Skydance and Warner Bros. The repercussions of Discovery’s historic merger are now being felt abroad.
Despite a report published on Monday claiming international manager Kevin MacLellan is close to landing the top job outside North America, sources say Diversity will not advance in this role.
While insiders have praised him as a transformative leader, the source said David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz are trying to completely reorganize the international division of the newly formed organization. Further information on the international leadership team is not yet available as the transaction is scheduled to close on Tuesday and its operational impacts will continue in the coming months.
MacLellan currently serves as Paramount’s president of international and global content distribution, a role he assumes in 2025. Before that, he served as president of international television at NBCUniversal from 2011 to 2013, then as the company’s president of global distribution and international from 2013 to 2020.
In the memo announcing MacLellan’s departure from NBCUniversal in 2019, former Paramount Skydance president Jeff Shell praised him as a “trusted friend and advisor” and noted that MacLellan oversaw a staff of 2,600 employees in 36 countries and advised on the acquisition of Sky.
In the early hours of Monday, Diversity Warner Bros. Discovery’s international president, Gerhard Zeiler, is likely to leave the company ahead of a merger with Paramount after announcing his intention to enter Austrian politics, saying he will bid for the leadership of Austria’s ruling Social Democratic Party.
The news comes after Ellison, Paramount-Warner Bros. It comes after Discovery announced the top executives who will lead the newly formed Skydance Corp. on the eve of the official closing of its merger.
“I am incredibly proud to introduce the team that will take Skydance forward, a group that reflects the passion behind this historic merger. Together, Paramount and Warner Bros. will create a home for creativity with the scale, imagination and technology that will define entertainment for a generation,” Ellison said in a statement.
Kreiz commented: “Our goals as a team are to establish Skydance as the leading Hollywood content engine and home of the world’s leading storytellers, to accelerate our integrated DTC platform with the best content, advanced technology and superior consumer experience, and to reach global audiences across every entertainment industry by optimizing our highly profitable linear TV portfolio.”
Casey Bloys, Dana Goldberg, Josh Greenstein, James Gunn, Peter Safran, George Cheeks and JB Perrette are among those who will continue their roles. As previously reported, Warner Bros. Pamela Abdy and Michael De Luca, who heads Motion Picture Group, will not join the new company.