Skydance Leadership Explained: Who’s Calling the Shots in David Ellison’s Hollywood Empire?

Skydance’s organizational structure is beginning to take shape with co-CEOs David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz solidifying their executive leadership team. Several departments have also started to outline their own reporting structures detailing who will be calling the shots at the combined company, though the integration of two major Hollywood studios is only just getting started and things could get shaken up even more as management looks to find at least $6 billion in merger cost savings. Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery executives at the combined company have the gargantuan task of figuring out how to work together while growing the business across streaming, TV and film, news and sports, gaming, experiences, advertising and beyond. That plan includes more than $30 billion in annual content investment while managing various commitments under a settlement with 12 state attorneys general. Also hanging over the company is an overwhelming $80 billion in net debt that will impact decision-making and creative risk-taking for the foreseeable future. Skydance CEO Leadership Team (Illustration by TheWrap’s Chris Smith/Skydance) On the corporate side, Ellison and Kreiz’s top lieutenants include President Andy Gordon, Chief Financial Officer Dennis Cinelli, Chief Product Officer Dane Glasgow, Chief Legal Officer Makan Delrahim, Chief Marketing Officer Rebecca Mall, Chief Communications Officer Melissa Zukerman and Skydance DTC and TV Co-Chair and Chief Business Officer JB Perrette. Meanwhile, leaders on the creative side of the business, who also report to Ellison and Kreiz, include Skydance DTC Co-Chair and Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys, TV Co-Chair and Chief Content Officer George Cheeks, film chiefs Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, DC Studios co-chairs Peter Safran and James Gunn, CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss and CNN CEO and EIC Mark Thompson. Additional members of the executive leadership team include Chief Revenue Officer Jay Askinasi and Distribution President Ray Hopkins, though the pair will report to Perrette. Below is TheWrap’s breakdown of the key decision-makers reporting to the executive leadership team that we know so far. Mall, Delrahim, Greenstein and Goldberg, Weiss, Thompson, Safran and Gunn had not publicly finalized their leadership teams at the time of publication. Operations and finance As Skydance’s president, Andy Gordon works closely with Ellison and Kreiz to advance the media giant’s strategic priorities. Prior to his current role, he served as Paramount Skydance’s chief strategy and operating officer. He also was a partner at Skydance investor RedBird Capital Partners, which helped orchestrate the company’s takeovers of both Paramount and WBD. Gordon’s direct reports include Tony Driscoll, who runs games and experiences as well as corporate strategy and development; Josh Silverman, who runs products and publishing; Jim Sterner, who serves as chief people officer and head of HR; Jose Turkienicz, who serves as president of global operations; and Jeff Silberman, who is Gordon’s chief of staff and corporate strategy executive vice president. Skydance President Andy Gordon’s leadership team (Illustration by TheWrap’s Chris Smith/Skydance) As chief financial officer, Dennis Cinnelli is in charge of overseeing all of Skydance’s financial priorities around the globe, including accounting, taxes and investor relations. Prior to Paramount, Cinelli was CFO of Scale AI and held senior leadership roles at Uber and GE Ventures. His direct reports include Corporate Finance & Treasury head Kevin Creighton, Global Tax head Todd Davis, Controller & Chief Accounting Officer Kathy Gill-Charest, Chief Audit Risk Officer Sandy Pundmann and Chief Business Transformation Officer Simon Robinson. He also oversees the CFOs for the company’s various divisions, including Film CFO Mark Badagliacca, Distribution CFO Patrick Cavanaugh, Global Content Sales CFO Nitin Chawla, CNN CFO Adam Cohn, TV Studios CFO Eric Gray, Advertising CFO and Revenue Operations head Christine Hong, Games & Experiences CFO Ben Paul, Streaming CFO Josh Walker, Skydance TV CFO Liz Wright and Consumer Products and Publishing CFO and Head of Strategy and Insights Kedar Nadkarni. Skydance CFO Dennis Cinelli’s leadership team (Illustration by TheWrap’s Chris Smith/Skydance) Skydance TV and direct-to-consumer As chief business officer for the streaming and TV divisions, JB Perrette has direct oversight of global distribution, advertising and content sales, direct-to-consumer strategy, marketing and business operations. Prior to Skydance, he served as Warner Bros. Discovery’s head of global streaming and games. His leadership team includes communications lead Jeff Cusson, Global DTC and International TV Chief Marketing Officer Shauna Spenley, International COO Trey Turner, DTC COO Josh Walker, Skydance TV CFO Liz Wright, Distribution President Ray Hopkins, Content Sales President David Decker, Commercial Development EVP Qaisar Rafique and Skydance’s Chief Revenue Officer Jay Askinasi. Also reporting to Perrette are Warner Bros. TV Group Chair Channing Dungey on the operations side; Reemah Sakann, who serves as president of Channel 5 and U.K. and Ireland managing director; Christina Sulebakk, who serves as managing director of the Nordics, Germany, Austria, Switzerland (GSA) and Benelux; James Gibbons, who oversees the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East and North Africa businesses; Kasia Kieli, who oversees Poland; Fernando Medin, who will lead the Latin America and U.S. Hispanic businesses; Leah Hooper, who serves as regional streaming lead for Europe; and the head of AVOD/free ad-supported streamer Pluto TV, who has not yet been identified. Skydance DTC and TV Co-Chair and CBO JB Perrette’s leadership team (Illustration by TheWrap’s Chris Smith/Skydance) Meanwhile, Paramount’s TV Media Chair George Cheeks was promoted to oversee all content on the TV side, while HBO