Executive Team
- Chief Creative Officer |
- President & Chief Operating Officer |
- Chief Financial Officer |
- Chief Marketing Officer |
- President, Feature Film Production |
- President, New Media Division |
- Head, Animation |
- President, Animation |
- President, Skydance Television |
- Head, Skydance Interactive |
- President, Skydance Sports |
- EVP, Global Human Resources |
- President, Global Business Affairs and International |
- General Counsel |
David Ellison is chief executive officer of Skydance Media, the diversified media company he founded in 2010 to create elevated, event-level entertainment for global audiences. As CEO, he sets and executes the strategic vision for the company across all its divisions: Feature Film, Television, Interactive, Animation, New Media, and Sports.
Ellison oversees the entire Skydance film slate which includes the recently released, critically acclaimedTop Gun: Maverick which broke box office records and became the highest grossing film of 2022 and was nominated for six Academy Awards including “Best Picture.” The studio’s upcoming film slate also includes: Ghosted, Heart of Stone, The Family Plan, The Gorge, The Old Guard 2, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, a reboot of the popular Spy Kids franchise and the upcoming seventh and eighth installments of the Mission: Impossible series, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning. Under his leadership, Skydance has produced a number of blockbuster and critically acclaimed films, including The Adam Project, The Greatest Beer Run Ever, The Tomorrow War, The Old Guard, 6 Underground, Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Annihilation, Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond, the Jack Reacher films and the Academy Award-nominated True Grit.
In 2013 Ellison launched Skydance Television, which boasts a diverse slate of series across a range of platforms. The studio’s slate includes several Emmy-nominated series such as Grace and Frankie, Foundation, and Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, as well as Reacher, Condor, The Big Door Prize, FUBAR, and Cross.
In 2016, Ellison formed Skydance Interactive, a dedicated subsidiary that creates and owns original virtual reality games and licensing. The studio’s library includes the critically acclaimed VR survival-horror game The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners as well as its recently released next chapter: Chapter 2—Retribution.
Ellison launched an animation division at Skydance in 2017 with the purpose of producing a bold and original slate of high-end animated feature films and television series. The studio’s inaugural animated short film, Blush, debuted at the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival in 2021 and went on to receive a number of nominations and awards. Skydance Animation recently debuted its first full-length animated feature, Luck, and is currently in production on the animated musical Spellbound. In 2020, David formed Skydance Animation Madrid, which expanded the creative capability, scale, and leverage of the studio.
In 2019 Ellison established Skydance New Media to create narratively focused interactive experiences crafted as original series, putting the audience at the center of the action and adventure, with the first two productions being with Marvel Entertainment and Lucasfilm Games, respectively.
The studio’s newest division, Skydance Sports, was launched in 2021 to develop premium scripted and unscripted sports-related content, documentaries, and events. Since its launch, the studio has a made a number of high-profile deals including with the NFL, international soccer superstar Kylian Mbappe, Religion of Sports and Meadowlark Media. The studio’s first project, Good Rivals, launched in 2022 as well as the cirtically acclaimed scripted film, Air, starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon and directed by Affleck.
Ellison announced in 2018 that Skydance had entered into a partnership with Tencent Holdings Limited, a leading provider of internet value added services in China. In 2020 he announced the formation of strategic partnerships with Redbird Capital and CJ E&M, culminating in a $275 million equity capital expansion that saw Skydance’s valuation increasing to $2.3 billion. This partnership with CJ E&M expanded Skydance’s global television business, providing the company a strong foothold in South Korea’s entertainment market and access to CJ E&M’s expansive library of wildly popular entertainment.
Ellison is an accomplished pilot and a lifelong film enthusiast. He attended the School of Cinematic Arts at USC and is a member of the Producers Guild of America, as well as the Television Academy. He resides in Southern California with his wife, musician Sandra Lynn.
