Skydance Media

Skydance Media, LLC

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Formerly called	Skydance Productions (2006–2016)
Type	Private
Industry	Entertainment
Founded	April 4, 2006 (2006-04-04)
Founder	David Ellison
Headquarters	Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Area served	Global
Key people	David Ellison (chairman and CEO) Dana Goldberg (CCO) Don Granger (EVP of Feature Productions) Jesse Sisgold (president and COO) Larry Wasserman (CFO)
Products	Animation Motion pictures Television Video games/Interactive Games
Brands	Uncharted (label)
Owners	David Ellison (controlling) RedBird Capital Partners (minor) CJ ENM (minor) Tencent (minor) KKR (Merger with Paramount Global pending)
Divisions	Pictures Television Animation Interactive Sports Development Productions
Website	skydance.com

Skydance Media, LLC (formerly known as Skydance Productions) is an American production company based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by David Ellison in 2006, the company specializes in films, animation, television, video games, and sports.

In 2009, the company entered a five-year partnership to co-produce and co-finance films with Paramount Pictures. This agreement was renewed twice, extending to 2021. Currently, Skydance is reported to be finalizing a deal to merge with Paramount Pictures' owners, Paramount Global, by acquiring Paramount's holding company, National Amusements to create which is currently being called "New Paramount". The transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2025.

History

Formation

Logo from 2016 to 2021

Skydance Productions was formed in 2006 by David Ellison, son of Larry Ellison, co-founder and then-CEO of the Oracle Corporation. The firm's first film was Flyboys in 2006; it starred Ellison and was co-financed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

In the Fall of 2009, Skydance and Paramount Pictures signed a five-year co-financing, production and distribution agreement, with Paramount holding an additional option of distribution. Before August 2010, Skydance hired Dana Goldberg, formerly of Village Roadshow Pictures, to oversee development and production. In August 2010, with the Paramount partnership and an equity investment by Ellison's father and Oracle Corporation co-founder and chairman Larry Ellison, who was then the sixth richest person in the world, Skydance raised $350 million in equity and credit to co-finance its films.

On October 25, 2011, Skydance tried to sign its own first production client with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci of K/O Paper Products, but the deal never materialized.

Expansion

On May 1, 2013, Skydance launched Skydance Television hiring Marcy Ross as division president. In 2014, Jesse Sisgold joined Skydance as President of Business Affairs & Strategic Planning and later that year was upped to Chief Operating Officer. Again he was promoted in 2017 to President & COO. In March 2014, Don Granger joined the company as the EVP of Feature Productions, a newly created position; he reports to Dana Goldberg who is the company's chief creative officer.

In March 2015, Anne Globe joined the company as chief marketing officer. Later in the same year, Skydance raised $700 million in new financing. The refinancing included $200 million in equity from a group of investors, and a $500 million line of credit from J.P. Morgan Chase. Skydance renewed its slate deal with Paramount in the summer of 2013 for four more years.

On May 3, 2016, Skydance launched the Skydance Interactive division last year following the acquisition of The Workshop Entertainment and announced in January 2017 for a new VR story-driven game titled Archangel. Skydance also created a production label named Uncharted in December 2016 to house content which falls outside of the action, sci-fi, or fantasy genres.

On March 16, 2017, Skydance launched the Skydance Animation division by forming a multi-year partnership with Madrid-based Ilion Animation Studios. In August 2017, Skydance and Paramount renewed their slate deal for another four years to 2021, with the addition of Skydance's animated films for distribution.

On January 25, 2018, Tencent bought a 5% to 10% minority stake. Jun Oh was hired by Skydance Media as head of theatrical, interactive and legal affairs in October 2018. In February 2020, RedBird Capital Partners and CJ ENM invested in the company. In April 2020, Skydance Media has named veteran entertainment executive Stephanie Kyoko McKinnon to the newly created post of general counsel.

Launch of Skydance Sports and Paramount merger

On October 20, 2021, Skydance tapped veteran producer Jon Weinbach to lead a new sports division called Skydance Sports, a new unit will develop scripted and unscripted sports-related content. In January 2022, Skydance formed a multi-year feature film deal with Apple TV+. While this would end their deal with Paramount, Skydance continued working with the studio on its franchises (including Mission: Impossible, Star Trek, Top Gun, Terminator, Jack Ryan, Transformers, and G.I. Joe).