CEO Casey Bloys oversees the combined streaming business. Cheeks’ direct reports include Channing Dungey on the programming side; TV communications lead Chris Ender; Paramount TV Studios head Matt Thunell; CBS Entertainment head Amy Reisenbach, CBS Studios head David Stapf; CBS News President and Executive Editor Tom Cibrowski; Skydance Global Sports Group chair David Berson, COO Byron Rubin, Research and Programming Insights head Lauren Weir and Marketing head Mike Benson. Skydance TV CCO George Cheeks leadership team (Illustration by TheWrap’s Chris Smith/Skydance) Bloys’ direct reports include streaming comms lead Jeff Cusson; Paramount+, Max Originals and International Programming head Sarah Aubrey; HBO Drama head Francesca Orsi; HBO Comedy head Amy Gravitt; President and COO Glenn Whitehead; HBO Late Night and Specials Programming EVP Nina Rosenstein; and HBO Documentary Programming Co-EVPs Nancy Abraham and Lisa Heller. Skydance DTC Co-Chair and CCO Casey Bloys’ leadership team (Illustration by TheWrap’s Chris Smith/Skydance) Advertising and distribution As chief revenue officer, Jay Askinasi will oversee Skydance’s ad sales teams. Prior to Skydance, he led ad sales for Roku, served as CEO of Publicis Media Exchange U.S., led AT&T’s agency and platform partnerships and was president of the mobile-focused programmatic advertising technology firm RUN. Askinasi’s direct reports include U.S. Ad Sales head Danielle Carney, Ad Partnerships head Jill Steinhauser, Revenue Operations head Christine Hong, Skydance Media Labs head Chris Brady, Ad Marketing head Ed Romaine, Product Strategy & Measurement head Evan Giamanco, Chief Operating Officer and Integration Lead Steve Ellis and Paramount International Advertising Head Lee Sears. CRO Jay Askinasi’s Direct Reports (Illustration by TheWrap’s Chris Smith/Skydance) As president of distribution, Hopkins oversees distribution of CBS’ portfolio of owned & operated stations, over 55 basic cable networks and two premium networks across Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, streaming services Paramount+, HBO Max, Discovery+ and Pluto TV and over 100 FAST channels. He joined CBS Corporation in 2013 and has more than 35 years of experience managing Paramount’s relationships with video providers, digital and streaming platforms and CBS affiliate station groups. Prior to CBS, he served as Chief Operating Officer of YES Network. His direct reports on the TV and streaming side include Distribution EVPs Sarah Bergman and Mickey Carter, business development and strategy EVP Brad Shipley, distribution CFO Patrick Cavanaugh, deputy general counsel Rick Baker, partner operations SVP Joe Bahr, marketing SVP Andrew Borak, CBS affiliate relations SVP Bob Aguanno and associate general counsel John Bagwell. Skydance’s TV and streaming distribution team (Illustration by TheWrap’s Chris Smith/Skydance) Skydance Sports Though Skydance Global Sports Group Chairman David Berson is not a member of David Ellison’s executive leadership team, he is still overseeing a key division covering the CBS Sports, TNT Sports and Warner Bros. Discovery Sports brands, as well as the company’s portfolio of 36 sports rights. Prior to Skydance, he served as the head of CBS Sports. Berson’s direct reports include EVP and Managing Director Jeff Gerttula, EVP and Chief Content Officer Craig Barry, Operations and Engineering EVP Patty Power, Programming EVP Dan Weinberg, Chief Financial Officer Chris Carter, Marketing EVP Kelly Dunne, Communications EVP Jen Sabatelle, Human Resources SVP Bryn Berglund, Insights and Audience Strategy SVP Doug Bernstein, Legal SVP Kevin Glidewell and Business Affairs SVP Deanna O’Toole. Skydance Global Sports Group Chairman David Berson’s leadership team (Illustration by TheWrap’s Chris Smith/Skydance) Product and communications As chief product officer, Dane Glasgow is in charge of Skydance’s long-term product vision and technology strategy across digital platforms, immersive storytelling, advertising and AI. Prior to Skydance, he served as Facebook’s Product Management VP and held senior leadership positions in product, design, engineering, and general management at Google, eBay, and Microsoft. His direct reports include Chief Information Officer Lakshman Nathan, Chief Information Security Officer Carlo Joseph, Infrastructure, Broadcast and Distribution EVP Jim Harrison, Media Systems EVP Nick Lee, Production and Studio Technology EVP Brinton Miller, Global Content Operations EVP James Crossland, Production Platform head Greg Brentin, Head of Consumer Product Management Dan Reich, Head of Design Suzanne Pellican, Consumer and Monetization EVP and Chief Engineer Hugh Williams, Consumer AI Head Barak Turovsky; EVP, Strategy, Operations, and PMO Michael Haydon; and Chief of Staff Javoni Faucette. Skydance CPO Dane Glasgow’s leadership team (Illustration by TheWrap’s Chris Smith/Skydance) As chief communications officer, Melissa Zukerman is in charge of all global communications strategy and serves as chief spokesperson. She oversees corporate messaging, executive, crisis and internal communications, as well as the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility division. She also advises Ellison on external relations. Prior to Skydance, Zukerman served as managing partner of Principal Communications Group and in communications roles at Universal Studios, E! Entertainment Television and IFILM. Her direct reports include Laura Watson, who oversees corporate, executive and strategic communications; Shannon Buck, who is in charge of corporate communications and media relations; Virginia Fout, who is responsible for global and executive events; and Deborah Marcus, who leads corporate and social responsibility. She also oversees Chris Ender, Brooke Robertson and Jeff Cusson, who serve as the communications leads for Skydance TV, Studios and DTC, respectively. Additional reports will include communications leads for the product & technology and finance divisions, who have not yet been determined. Skydance Chief Communications Officer Melissa Zukerman’s leadership team (Illustration by TheWrap’s Chris Smith/Skydance)