As Chief Creative Officer of Skydance, Dana Goldberg helps to set and execute the Company's overall creative vision across its feature film, television and animation units. She oversees Skydance’s current feature film slate which includes the record-breaking Top Gun: Maverick which received six Academy Award nominations. The studio’s slate also includes the upcoming films Ghosted, Heart of Stone, The Family Plan, The Gorge, The Old Guard 2, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, the upcoming seventh and eighth installments of the critically acclaimed Mission: Impossible series, and a reboot of the Spy Kids film franchise. Dana also helps to oversee Skydance’s animated slate including the films Luck, Spellbound, and Pookoo.
In addition to feature films, Dana has creative oversight of Skydance Television’s slate of original series which includes several Emmy-nominated series such as Grace and Frankie, Foundation and Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan as well as Reacher, Condor, The Big Door Prize, FUBAR and Cross across a range of platforms including Netflix, Amazon Prime and Apple TV+.
Dana joined Skydance in 2010 as President of Production, and was responsible for the entire film slate, which has included The Greatest Beer Run Ever, The Adam Project, The Tomorrow War, The Old Guard, Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse, 6 Underground, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Rogue Nation and Ghost Protocol, Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond, the Jack Reacher films, Terminator: Dark Fate, Gemini Man, World War Z, G.I. Joe: Retaliation and True Grit.
Prior to joining Skydance, Dana served as President of Production at Village Roadshow Pictures where she oversaw and served as executive producer on many of the studio’s blockbuster and award-winning films including, I Am Legend and Happy Feet. Before Village Roadshow, Dana served as Vice President of Production at Baltimore/Spring Creek Pictures. She has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 2007 and is a member of the Producers Guild of America and the Television Academy. Dana holds a B.A. degree from the University of Missouri.
As President, Chief Operating Officer, and Board Member of Skydance Media, Jesse helps to set and execute the overall strategy and growth plan for the company, while managing the business across all units, including feature film, television, sports, animation and interactive.
Most recently, Jesse architected Skydance’s newest division, Skydance Sports, with the goal of building the first independent, sports content studio at scale. The NFL validated and accelerated the goal when it chose to invest in and partner with Skydance Sports at the end of 2022. Jesse serves as a producer on all sports projects, the first two of which both released through Amazon: the critically-acclaimed film, Air, around the creation of the Air Jordan with Ben Affleck directing and Affleck and Matt Damon starring, and the Sports Emmy®-nominated docuseries franchise Good Rivals, with the first installment covering the unparalled rivalry between U.S. and Mexico’s national soccer teams.
In 2022, Jesse helped spearhead Skydance’s $400 million investment led by KKR, marking the company’s valuation over $4 billion. In 2020, Jesse played a key role in the formation of Skydance Animation Madrid following the acquisition of Ilion Animation Studios, creating one studio across two continents with the expanded creative capability, scale and leverage to deliver on the studio’s goal of becoming an industry-leading producer of high-end animated films. That same year, Jesse was instrumental in raising $275 million of equity capital and forming strategic partnerships with Redbird Capital and CJ ENM. The partnership with CJ ENM grows Skydance’s global television business and provides a foothold in the booming Korean entertainment market. In 2018, Jesse raised $100 million of equity capital and formed a broad strategic partnership with Tencent Holdings to bolster Skydance’s footprint in China for its film and interactive divisions. In 2017, he facilitated a multi-year renewal of Skydance’s first-look production and global distribution deal with Paramount. And in 2016, Jesse took a leadership role in Skydance’s first acquisition – of game developer The Workshop Entertainment – to form Skydance Interactive, as well as in securing a $700 million recapitalization to enable continued growth and expansion.
Before joining Skydance, Jesse served as the managing shareholder of his own boutique entertainment and venture capital law firm and launched the graphic novel and augmented reality company Anomaly Productions. He began his career at Heller Ehrman LLP.
Jesse is a member of the Television Academy, Paley Media Council, and Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission, and was honored in Variety’s prestigious Dealmakers Impact Report for six years in a row (2015-2020). Jesse is also a minority owner of Angel City Football Club and of Team Liquid (multi-champion esports team). He also serves as a board member of UCLA’s Institute of Environment, Conservation International’s Global Leadership Council, and Angels at Risk.