On October 13, 2022, Skydance completed a $400 million strategic investment round which was led by KKR, a first-time investor, and joined by the Ellison family who are majority shareholders. By April 13, 2023, Skydance Media backed a new venture from country star Tim McGraw based in Nashville called "Down Home"; with two scripted series in development, along with plans on features and animation to follow. On July 7, Skydance brought a new $1 billion credit facility, giving the film and TV studio enhanced flexibility to invest in its business lines.

In January 2024, it was reported that David Ellison was interested to buy Paramount Global's parent company National Amusements from Shari Redstone. Skydance held exclusive talks with Paramount on a merger, but the window expired with no deal in place. An independent committee representing Paramount would go on to recommend a revised offer from Ellison that would see Skydance purchase National Amusements for $2 billion. In June 2024, CNBC reported that Skydance and Paramount agreed to terms on a merger, which was awaiting approval from National Amusements. It was reported on June 11 that merger talks between Paramount & Skydance had fallen apart, resulting in any possible merger being called off. Negotiations between the two were however reported to have restarted on July 2, with Skydance reaching a preliminary agreement to acquire National Amusements and merge with Paramount. Skydance would pay $1.75 billion for National Amusements under the preliminary deal.

Films

Released

Release	Title	Co-production companies	Distributor(s)
as Skydance Productions
September 22, 2006	Flyboys	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Ingenious Media and Electric Entertainment	MGM Distribution Co.
December 22, 2010	True Grit	Mike Zoss Productions and Scott Rudin Productions	Paramount Pictures
December 21, 2011	Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol	Bad Robot and TC Productions
December 19, 2012	The Guilt Trip	Michaels/Goldwyn
December 21, 2012	Jack Reacher	TC Productions
March 28, 2013	G.I. Joe: Retaliation	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Hasbro Studios and Di Bonaventura Pictures
May 16, 2013	Star Trek Into Darkness	Bad Robot and K/O Paper Products
June 21, 2013	World War Z	Hemisphere Media Capital, Plan B Entertainment and GK Films
January 17, 2014	Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit	Di Bonaventura Pictures and Mace Neufeld Productions
July 1, 2015	Terminator Genisys	Annapurna Pictures
July 31, 2015	Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation	Bad Robot, Alibaba Pictures, China Movie Channel and TC Productions
as Skydance
July 22, 2016	Star Trek Beyond	Alibaba Pictures, Huahua Media, Bad Robot, Sneaky Shark Productions and Perfect Storm Entertainment	Paramount Pictures
October 21, 2016	Jack Reacher: Never Go Back	TC Productions, Shanghai Film Group and Huahua Media
March 24, 2017	Life	Columbia Pictures and Mockingbird Pictures	Sony Pictures Releasing
May 25, 2017	Baywatch	under Uncharted; Shanghai Film Group, Huahua Media, Seven Bucks Productions, The Montecito Picture Company, Fremantle Productions and Flynn Picture Company	Paramount Pictures
October 20, 2017	Geostorm	Electric Entertainment and RatPac-Dune Entertainment	Warner Bros. Pictures
February 23, 2018	Annihilation	Scott Rudin Productions and DNA Films	Paramount Pictures (U.S. and Chinese distribution) Netflix (International distribution)
July 27, 2018	Mission: Impossible – Fallout	Alibaba Pictures, Bad Robot and TC Productions	Paramount Pictures
October 11, 2019	Gemini Man	Alibaba Pictures, Fosun Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films
November 1, 2019	Terminator: Dark Fate	Tencent Pictures, TSG Entertainment and Lightstorm Entertainment	Paramount Pictures (U.S. distribution) 20th Century Fox (International distribution)
December 13, 2019	6 Underground	Bay Films	Netflix
July 10, 2020	The Old Guard	Denver and Delilah Productions and Marc Evans Productions
April 30, 2021	Without Remorse	Paramount Pictures, New Republic Pictures, Weed Road Pictures, Outlier Society and Midnight Radio Productions	Amazon Studios
July 2, 2021	The Tomorrow War	Paramount Pictures and New Republic Pictures
July 23, 2021	Snake Eyes	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Entertainment One and Di Bonaventura Pictures	Paramount Pictures
March 11, 2022	The Adam Project	21 Laps Entertainment and Maximum Effort	Netflix
May 27, 2022	Top Gun: Maverick	Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films and TC Productions	Paramount Pictures
August 5, 2022	Luck	under Skydance Animation; Apple Original Films	Apple Studios
September 30, 2022	The Greatest Beer Run Ever	Apple Original Films and Living Films
April 5, 2023	Air	under Skydance Sports; Artists Equity, Studio 8 and Mandalay Pictures	Amazon Studios (U.S. distribution) Warner Bros. Pictures (International distribution)
April 21, 2023	Ghosted	Apple Original Films	Apple Studios
June 9, 2023	Transformers: Rise of the Beasts	Hasbro, Bay Films, New Republic Pictures and Di Bonaventura Pictures	Paramount Pictures
July 12, 2023	Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One	TC Productions
August 11, 2023	Heart of Stone	Pilot Wave and Mockingbird Pictures	Netflix
September 22, 2023	Spy Kids: Armageddon	Troublemaker Studios and Spyglass Media Group
December 15, 2023	The Family Plan	Apple Original Films and Municipal Pictures	Apple Studios

