Paramount Pictures on Tuesday said it will merge its Paramount Players banner into the Paramount Pictures motion picture group under the leadership of co-heads Daria Cercek and Michael Ireland.
And as a result of the realignment, Paramount Players president Jeremy Kramer will be stepping down from his position. He previously reported to CEO and president Brian Robbins.
“Partnering with our filmmakers across a range of genres and budgets is critical to our studio’s vibrancy and our business’ long-term success,” Robbins said in a statement. “In uniting Paramount Players within the larger Motion Picture Group, our goal is to optimize the power of one division to scale the expertise and skill set of an incredibly talented team of executives under Daria and Mike.”
“Over the last couple of years, Jeremy has played an integral role in further establishing Players as a youthful, entrepreneurial production arm throughout the industry and within our own company, and I want to thank him for all of his contributions and leadership,” Robbins added on Kramer’s departure.
Upcoming projects for Players include “Apartment 7A” starring Julia Garner and being produced by John Krasinski and Michael Bay, “On the Come Up,” which is an adaptation of Angie Thomas’ follow-up to “The Hate U Give,” “Significant Other” starring Maika Monroe and Jake Lacy, the comedy “Senior Year” with Rebel Wilson and “Something’s Wrong With Rose” starring Sosie Bacon.
As part of the reorganization of the creative group, Cercek and Ireland are also promoting three key creative executives within Players. Ashley Brucks, previously Senior EVP Production, will now be Head of Development, Paramount Players. And Jonathan Gonda and Vanessa Joyce will both be promoted to executive vice presidents of production, having previously served as senior vice presidents.
“This is the start of a new chapter for the Paramount Motion Picture Group,” Cercek and Ireland said in a statement. “Ashley, Jon and Vanessa are standout executives, and their promotions are well-deserved. At Players, Jeremy has assembled a strong team and this newly combined group is going to energize our efforts to make smart, fun, commercial movies across a wide range of budgets and genres.”
Paramount Players was founded in 2017 by Jim Gianopulos and was previously led by Robbins, and the division has released films such as “What Men Want” with Taraji P. Henson, the most recently “Paranormal Activity Film” and the live-action “Dora the Explorer” film “Dora and the Lost City of Gold,” among others.
Kramer joined the studio as president of Paramount Players in 2020. Prior to Players, Kramer had been an executive and a producer at 20th Century Fox, Red Hour Films, DreamWorks and Miramax and had overseen work on more than 60 films, including “Tropic Thunder,” “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” the “Deadpool” franchise and more.
Brucks has been with Paramount Pictures since 2008 and has worked on the development and production of films including “Scream,” “A Quiet Place” and “Paranormal Activity.” Joyce first joined Paramount Pictures in 2012 as a creative executive after serving at Summit Entertainment. Gonda came to the studio in 2017 as a vice president of production after previously working at Warner Bros.