Jesse earned his J.D. with honors from the University of California, Hastings and his B.A. with honors from the University of California, San Diego.
As Chief Financial Officer of Skydance, Larry Wasserman is responsible for all of the Company’s finance, accounting and administrative operations, and also supports the analysis and execution of new business initiatives across the organization.
Larry also oversees both the facility operations and IT teams at Skydance’s Santa Monica headquarters. During his time at Skydance, Larry oversaw Skydance’s interactive group during the launch of the critically acclaimed VR survival-horror game The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners – which has become the company’s most successful game to date. In 2020, Larry played a vital role in forming Skydance’s partnerships with Redbird Capital and CJ E&M - raising $275 million of equity and capital and increasing the company’s valuation to $2.3 billion. He was also a key player in Skydance’s 2018 equity partnership with Tencent Holdings. In 2016, Larry led the Company’s $700 million recapitalization to fund growth and expansion across its feature film, television, and interactive businesses. He was also at the forefront of Skydance’s first acquisition – of leading game developer The Workshop Entertainment, Inc. – to form Skydance Interactive.
Prior to Skydance, Larry was the Chief Financial Officer at DreamWorks Studios, where he oversaw all financial activities and several divisions of the independent film studio and played a key role in re-launching the company in 2008. Prior to DreamWorks, Larry held management positions in the Business Development and Strategic Planning group at Universal Pictures. He began his career at Greenwich Associates. Larry holds a B.A. degree from Harvard College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
As Chief Marketing Officer of Skydance Media, Rebecca Mall oversees all aspects of the company’s strategic marketing efforts across its streaming, theatrical, series, animation, interactive and new media divisions.
Prior to joining Skydance, Rebecca served as a Senior Marketing Executive at WME where she was responsible for advocating and advising clients on marketing strategy including distribution, creative, media, digital and overall strategy. She previously served as Co-President of Domestic Marketing at Paramount Pictures, overseeing digital, media, brand strategy and public relations. Rebecca was instrumental in the marketing of films such as Arrival, Daddy’s Home 2, Book Club, A Quiet Place, What Men Want, Bumblebee and Mission: Impossible. She focused on creating a sustainable and future proof data strategy that helped inform key marketing decisions and improve the efficacy of all media. Before her time at Paramount, Rebecca spent six years at Google/YouTube, where she worked on the company’s digital partnerships with film studios and TV networks. She served as Head of Industry for the entertainment group and helped studios build their digital marketing strategy. She is the recipient of the Google Gold Award, a recognition earned by only the top 2% of Google employees. Rebecca holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson, where she focused on entertainment marketing while working at Universal Studios in Category Management.
She graduated Phi Beta Kappa and with honors from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Prior to business school, she spent six years in TV development and production at networks such as ABC, NBC and the NBC Cable networks.
As President of Features at Skydance, Don Granger is responsible for overseeing the development and production of the company’s robust feature film slate, including Top Gun: Maverick which broke numerous box office records and went on to receive six Academy Award nominations including “Best Picture.” The upcoming film slate includes Ghosted, Heart of Stone, The Family Plan, The Gorge, The Old Guard 2, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, the upcoming seventh and eighth installments of the critically acclaimed Mission: Impossible series and a reboot of the Spy Kids film franchise.
Don has more than 30 years of experience in shepherding tentpole films, serving as producer on past Skydance releases including The Greatest Beer Run Ever, The Adam Project, The Tomorrow War, Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse, The Old Guard, 6 Underground, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Terminator: Dark Fate, Jack Reacher and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. In addition, Don also served as executive producer on the commercially and critically acclaimed “Reacher” television series, which premiered in 2022.
