Skydance’s JB Perrette Reveals His Management Team, Announces Departures

Skydance’s JB Perrette, who is now co-chairman and chief commercial officer of Skydance TV and Skydance Direct-to-Consumer, revealed his new executive organizational structure – and announced several departures from the pre-merged Warner Bros. entities. Discovery and Paramount Skydance which he now oversees.

Dan Barnes, Michael Bishara, Jamie Cooke, Domenic DiMeglio, Marco Nobili, Pank Patel and Juan Sola are leaving the combined company.

On the WBD side, Barnes was previously responsible for global advertising revenue for HBO Max; Bishara was executive vice president and general manager of global streaming and digital studios at Warner Bros. Discovery; Cooke was executive vice president and general manager of Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, Turkey and Africa at Warner Bros. Discovery; and Sola was Head of Latin America Streaming at Warner Bros. Discovery.

On the Paramount side, Di Meglio was executive vice president, chief marketing officer and chief data officer at Paramount Streaming; Nobili was executive vice president and general manager of international at Paramount+ and Patel was head of Paramount International Networks.

“Their work has been instrumental in the success of the DTC and/or TV businesses, and I am incredibly grateful for their efforts throughout their impressive tenure,” Perrette said in a memo to staff. “Please join me in wishing them all the best in their next endeavors.” »

Additionally, as part of his memo, Perrette noted that Ronald Goes, who had served as president of international television production at Warner Bros. Discovery, will now report to Channing Dungey, president of Warner Bros. TV Group. – also adding Skydance’s international television production to his oversight. Goes and the Warner Bros. Television Studio Operations International previously reported to the chairman of Warner Bros. International, Gerhard Zeiler, who is not joining Skydance.

In his Thursday memo, Perrette – who previously served as WBD’s CEO/president of global streaming and gaming – laid out a detailed leadership structure that he said will likely change over time as implementation of the merger continues.

“We have been as thoughtful as possible, albeit within a very tight time frame. Despite our best efforts, there will undoubtedly be further clarifications and improvements that will need to be made, particularly within sub-teams that will need to be more specifically realigned to this new structure,” he wrote. “Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding, and most importantly, for your help with us in this next phase to ensure we get to the right answer.”

Perrette previously announced that his direct reports would include Jay Askanasi (Advertising), Ray Hopkins (Distribution) and David Decker (Content Sales). In the new memo, he detailed more direct reports, including, within his global team, Jeff Cusson, executive vice president and head of communications, Skydance DTC; Shauna Spenley, Marketing Director, Global DTC and International TV; Trey Turner, chief operating officer, international; Josh Walker, chief operating officer, DTC; Liz Wright, CFO, Skydance TV Segment; and a new head of Pluto/AVOD to be announced later.

Perrette also revealed its regional and local teams, including Andrew Georgiou, interim president and managing director Europe and Africa, who will lead Europe and Africa; James Gibbons, President and Managing Director APAC and MENA; Kasia Kieli, President and CEO, Poland; and Fernando Medin, President and MD LATAM/US Hispanic.

Here is Perrette’s full memo, with additional appointments:

Team,

As you learned from David and Ynon earlier this month, my role in the company is one that deliberately bridges DTC and TV. The industry and consumer behavior continue to evolve at a rapid pace, and these two companies have more crossovers and interconnections than ever. We must aggressively advance each business while being attentive to maximizing the strategic and financial opportunities between the two, and at the same time be transparent and data-driven when there are inevitable tradeoffs that need to be decided…do them quickly and remain clear that our North Star is what is in the best interest of the Skydance business as a whole (and not individual units, countries, or other agendas).

To do this, we will have some leaders more dedicated to TV and others to DTC, and many leaders wearing both (or more) hats. Our structure will build on strong local/regional expertise and relationships, as well as global scale and capabilities…and success will require everyone to make this local and global setup a powerful network rather than a feared matrix. The focus needs to be on working together and putting points on the board to ensure we win, rather than on who put them on the board. We have a unique portfolio of DTC and TV assets that I believe can work better and more powerfully together, engaging and delighting billions of consumers around the world while also driving growth in the company’s cash flow, earnings and revenue.

The most painful part of these transitions is that we have to say goodbye to many talented leaders who have brought significant value to previous companies and, more importantly, who have been great friends, colleagues and mentors to so many. I want to thank Dan Barnes, Michael Bishara, Jamie Cooke, Domenic DiMeglio, Marco Nobili, Pank Patel and Juan Sola (gracias!) for everything they have done to get the company to where it is today. Their work has been instrumental in the success of the DTC and/or TV businesses, and I am extremely grateful for their efforts throughout their impressive tenures. Join me in wishing them all the best in their next endeavors.

Below is our new leadership team effective today. We were as thoughtful as possible, even if in a very tight time frame. Despite all our efforts, there will undoubtedly be other clarifications and improvements that will need to be made, particularly within the sub-teams which will need to be more specifically realigned with this new structure. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding, and most importantly, for your help in this next phase to ensure we arrive at the right answer. So, Jay Askanasi (Advertising), Ray Hopkins (Distribution) and David Decker (Content Sales) previously announced to help lead this charge will be (in alphabetical order):

GLOBAL

REGIONAL/LOCAL

Internationally, we will have four regional leaders who will help drive the combined television and streaming businesses and report to me. These regional leaders and their teams will directly oversee distribution, advertising sales, network and streaming business development and television programming in their markets, and will work in partnership with the global functional teams above as well as Jay Askinasi in advertising, Ray Hopkins in distribution and David Berson in sports (rest assured, the common goal is to be pragmatic about what makes sense or where there is added value… we will work together to clarify further in the coming weeks). These leaders are (in alphabetical order, and to be clear, only reporting changes are listed under regional leaders and not their full teams):