Skydance CEO David Ellison said Paramount’s Tom Cruise Mission Impossible AND Top gun franchises “is supportive of the planned merger and that “the approach we’ve received from the entertainment community has been quite remarkable and modest.”
“I think there’s a huge opportunity, the fact that we’re going to have one of the first owned and operated studios that’s going to be sustainable, that can think long-term. This will not have to be focused only on tomorrow, but can be focused on a few years from now. We’re really going to take a long-term approach to this business. And it’s been really exciting, encouraging and humbling to have the world’s greatest filmmakers and artists support this transaction,” he said today in an interview with CNBC.
Skydance has made nine movies with Cruise, he said, calling the actor “one of the greatest, most talented artists in the world.”
Ellison also offered a look at his family’s investment philosophy and how it informed the deal on his end, telling the network, “We’re really comfortable with businesses in transition.”
“I think if you look at the technology capabilities that we have on the family side and the transition that Oracle just went through, that was a period of time where … we bought more stock and came out of that transition stronger than ever. Remember similar conversations about Tesla when we made that bet, of course, as a family. And what we believe here [with Paramount] it’s the ability to transition this business, double down on our core competencies and invest in technology and actually create that media company of the future where art and technology can work hand in hand. And believe that when we come out of this, Paramount will ultimately be the winner.”
Ellison’s father is billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, who is a supporter of Skydance and its planned acquisition and merger with Paramount in a two-step transaction.
Asked about Larry Ellison’s possible involvement in the New Paramount as it is now called — which everyone from Wall Street to Hollywood is curious about — he said, “So obviously, you know, I’m running the company with Jeff Shell. But please understand, I have a wonderful relationship with my father. We talk every day.”
Pressed on this, he said there are some things “in this interim period that I can’t speak to” and noted how Skydance and Oracle had partnered to create “studio in the world” – an animation studio based cloud.
“It’s been an incredible privilege to be able to learn from him and learn from other mentors like Steve Jobs and David Geffen.”
“What I really mean is when you go back to Skydance 15 years ago, the core founding thesis, the founding of Skydance, was that this bridge was going to be built between Silicon Valley and Hollywood, and that this was going to create a large amount of disruption. And Skydance is a pure content engine for gaming that was the tip of the spear for that disruption, which believes in where entertainment is going. And really, Paramount is a business that needs to follow suit and make that transformation and be able to meet this particular moment in time.”
Skydance and Shari Redstone, Paramount’s controlling shareholder, danced around a deal for months before reaching agreement and announcing a proposed transaction Sunday night. That started the clock ticking on a 45-day “go to shop” period for any other interested bidders to make a move. Otherwise, the deal is expected to go through regulators and could close sooner than the nine months expected earlier this week.
“There may be a path here for this to be much narrower and faster in the review process, but it’s not in our control,” said Gerry Cardinale of RedBird Capital, Skydance’s partner and investor in the deal, which was show with Ellison on CNBC. .
The deal calls for Skydance and backers, including Larry Ellison and RedBird, to buy Shari Redstone’s family company National Amusements, which controls Paramount. The Skydance Group will invest $1.5 billion in Paramount and merge with the popular company. Paramount is publicly traded, and Skydance is offering to buy all of its Class A voting shares for $23 each and a portion of its Class B nonvoting shares for $15.
Hollywood is happy that the historic back lot will be preserved, that private equity, which is known to destroy value, will not be free and that Paris’s new owner is passionate about business. Paramount staff may be more concerned after Ellison described an unspecified but remarkable $2 billion in cost savings, compared to the $500 million in cuts identified this spring by the trio of departing CEOs — which includes total. Industry insiders have noted over the past year that Paramount has already been cut pretty close to the bone over the years.
What is mostly known about the management of the combined company so far is that Ellison will be CEO and Jeff Shell president.