Upcoming

Release	Title	Co-production companies	Distributor(s)	Ref(s)
November 22, 2024	Spellbound	under Skydance Animation	Netflix
2024	The Old Guard 2	Denver and Delilah Productions and Marc Evans Productions
May 23, 2025	Untitled eighth Mission: Impossible film	TC Productions	Paramount Pictures
2025	Pookoo	under Skydance Animation	Netflix
TBA	Fountain of Youth	Apple Original Films, Project X Entertainment and Radio Silence Productions	Apple Studios
	The Gorge	Apple Original Films, Lit Entertainment Group and Crooked Highway
	Mayday	Apple Original Films and Maximum Effort

In development

Title	Co-production companies	Distributor(s)	Ref(s)
Ray Gunn	under Skydance Animation	Netflix
Untitled Jack and the Beanstalk project
The Tomorrow War 2	New Republic Pictures	Amazon MGM Studios
Balls Up	TBA
G.I. Joe: Ever Vigilant	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Amazon MGM Studios, Hasbro Entertainment and Di Bonaventura Pictures	Paramount Pictures
Rainbow Six	87Eleven Entertainment, Weed Road Pictures, Outlier Society and Midnight Radio Productions
Star Trek 4	Bad Robot and Sneaky Shark Productions
The Way of the Warrior Kid	Apple Original Films, Wonderland Sound and Vision, Everard Entertainment and Indivisible Productions	Apple Studios
Bermuda	Crooked Highway and Mockingbird Pictures	TBA
Summer Frost	Temple Hill Entertainment
Untitled Matchbox film	Mattel Films
Buck Rogers	TBA
Atlantis	Metronome Film Co.
Best Served Cold	Blur Studio
Untitled Mike Hammer film	TBA
Mr. Irrelevant	under Skydance Sports; Megamix and Blackjack Films
Ranger's Apprentice	TBA
The 47 Night Stand	Orchard Farm Productions
They Will Kill You	under Nocturna

Divisions

Skydance Television

Skydance Television, LLC

File:Skydance Television logo.png
Type	Division
Industry	Television production
Founded	May 1, 2013 (2013-05-01)
Headquarters	Santa Monica, California, United States
Key people	Matt Thunell (president) Carolyn Harris (vice president)
Products	Television series
Parent	Skydance Media
Website	skydance.com/tv

Skydance Television is a television production company launched by Skydance on May 1, 2013. The division hired Marcy Ross as division president and a month later, Carolyn Harris joined Skydance Television as vice president. However, in January 2020, Ross left her position transitioning to a deal with the media company, where she continues to be an executive producer on Grace and Frankie, Altered Carbon, Condor and Foundation. Bill Bost was promoted from senior vice president to president of Skydance Television. In November 2022, Bost stepped down and launched his own company; Netflix's Matt Thunell took his place.