Prior to joining Skydance, Don served as President of Motion Picture Production at United Artists, where he ran the day-to-day development and production operations for five years. Before that, he oversaw production, development and operations at C/W Productions as a senior executive, where he helped bring War of the Worlds, Mission: Impossible III and Elizabethtown to the big screen. He also served as Producer on Ask the Dust and The Eye and as Executive Producer on Death Race. Prior to C/W, he served as Executive Vice President of Motion Picture Production at Paramount Pictures, where he was responsible for supervising such franchises as Mission: Impossible, Star Trek, and Tomb Raider, as well as Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, Sum of All Fears, Varsity Blues, The Saint, Kiss the Girls, Along Came a Spider and the Academy Award-winning Saving Private Ryan, among others. Before his time at Paramount, Don served as a creative executive and producer at the Mutual Film Company, The Weintraub Entertainment Group and Touchstone Pictures.
Don is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Producers Guild. He holds a B.A. from Yale University and resides in Southern California with his family.
Over her 30-year career in the interactive entertainment industry, Amy Hennig has worked as an artist, animator, game designer, and most notably in the last two decades, an acclaimed writer and director. Most recently, Amy served as a Senior Creative Director at Electronic Arts, where she oversaw development of Visceral Games’ Star Wars title. This followed a decade at Naughty Dog as the Creative Director and Lead Writer of Sony Computer Entertainment’s award-winning Uncharted game series. Prior to joining Naughty Dog, she served as the Writer and Director of the groundbreaking Soul Reaver / Legacy of Kain series over eight years at Crystal Dynamics. She began her career at Electronic Arts, where she contributed to early 16-bit titles, including Desert Strike and Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City.
She has been called one of the most influential women in the interactive industry. Her work on the Uncharted series has earned countless industry awards, including a BAFTA for Story and two consecutive WGA Videogame Writing Awards. In 2016, Amy was presented with the BAFTA Special Award in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the video game industry and was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at 2019’s Game Developers Choice Awards.
Hennig holds a B.A. with honors from the University of California, Berkeley, and attended the School of Cinema at San Francisco State University.
As Head of Skydance Animation, John Lasseter is responsible for setting the overall strategy and creative direction for the studio. In this role, he drives the division’s artistic growth, overseeing production and operations, to ensure a robust slate of animated entertainment across all media.
Previously, John was the Chief Creative Officer, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios and Principal Creative Advisor, Walt Disney Imagineering. John made his directorial debut in 1995 with Toy Story, the world’s first feature-length computer-animated film, for which he received a Special Achievement Academy Award®. He also directed A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Cars and Cars 2. John executive produced all Pixar features since Monsters, Inc., including the studio’s nine Academy Award®-winners Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, WALL•E, Up, Toy Story 3, Brave, Inside Out and Coco as well as films The Good Dinosaur, Finding Dory, Cars 3 and Incredibles 2. John served as executive producer of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ films including Bolt, The Princess and the Frog, Tangled, Winnie the Pooh, Wreck-It Ralph, Moana, Ralph Breaks the Internet and the Academy Award®-winning features Frozen, Big Hero 6 and Zootopia.
John wrote, directed and animated Pixar’s first short films, including the Academy Award® winning Tin Toy and the Academy Award® nominated Luxo Jr among others and served as executive producer on all of the studio’s subsequent shorts.
In his role as principal creative advisor for Walt Disney Imagineering, John was instrumental in bringing to life CarsLand, a massive 12-acre expansion of Disney California Adventure Park.
Among his many honors and awards, including two Academy Awards®, John became the first producer of animated films ever to receive the Producers Guild of America’s David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Motion Pictures.
John was part of the inaugural class of the character animation program at California Institute of the Arts and received his BFA in film.
As President, Skydance Animation, Holly Edwards sets the overall business and production strategy across all animated titles. Holly is in charge of overseeing global teams dedicated to producing a bold and original slate of animated films and television series. The studio released its first animated feature, Luck, in 2022.
