Skydance TV & DTC Co-Chair JB Perrette Unveils Leadership Team, Executive Departures — SkimNews
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- JB Perrette, Skydance's Co-Chair and Chief Business Officer for TV and direct-to-consumer, named the new leadership team: Jeff Cusson for DTC communications, Shauna Spenley as global DTC and international TV CMO, Trey Turner as COO International, Josh Walker as DTC COO and CFO, and Liz Wright as CFO of the TV segment covering CBS and the global networks.
- Skydance, officially formed this month by the $110 billion Warner Bros. Discovery–Paramount merger, is losing seven executives: Dan Barnes (global ad revenue for HBO Max), Michael Bishara (EVP and GM of global streaming and digital networks at WBD), Jamie Cooke (EVP for Central Europe, Middle East, Turkey and Africa at WBD), Domenic DiMeglio (chief marketing and data officer for Paramount Streaming), Marco Nobili (international GM of Paramount+), Pank Patel (head of Paramount's international media networks) and Juan Sola (head of Latin American streaming for WBD). Perrette is one of the few WBD executives to keep a top role after the close.
- Efrain Miron, EVP and head of content strategy and licensing for Paramount DTC, is stepping away from his post to "explore other opportunities within the company."
- Pluto TV's top job is empty: Perrette's memo calls for an internal-and-external search for a head of Pluto/AVOD, with Olivier Jollet, Will Gurman and Kevin Kroll reporting into the new role and, on an interim basis, to Josh Walker and Perrette.
- Tom Ryan, who co-founded Pluto TV when it launched in 2014, and Jeff Schultz both left Paramount over the past two years and were not replaced, while the free streamer has been surpassed by rivals Tubi and the Roku Channel.
- Andrew Georgiou, interim President & MD for Europe & Africa, will manage the transition before departing for a new role outside the company next year, and Perrette's memo also puts Reemah S Issuance in charge of UK & Ireland entertainment including Channel 5, James Gibbons over APAC & MENA, Kasia Kieli over Poland, Qaisar Rafique on European commercial development and Christina Sulebakk across the Nordics, Benelux and GSA.
Why it matters: Seven streaming, ad-sales and international executives from the legacy HBO Max and Paramount businesses are out at once, and Pluto TV — a "key asset" with no permanent leader for two years — reports to Josh Walker and Perrette in the interim. Perrette's own memo concedes sub-teams still need "further clarifications" in a "very compressed timeframe."
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