In May 2014, Jake Rose joined Skydance Television as EVP Production and in March 2018, Carol Turner joined Skydance replacing Rose and overseeing production on site at the studio. By July 2014 its first show, Manhattan, was launched on WGN America; it received critical acclaim throughout its run, but failed to secure adequate ratings, resulting in the series being canceled for 2 seasons in 2015.

Later in April 2017, director Sam Raimi signed his first look deal at Skydance Television with his television producing partner Debbie Liebling. By September 2017, a multi-year overall agreement was signed by producers Patrick Massett and John Zinman after they joined a series which was based on Sword Art Online. After the 2017 announcement of developing a series adaptation of Isaac Asimov's science fiction book series Foundation with David S. Goyer and Josh Friedman serving as the production's writers. In 2018, Apple TV+ bought the streaming rights to the series renewing it for a second season upon its release in 2021. In June 2018, Dietland aired on AMC along with a companion talk show hosted by Aisha Tyler from Archer, under its label company Uncharted.

In September 2019, writer David S. Goyer also signed an deal with Skydance Television for an exclusive multi-year overall agreement as well under his Phantom Four company. In April 2019, Daredevil writer Lewaa Nasserdeen joined Skydance Television in an overall deal as well while developing a semi-autobiographical comedy-drama series on Showtime. In May 2019 Alison Schapker, showrunner of Altered Carbon, made an overall deal with Skydance Television to develop series at the studio, including a US remake of a South Korea series called Hotel del Luna. By August 2019, writer Olivia Purnell had signed an overall deal with Skydance Television writing projects for the studio. In May 2020, Nick Santora also got an overall deal with Skydance Television with a series starting Arnold Schwarzenegger called FUBAR, soon to be released on Netflix. In May 2020 Skydance Television named Drew Brown as head of production.

In December 2020, Skydance Television signed a first look deal with Exile Content Studio to develop and produce scripted series. By February 2021, the studio also signed a first look deal with Impact, a global talent network and development accelerator program owned by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer for television productions. In November 2021, Peter Johnson joins Skydance Television as a television executive reporting for Bill Bost. By December 2022, it was announced that Octavia Spencer's production company, Orit Entertainment, has entered a multiyear first-look deal for scripted projects for Skydance Television. On March 21, 2023, James Patterson has signed an exclusive first-look pact with Skydance Television to adapt his works such as the upcoming series Cross along with other projects in development like Women's Murder Club and the upcoming book Jane Smith. In May 2024, Skydance Television doubles on their series output and signed a first-look TV deal with Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Rock Bythewood from their company Undisputed Cinema.

Television series

Released

First broadcast	Last broadcast	Title	Co-production	Network
July 27, 2014	December 15, 2015	Manhattan	Lionsgate Television, Tribune Studios	WGN America
May 8, 2015	April 29, 2022	Grace and Frankie	Okay Goodnight!	Netflix
October 1, 2017	January 6, 2018	Ten Days in the Valley	Under Uncharted; Pentimento Productions, Cameron Pictures	ABC
February 2, 2018	February 27, 2020	Altered Carbon	Virago Productions, Mythology Entertainment, Phoenix Pictures	Netflix
June 4, 2018	July 30, 2018	Dietland	Under Uncharted; AMC Studios, Mockingbird Pictures, Tiny Pyro	AMC
		Unapologetic with Aisha Tyler	Under Uncharted; AMC Studios, Embassy Row
June 6, 2018	Present	Condor	Apophasis Unproductions, Paramount Television Studios, MGM Television	Audience Network Epix
August 31, 2018	July 14, 2023	Jack Ryan	Paramount Television Studios, Platinum Dunes, Sunday Night Productions, Genre Arts, Push, Boot.	Amazon Prime Video
September 24, 2021	Present	Foundation	Phantom Four	Apple TV+
February 4, 2022		Reacher	Paramount Television Studios, Blackjack Films	Amazon Prime Video
November 24, 2022	December 1, 2022	Good Rivals	under Skydance Sports; Prime Video Sports, Meadowlark Media, Ocellated Media
December 6, 2022	December 12, 2022	The Checkup with Dr. David Agus	See It Now Studios	Paramount+
March 29, 2023	Present	The Big Door Prize	Studio Dragon/CJ ENM, Vidvad, Inc. (season 2)	Apple TV+
May 25, 2023		FUBAR	Blackjack Films	Netflix