Holly is an animation veteran with more than 20 years of experience producing feature films and television. Prior to her time at Skydance, she joined DreamWorks Animation in 2002 where Holly fostered the studio’s success in both production and executive roles, managing films across three intercontinental locations. As a studio executive, Holly managed resource complexity across the entire studio’s production slate, including the animated blockbusters Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Monsters vs Aliens and How to Train Your Dragon. Her production contributions include co-producer, Trolls; unit producer, Penguins of Madagascar; associate producer, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted and Megamind.
Prior to joining the DreamWorks Animation team, Holly produced animated and live-action projects for television and digital platforms as the studio producer for Curious Pictures West and as a producer for Wild Brain and Colossal Pictures.
She is a member of the PGA, the AMPAS and ASIFA Hollywood and Women in Animation. She holds a BA in Media Communications from Webster University in St. Louis.
As President, Skydance Television, Matt Thunell is responsible for leading the development and production of the studio’s expansive slate of series across broadcast, cable and streaming platforms as well as overseeing Skydance Television’s creative, production, finance and business affairs.
Prior to Skydance, Matt was at Netflix for eight years where he most recently served as Vice President of Spectacle and Event Television at Netflix. Matt and his team were responsible for bringing to life a number of groundbreaking series including Stranger Things, The Umbrella Academy as well as upcoming series All the Light We Cannot See and Three Body Problem. Prior to this role, Matt was Vice President of Overall Deals Series, where he was responsible for leading the development of projects under long term partnerships with the Duffer Brothers, Shawn Levy, Brian Yorkey, Steve Blackman, Brad Falchuk, Mike Flanagan, Jason Bateman and many other luminary creators. During his time at Netflix, Matt helped shepherd many of the studio’s most popular series including Thirteen Reasons Why, Shadow and Bone, Outer Banks, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Atypical, Grace and Frankie, Black Mirror and House of Cards. Throughout his eight-year tenure, Matt was committed to Diversity and Inclusion, helping found Netflix's emerging director program, among several other initiatives.
Before joining Netflix in 2015, he served as a creative executive at The CW, guiding development of the DC Comics universe (Arrow, The Flash) as well as critically acclaimed series like Jane the Virgin. In 2014, he was named to The Hollywood Reporter’s Next Gen list of 35 executives under 35. Throughout his career, Matt has also spent time at Sony Pictures Television, Disney, and UBS. He graduated cum laude from Yale University.
As Head of Skydance Interactive, Dan Prigg is responsible for setting and executing the division’s overall strategy as well as overseeing development, partnerships and new business opportunities for the leading VR development studio.
An industry veteran with more than two decades of experience in interactive gaming, Dan most recently served as VP of Production at Austin, Texas-based Aspyr Media where he oversaw production, project management, studio creative, QA and helped grow the organization to more than 100 employees during his time. Prior to that, he worked at Discovery, Inc. as VP of Operations of the new Discovery Kids team. Throughout his career, he has also worked at a number of notable companies including Scopely as an Executive Producer, Director of Content Acquisition at Unity, and Director of Digital Distribution for Gamestop. Dan has also served as Executive Producer on many games including a number of bestsellers across both iOS and Android including New Yahtzee.
A decorated filmmaker and writer, Jon Weinbach is the President of Skydance Sports, a division of Skydance Media launched in September 2021. At Skydance, he oversees production and development of sports and sports-adjacent content, including premium unscripted series, documentaries, scripted series and feature films. In addition to Air, Ben Affleck’s critically-acclaimed film starring Matt Damon, Affleck and Viola Davis, Skydance Sports’ portfolio includes the Amazon docuseries Good Rivals, which debuted last year.
Prior to joining Skydance, Jon was Executive Producer and Executive Vice-President of Mandalay Sports Media, a content venture founded in 2012 by Peter Guber and Mike Tollin. For MSM, Jon produced and sold high-profile, acclaimed programming and branded content for a wide variety of outlets, including Netflix, ESPN, HBO, CBS, Turner Sports, Showtime, Fox Sports, FIFA and Vice Media. His portfolio at MSM included producing “The Last Dance,” the Emmy and Producers Guild of America Award-winning, 10-episode documentary series for ESPN and Netflix on Michael Jordan and the 1990s Chicago Bulls; executive producing “The Comedy Store,” a five-episode documentary series for Showtime on the iconic Los Angeles comedy club; and executive producing 10 documentary films for the International Olympic Committee’s new OTT platform, The Olympic Channel.
