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Reverberations from the historic combination of Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery are now being felt overseas.
Despite a Monday report claiming international executive Kevin MacLellan was close to clinching the top
job outside North America, sources tell Variety he will not move forward in the role.
While insiders praised him as a transformative leader, the source said David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz are looking to thoroughly reorganize the international piece of the newly formed organization. Further information on the international leadership team is not yet available, as the transaction is set to close on Tuesday and operational fallout will continue well into the months ahead.
MacLellan currently serves as Paramount’s president of international and global content distribution, a role he assumed in 2025. Before that, he served as president of international television at NBCUniversal from 2011 to 2013, then as the company’s chairman 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,” noting he oversaw a staff of 2,600 employees in 36 countries and advised on the acquisition of Sky.
Earlier on Monday, Variety reported that Gerhard Zeiler, president of international for Warner Bros. Discovery, is likely to leave the company ahead of the merger with Paramount after announcing his intention to enter Austrian politics, saying he would bid for leadership of Austria’s ruling Social Democratic Party.
The news followsEllison’s announcement of the senior executives who will run the newly formed Skydance Corp. on the eve of officially closing theParamount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger.
Ellison said in a statement, “I’m incredibly proud to introduce the team that will lead Skydance forward, a group that reflects the ambition behind this historic combination. Together, Paramount and Warner Bros. will form a creative-first home with the scale, imagination and technology to define entertainment for a generation.”
Kreiz commented: “Our goals as a team are to establish Skydance as the premier Hollywood content engine and home for the world’s leading storytellers, accelerate our integrated DTC platform with the best content, leading-edge technology and superior consumer experience, and optimize our highly profitable linear TV portfolio, reaching audiences globally across every entertainment vertical.”
Casey Bloys, Dana Goldberg, Josh Greenstein, James Gunn, Peter Safran, George Cheeks and JB Perrette are among those set to continue their roles. As previously reported, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group heads Pamela Abdy and Michael De Luca will not join the new company.