Upcoming

Release	Title	Co-production	Network	Ref(s)
2024	WondLa	under Skydance Animation; Gotham Group	Apple TV+
	Cross	Paramount Television Studios, James Patterson Entertainment	Amazon Prime Video
	Terminator Zero	Production I.G	Netflix
TBA	Neuromancer	Anonymous Content, DreamCrew Entertainment	Apple TV+
	Untitled McConaughey-Harrelson series	N/A
	Sword Art Online	N/A	Netflix
	Ring Shout	Matt Jackson Pictures, Marc Evans Productions
	Untitled G.I. Joe Lady Jaye spin-off series	Paramount Television Studios, Entertainment One, Di Bonaventura Pictures	Amazon Prime Video
	The Runarounds	N/A
	Untitled Lemaa Nasserdeen series	N/A	Showtime
	Faster Than Light	N/A	TBA
	Hotel del Luna	CJ ENM, Studio Dragon
	Untitled Steins;Gate live-action TV series	N/A
	Oklahoma!	The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, Concord Originals
	Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella	Nuyorican Productions, Concord Originals
	The Owl	under Skydance Sports; Religion of Sports
	Untitled America's Cup documentary series	under Skydance Sports; Little Monster Films

Scrapped projects

Year	Title	Network	Notes
2017	Red Mars	Spike	Based on the Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson
2018	Untitled Miraculous live-action TV series	N/A	Co-production with ZAG Inc. Based on the animated series by Thomas Astruc.

Skydance Interactive

Skydance Interactive, LLC

File:Skydance Interactive New Logo.png
Formerly called	The Workshop Entertainment
Type	Division
Industry	Video games
Founded	May 5, 2016 (May 5, 2016)
Headquarters	Marina del Rey, California, United States
Key people	Peter Akeman (president) Dan Prigg
Parent	Skydance Media
Website	skydance.com/interactive

File:Skydance Interactive Logo.png

Original logo

Skydance Interactive (formerly known as The Workshop Entertainment) is a game division which was launched on May 5, 2016. It focuses on developing ambitious titles, managing projects licenses with other developers, and developing software innovative game mechanics as well as for VR and emerging platforms.

In May 2017, Chris Hewish was hired as EVP Interactive help to set and execute overall strategy for Skydance Interactive, and oversee development, partnerships, and new business opportunities. On July 18, 2017, its first VR game, Archangel was launched. The game recently expanded into an online multiplayer upgrade, Archangel: Hellfire. Two days later, Skydance Interactive revealed their second original game called PWND, an multiplayer free to play game released on April 6, 2018, where players use Pwns to win.

In 2018, Skydance Interactive partnered with Skybound Entertainment to develop a number of original virtual reality video games based on the expansive world of The Walking Dead universe. The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners and The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution were to be the inaugural titles co-developed by the two companies. In 2023, they also published a Final Cut version of Arashi: Castle of Sin developed by Endeavor One and was released on December 5, 2023 on next-generation virtual reality consoles.

Games

Released

Release	Title	Co-developers	Platform(s)
July 18, 2017	Archangel	N/A	Oculus Rift, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation VR
April 6, 2018	PWND		Microsoft Windows
January 23, 2020	The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners	Skybound Entertainment	Oculus Rift, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation VR, Oculus Quest, PICO 4
December 1, 2022	The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – Chapter 2: Retribution		Meta Quest 2, PlayStation VR, PlayStation VR2, PICO 4
December 5, 2023	Arashi: Castles of Sin - Final Cut	Endeavor One	Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3, PlayStation VR2, Windows

Upcoming

Release	Title	Co-developers	Platform(s)	Ref(s)
TBA	Foundation: Galactic Frontier	FunPlus	TBA
TBA	Behemoth	N/A	Meta Quest 3, PlayStation VR2, SteamVR

Skydance Animation

Main article: Skydance Animation

File:Skydance Animation New Logo.png

Skydance Animation is the animation division of Skydance Media; it focuses on animated feature films and television series. It was founded on March 16, 2017. Its first film was Luck and its first short film was Blush.