Jon has worked at the top levels of sports and entertainment media for more than 20 years, working closely with many of the biggest names in the industry. In 2015, he produced “Kareem: Minority of One,” an Emmy-winning HBO documentary about the life and career of basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He also directed and produced “Sole Man,” a 2015 ESPN “30for30” documentary about Sonny Vaccaro, the sports-marketing guru who signed Michael Jordan to Nike and helped create the modern sneaker industry.
Prior to joining Mandalay, Jon produced and wrote “The Other Dream Team,” which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, was purchased by Lionsgate, and was nominated for “Best Documentary” by the Producers Guild of America. The film spotlights the journey of the 1992 Lithuanian Olympic men’s basketball team, which forged a memorable link with the Grateful Dead and won bronze at the Barcelona Games.
In the scripted realm, Jon worked with Jeremy Garelick (“The Wedding Ringer” and “The Break Up”), Ice Cube and Michael Strahan to co-create, co-write and executive produce “The Rebels,” a half-hour sitcom pilot for Amazon about a fictional pro football team. In 2010, Jon produced and wrote “Straight Outta L.A.,” an ESPN documentary directed by Ice Cube. The film, part of the Academy Award-winning “30for30” series, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and details the Los Angeles Raiders’ connection with the rise of Gangsta Rap and hip-hop during the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.
As a journalist, Jon was a staff reporter for the Wall Street Journal, where his articles often appeared on the “Most Popular” list of WSJ.com. An expert on the sports business, he has appeared regularly on ESPN, CNBC, Fox News and national radio. Jon is a graduate of Yale University and lives in L.A. with his wife and two sons.
As President of Global & Business Legal Affairs and International, Jun Oh is responsible for running all business and legal affairs on a global basis related to the development, production and distribution of all of Skydance’s core content divisions including feature film, television, interactive and animation.
Jun joined Skydance in 2018 as Head of Theatrical and Interactive Business & Legal Affairs. During his tenure at Skydance, Oh has been a key player in executing all deals for Skydance’s film slate including for above-the-line talent; he was also a vital part of the company’s 2020 $275 million equity partnership deal between Skydance, RedBird Capital and CJ ENM. Prior to Skydance, he served as President of Business & Legal Affairs for Global Road Entertainment. Oh had an extensive career at Warner Bros. Entertainment where he rose to Senior Vice President, Business Affairs, Warner Bros. Pictures. In that role, he was responsible for negotiating development, production, co-financing, distribution and other deals for such titles as Dunkirk, Ocean’s 8, Crazy Rich Asians and Aquaman. Oh was previously Head of Business & Legal Affairs for Warner Independent Pictures where he worked on deals for Slumdog Millionaire, among others. He began his entertainment career at The Walt Disney Company in the business and legal affairs group.
Jun holds a BA from Cornell University and a JD from UCLA School of Law.
As Skydance Media General Counsel, Stephanie Kyoko McKinnon provides key legal and strategic guidance on major corporate transactions, including acquisitions, financing and joint ventures, as well as oversees corporate governance and employment matters for the company.
Before joining Skydance, Stephanie served as Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel for VICE Media where she oversaw legal for all of VICE's strategic projects, including international expansion, joint ventures, market entry, investments, equity raises and acquisitions. Prior to VICE Media, she was Vice President, Legal & Business Affairs for Whistle Sports where she was responsible for the legal and business affairs, compliance, insurance, and human resources functions. She started her law career at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP in New York City.
Stephanie holds a BA from Simon Fraser University and received her Bachelor of Laws degree from McGill University.