David Ellison and the executives at Paramount headed west for their second round with reporters as the leadership team continued to lay out its vision for where the media company is headed.
The first round, held in New York on Thursday — the same day the merger with Skydance closed — focused more on the bigger corporate picture and financial aspect of the new company. Wednesday’s conversation, held on the Paramount lot in Los Angeles, leaned more into specific plans for content.
Having the right strategy for TV and film will be critical as the company looks to build up its streaming services, Paramount+ and Pluto TV, in an already crowded field of entertainment options, all while trying to slow the declines in its legacy broadcast and cable businesses.
At the same time, the leadership team expects to exceed the $2 billion in merger cost savings it previously targeted all while investing in more content and fostering relationships with big-name talent.
The executives were on Day 6 of the merger, so couldn’t offer many specific details on how exactly they’d get all of this accomplished. But here are the most interesting nuggets we rounded up from our time with them:
- Paramount wants to emulate the recommendation of social networks like TikTok
- Paramount+ isn’t interested in made-for-streaming films
- BET isn’t going to be put up for sale
- The executive team will lean on its relationships to court talent
- The team expects to put out 20 theatrical films a year
- Ellison offers a very specific example of how AI may be used
- Major backer Gerry Cardinale wants to send a message to Hollywood about how to go big
The hidden benefits of merging platform tech
Ellison has talked at length about Paramount’s plans to merge the underlying platforms running its three streaming services, Paramount+, Pluto TV and BET+, noting the dynamic of running three separate platforms is both “wildly ineffective” and “wildly inefficient.”
Cindy Holland, the new head of the direct-to-consumer business for Paramount, talked about the other benefits, including what this means for being able to tap into the data from users who watch multiple platforms. All of that data could yield better recommendations and offer better signals on what people want to watch.
Holland acknowledged that Paramount+ wasn’t there when it came to its ability to recommend content. “We don’t want to make our viewers do homework,” she said.
Her goal was for these services to be on par not just with other streamers, but social media platforms like YouTube and TikTok, whose algorithms are particularly adept at moving you from piece of content to another.
Beyond recommendations, even having the ability to offer a single sign-on for multiple services is a feature that just makes sense, she added.
Paramount+ isn’t interested in movies
Holland was blunt about the kind of content she wants to see on Paramount+: “Made-for-streaming movies are not a priority for me.”
Dana Goldberg, co-chair of Paramount Pictures and chair of Paramount Television, reiterated this notion, saying history has shown that streaming movies have failed to make any real cultural impact.
When asked about “KPop Demon Hunters,” which has made waves on Netflix and has been a massive global hit, Goldberg said that animated film has proven to be the exception to the rule (she also challenged anyone to name a live-action streaming film that has had that level of success).
President Jeff Shell said that he still believes in a window for theatrical releases to eventually land on streaming, so the service will still have its fill of movies, just after robust theatrical releases (more on that in a moment).
Keeping Paramount intact
Ellison shot down the notion that BET would be shopped around to outside buyers.
“What I would say is, like we said in the conversation with Shari [Redstone] when we had the first meeting about the company, our intention is to keep the company together and invest through the lens of long-term operation,” he said.
Shell also called it a “pretty important building block of our streaming strategy.”
Chief Operating Officer Andy Gordon noted that he believes every asset at Paramount is under-appreciated, suggesting there won’t be a rush to jettison anything.
“Finding opportunities to light everything up in the right way is our job,” he said.
A home for top-tier talent
Ellison talked about turning Paramount into the No. 1 destination for talented artists. What’s the secret to getting them to listen?
“Our relationships,” Goldberg said, adding that she and co-chair Josh Greenstein, who joined from Sony Pictures, have had decades of experience working with talent. She said she’s already talked to a number of people, but declined to name names beyond the recently announced project with Timothée Chalamet and filmmaker James Mangold.
Her goal is for Paramount to be a one-stop shop for filmmakers looking to make animated films, live-action films and more.
A full film slate
Getting that talent will be key with Paramount setting a goal of producing 20 films a year — and bringing them all to theaters.
Goldberg said she was keen to return to the “four quadrant family movie,” citing “Goonies” and “Gremlins” as examples of films that everyone in a family can get something out of.
Greenstein said he also wants to see more original films in addition to IP such as “World War Z” and “Star Trek.”
Goldberg noted that “Transformers” represented a “huge opportunity,” but that she knows the studio needs to get the film right, which will depend on the filmmaker.
Paramount’s last take, the animated “Transformers One,” was a financial failure despite getting love from hardcore fans. There are multiple takes on a new “Transformers” film in the works as TheWrap reported, including one potentially bringing back Michael Bay as a director.
On AI
Ellison said Paramount will embrace AI, but as a tool for creators.
He gave a specific example of what potential use of AI he sees for the company. Ellison’s daughter is a fan of “Paw Patrol,” and he said the industry is potentially three years away from her being able to talk to Sky, the pink-outfitted dog from the show, in a real-time AI-generated conversation for 20 minutes.
“We have to acknowledge that it’s a technology that’s evolving faster than anyone in Hollywood thinks it is,” he said.
Message to Hollywood
Gerry Cardinale, whose RedBird Capital is another major financial backer of the deal, sat to the side of the audience while Ellison and his leadership team fielded questions from journalists, but chipped in with a message to the entertainment industry, noting that everyone seems to be afraid of investment.
Noting the Ellison family and his own stake in Paramount, he said this is the first time a media CEO isn’t playing with other people’s money and will be bringing a new level of financial discipline to bear.
“We’re going to rebuild the culture not just for Paramount, but Hollywood,” Cardinale said. “We’re going to invest a lot of money and show a great return on investment.”