Skydance New Media

Skydance New Media

File:Skydance New Media.png
Type	Division
Industry	Video games
Founded	November 18, 2019 (2019-11-18)
Headquarters	Santa Monica, California, United States
Key people	Amy Hennig (president)
Parent	Skydance Media
Website	skydance.com/new-media

Skydance New Media is a video game development studio founded by Skydance on November 18, 2019, led by Amy Hennig.

In October 2021, the studio announced a planned collaboration with Marvel Entertainment for an action-adventure game. In April 2022, it was announced that Lucasfilm Games would collaborate making a game based in the Star Wars universe. There has been speculation that the game will be a revival of Project Ragtag which was also led by Henning.

In August 2022, Marvel's parent corporation The Walt Disney Company announced their intentions to showcase a slate of video games based on their IP at the joint Disney & Marvel Games Showcase. It would happen in conjunction with the company's annual D23 Expo in person and through broadcasts on multiple streaming platforms. Along with the announcement, Disney said that the panel would also debut a "sneak peek" at Skydance New Media's Marvel title, which is described as being an "ensemble game". During the showcase on September 9, 2022, the Marvel project confirmed prior reports that it would be set during World War II. Also Captain America and Azzuri / Black Panther will be featured as the main characters in the ensemble, alongside Gabriel Jones of the Howling Commandos unit and Nanali, leader of the Wakandan Spy Network, while the Hydra organization would serve as the main villains. In March 2024, during the showcase of State of Unreal, the project is revealed to be titled Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra with the game being powered by Unreal Engine 5 and will be released on 2025.

Games

Release	Title	Publishers
2025	Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra	Marvel Entertainment
TBA	Untitled Star Wars Game	Lucasfilm Games

Skydance Sports

Skydance Sports, LLC

Type	Division
Industry	Sports
Founded	October 20, 2021 (2021-10-20)
Headquarters	Santa Monica, California, United States
Key people	Jon Weinbach (president)
Parent	Skydance Media
Website	skydance.com/sports

Skydance Sports is a sports content division launched by Skydance on October 20, 2021, led by Jon Weinbach.

In January 2022, Skydance Sports announced a co-production agreement with Meadowlark Media on sports documentaries. The first two productions under this agreement were Good Rivals—a three-part documentary series on the Mexico–United States soccer rivalry for Amazon Prime, and a documentary on women's basketball player Diana Taurasi.

In March 2022, Religion of Sports signed with Skydance Sports to develop, finance, and produce a slate of sports-related shows for multiple platforms, starting with a series called The Owl. It is created and executive produced by Michael Perri and directed by Aurora Guerrero. In April 2022, it was reported that Amazon Studios had partnered with Skydance Sports, Artists Equity, and Mandalay Pictures on a Ben Affleck biographical drama on Nike's Air Jordan shoe line. On October 12, 2022, Kylian Mbappé and his production banner, Zebra Valley, signed a multi-year first-look deal with Skydance Sports.

On November 3, 2022, Skydance Sports teamed up with America's Cup for an "all-access, behind-the-scenes" documentary series about the next America's Cup race. It is helmed by original Free Solo team Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin under the banner of their production company Little Monster Films.

In November 2022, the NFL announced a joint venture with Skydance Sports via its NFL Films division and investment arm 32 Equity to create a "premier global multi-sports production studio". The first projects announced under the venture included a documentary miniseries on Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones (which was acquired by Netflix in May 2024), the NFL Draft documentary The Pick is In for The Roku Channel, a Jason Kelce documentary for Amazon Prime Video, and a Kansas City Chiefs-themed Christmas movie for Hallmark Channel.

See also

• Chinese censorship abroad

External links

• Official website