Ellison Says Skydance Will Split Film and TV Across Its Two Lots

Skydance plans to keep both of its historic Hollywood studio lots, but it may stop running film and television side by side on each of them. Speaking at a press event on the Paramount lot on Tuesday, hours after the company’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery closed, chairman and CEO David Ellison said film would likely be organized on one lot and television and streaming on the other, Deadline and Variety reported.

“We absolutely will keep both lots, and from that standpoint, you’ll probably see us organize film on one, television and streaming on another,” Ellison said, as quoted by Variety. “We’ll go back and forth, as well as to the east coast as required and to our Santa Monica offices for animation.” Deadline reported that the settlement of the state attorneys general’s lawsuit over the merger requires the company to keep both the Paramount and Warner Bros. lots for at least five years.

Which business goes where has not been settled. Deadline said Ellison would not elaborate, and Variety wrote that no final decisions have been made. The two outlets offered different reads: Deadline’s Nellie Andreeva wrote that, based on size, she hears film would likely stay at Paramount in Hollywood with television and streaming at the larger Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, while Variety ventured a guess that the Burbank lot would be the home for feature films.

Under Deadline’s scenario, motion picture co-chairs Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein would stay put at Paramount, as would Channing Dungey at Warner Bros. Television and streaming executives including George Cheeks, JB Perrette, Casey Bloys, CBS Studios president David Stapf and Paramount TV Studios president Matt Thunell would face a cross-town move. Deadline noted that streaming operations are now spread across several sites, including HBO’s Culver City offices, the Paramount lot and Nickelodeon’s West Coast headquarters in Burbank.

Money is part of the calculation. Deadline reported that Ellison said “real estate optimization,” along with technology and procurement, will be one of the primary sources of the company’s targeted $6 billion in synergies. For now, Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz will split their time evenly between the lots. “As we begin the integration, we’ll probably spend more time there,” Ellison said of Warner Bros., according to Deadline.

Kreiz also described how the two will divide the job. “David will focus on creative technology, long-term strategy — especially as it relates to the creative part of the business,” he said, as quoted by Variety. “I will focus more on the operations and the day-to-day management of the business, including integration, particularly the first phase.” Variety reported that the pair fielded questions for nearly 30 minutes and that Goldberg and Greenstein will coordinate a combined slate of 35 films in the first year.

The company kept filling out its leadership chart on Wednesday. In a memo to staff viewed by Deadline, Skydance president Andy Gordon named Tony Driscoll president of games and experiences and Josh Silverman president of global products and publishing, and said Jose Turkienicz will continue to lead global operations, including real estate and studio operations. Read our earlier report on Goldberg and Greenstein’s plan for separate studio slates, and find more on our Studio page.

Verification: Ellison’s comments on the lots, the five-year requirement, the possible executive moves and the synergy remarks come from Deadline (Nellie Andreeva, Oct. 6) and Variety (Matt Donnelly, Oct. 6). Ellison’s lot quote is given as transcribed by Variety; Deadline’s version differs only slightly. The leadership memo is from Deadline (Jill Goldsmith, Oct. 7).