’s Class B Common Stock; potential conflicts of interest arising from the ownership structure of New Paramount with a controlling stockholder; and other factors described in New Paramount’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to Paramount Global’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on February 26, 2025, and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed on May 8 and July 31, 2025. There may be additional risks, uncertainties and factors that we do not currently view as material or that are not necessarily known. The forward-looking statements included in this communication are made only as of the date hereof, and we do not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
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Update (8/7) - Skydance Media on Wednesday
confirmed its senior leadership team ahead of its pending merger with Paramount Global.
The company has unveiled 10 executives who will form the top table under the executive leadership team that was revealed Monday, led by David Ellison, who will become CEO and chairman of Paramount once the deal closes Thursday.
The executives are Don Granger, President, Motion Picture Group; Kevin MacLellan, President, International and Global Content Distribution; Rebecca Mall, President, Cross Company Initiatives, Franchise, and Corporate Marketing; Matt Thunell, President, Paramount Television Studios; Kevin Creighton, EVP, Corporate Finance & Investor Relations; Tony Driscoll, EVP, Head of Corporate Strategy & Development; Efrain Miron, EVP, Head of Content Strategy & Licensing, DTC; Jose Turkienicz, EVP, Head of Global Operations; Laura Watson, EVP, Corporate and Executive Communications; and Jane Wiseman, EVP, Head of Originals, DTC.
This comes after the new Paramount structured the company into three business segments — Studios, Direct-to-Consumer and TV Media — with Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein overseeing studios as Co-Chairs of Paramount Pictures (with Goldberg as Chair of Paramount Television), George Cheeks as Chair of TV Media, and Cindy Holland as Chair of Direct-to-Consumer.
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| Don Granger, President, Motion Picture Group, Kevin MacLellan, President, International and Global Content Distribution, Rebecca Mall, President, Cross Company Initiatives, Franchise, and Corporate Marketing, Matt Thunell, President, Paramount Television Studios, Kevin Creighton, EVP, Corporate Finance & Investor Relations, Tony Driscoll, EVP, Head of Corporate Strategy & Development, Efrain Miron, EVP, Head of Content Strategy & Licensing, DTC, Jose Turkienicz, EVP, Head of Global Operations, Laura Watson, EVP, Corporate and Executive Communications and Jane Wiseman, EVP, Head of Originals, DTC | Skydance |
“These new members of the senior management team bring fresh perspectives shaped by years of industry experience, adding meaningful depth, unrelenting passion, and a shared commitment to building a next-generation media company,” Ellison said today “At a time of incredible opportunity for Paramount and our industry, I’m confident these forward-minded leaders will propel our vision and reignite a shared sense of purpose and ambition throughout our teams.”
Update (8/9): Paramount Skydance
has inked new five-year employment contracts with its senior executives, including CEO David Ellison, president Jeff Shell, and chief strategy officer and COO Andrew Brandon-Gordon, in conjunction with the close of the $8 billion transaction Thursday.
According to an SEC filing that included copies of the contracts, Ellison and Shell will be eligible to receive salaries of no less than $3.5 million per year, as well as annual bonuses with a target of $1.5 million per year. Brandon-Gordon will receive a $2.8 million salary, with a target bonus of $1.2 million.
The executives also received a tranche of restricted stock units, with Ellison and Shell receiving 5 million shares, and Brandon-Gordon 4 million shares, which will vest quarterly over a five year period. Based on Paramount Skydance’s current share price, the current value of those shares is about $55 million for Ellison and Shell.
Ellison, Shell and Brandon-Gordon will all be based out of the company’s Los Angeles headquarters, per the agreements.
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Originally published: August 05, 2025.
