After Skydance recently struck a landmark merger agreement with Paramount Global, the CEO of Skydance Media, David Ellison, openly acknowledged the need for patience in the coming days. Before the deal is expected to close, much will have to be decided as the Paramount Global stable includes Paramount Pictures, MTV, CBS, Nickelodeon, and Showtime.
On Monday, Ellison sketched a vision for Paramount Global as a media hybrid company, which would come. At the same time, Hollywood vied for more attention among tech giants moving into the entertainment industry.
One day after the Skydance and Paramount merger was finalized on Sunday evening, Ellison spoke to analysts to outline a vision for the future. He spoke extensively on building a leading feature, television, animation, sports, and games company that would effectively rebuild the Paramount streaming platform.
Ellison spoke on the relationship between technology and art, saying, “The art challenges the technology, and the technology challenges the art.” After recalling his favorite quote from Jobs, Ellison continued, “We believe that understanding the symbiotic relationship between art and technology is essential to be able to meet this moment.”
The central notion behind the merger of Skydance and Paramount is to meet the demands of a changed market better. Skydance, launched in 2010, was effectively conceived to capitalize on the rise of streaming media; while Paramount is a century-old entertainment giant with its roots in the silent film era, both sides can certainly understand the need to adapt. Ellison also commented on changing the Paramount Plus streaming service and alluded to using AI this way.
The CEO stated, “There are a lot of technology companies that are rapidly expanding into media. We believe it is essential for Paramount to be able to expand its technology prowess, to be both a media and technology enterprise.”
The controlling shareholder of Paramount Shari Redstone was persuaded by Ellison’s tech pedigree when making the decision. Redstone noted, “Skydance is well aware of what they have accomplished over the years and it is for that reason that they have pursued a combination with Paramount. They have a clear and strategic vision for the future and the resources to build on Paramount Global’s competitive advantages to drive the company’s success.”
Ellison says they are utilizing AI in a way that “really pushes the boundaries of what’s possible in gameplay.”
Former NBC Universal chief executive Jeff Shell, who will join the newly merged company, stated, “As somebody who writes scripts and is in table reads and was an actor at one point and also, by the way, can code.” Shell said, “David is one of one, and he’s going to define… the identity of new paramount.”
The merger deal between Skydance and Paramount Global was reported at $8 billion. Skydance and the Skydance Consortium will pay $2.4 billion for National Amusements, the owners of the Redstone family’s controlling stake in Paramount Global.
Reports show that Skydance will allocate $1.5 billion to pay down Paramount Global, as the new company post-merger is valued at $28 billion.
