Executive Team
- Chief Creative Officer |
- President & Chief Operating Officer | Chairman, Skydance Sports |
- Chief Financial Officer & Co-President of Business Operations, Skydance Media |
- Chief Marketing Officer |
- President, Feature Production, Skydance and Skydance Sports |
- Co-President of New Media, Skydance Games |
- Head, Animation |
- President, Animation |
- President, Skydance Television |
- Head of Interactive, Skydance Games |
- Head, Skydance Sports |
- President of Unscripted, Skydance Sports |
- President of Global Business Affairs & International |
- General Counsel & Co-President of Business Operations |
- EVP, Human Resources |
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, Animation, Games, and Sports.
David oversees the entire Skydance film slate, including 2022’s critically acclaimed Top Gun: Maverick which broke box office records and became the highest grossing film of the year and was nominated for six Academy Awards including “Best Picture” and a win for “Best Sound.” The studio’s recent releases also include: The Gorge, The Family Plan and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning. Skydance’s upcoming film slate includes: Mayday, Balls Up, The Old Guard 2, Fountain of Youth, Way of the Warrior Kid, Matchbox, and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. Under his leadership, Skydance has produced a number of blockbuster and critically acclaimed films, including The Adam Project, 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 2022, Skydance formed a multi-year deal with Apple to develop and produce an annual slate of live-action films for Apple TV+.
In 2013 David 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, Cross, FUBAR, and the upcoming series Neagley, 12 12 12, Neuromancer, The Runarounds, Ride or Die, Brothers, and a docuseries chronicling the Idaho Murders.
David 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. In 2020, David formed Skydance Animation Madrid, which expanded the creative capability, scale, and leverage of the studio. The studio’s first full-length animated feature, Luck, debuted in 2022 followed in 2024 by the studio’s first series WondLa, both for Apple TV+. The studio formed a multi-year distribution deal with Netflix to release the studio’s films beginning with the recently released Spellbound and upcoming features Pookoo and Ray Gunn.
David launched Skydance Sports, a joint venture between Skydance and the NFL, to develop premium scripted and unscripted sports-related content, documentaries, and events. Initially launched in 2021, the studio’s first two projects include the Emmy-nominated docuseries Good Rivals and the critically acclaimed film, Air, which received two Golden Globe nominations including one for “Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.” In 2022, Skydance partnered with the NFL and NFL Films to significantly expand multi-platform programming across sports in a broad range of formats for partners, fans, and viewers around the world. The studio’s slate includes the recently released Hallmark Channel holiday film Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story, the Sports Emmy-nominated docuseries NFL Draft: The Pick is In, Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants, Aaron Rodgers: Enigma, as well as the upcoming America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys; Elway; Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story; a docuseries on the Kansas City Chiefs; a docuseries on tennis icon Rafael Nadal; and a scripted series from Dan Fogelman set within the world of the NFL.
In 2024, Skydance partnered with Andy & Barbara Muschietti to launch Nocturna. The focus of Nocturna is on high-quality, horror features for global audiences in both theatrical and streaming. The first project from the studio will be They Will Kill You.
Also in 2024, Skydance unveiled a new banner, Skydance Games. Encompassing each of the company’s two gaming studios as well as its games publishing, interactive licensing, and transmedia storytelling teams, Skydance Games brings to life one-of-a-kind worlds and crafts compelling stories that players want to revisit over and over again. The studio’s portfolio holds award-winning titles across console, VR, PC, and mobile, including Archangel, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, and the recently released Skydance’s BEHEMOTH and upcoming Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra and a collaboration with Lucasfilm Games set in the legendary Star Wars galaxy.
David 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. In 2022, Skydance closed a $400 million strategic investment led by KKR and joined by The Ellison family. Existing investors RedBird Capital Partners and Tencent also participated in the fundraise, which values Skydance at over $4 billion.
David 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, and their two children.
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 divisions.
Dana oversees Skydance’s current feature film slate which includes the record-breaking Top Gun: Maverick which earned six Academy Award nominations including “Best Picture.” The studio’s other recent releases include: The Gorge, The Family Plan and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning. The slate also includes the upcoming films Mayday, Balls Up, The Old Guard 2, Fountain of Youth, Way of the Warrior Kid, Matchbox, and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. Dana also helps to oversee Skydance’s animated slate including the hit film Luck and the imaginative series WondLa on AppleTV+ as well as Spellbound on Netflix and, upcoming features Pookoo, and Ray Gunn.
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, Cross and FUBAR. Upcoming series include Neagley, 12 12 12, Neuromancer, The Runarounds, Ride or Die, Brothers, and a docuseries chronicling the Idaho Murders.
Dana joined Skydance in 2010 as President of Production, and was responsible for the entire film slate, which has included 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 set and execute the overall strategy and growth plan for the company, while managing the business across all units, including film, television, animation, and games.
Most recently, Jesse architected Skydance’s newest venture, 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 partner with and rapidly expand Skydance Sports at the end of 2022. Jesse is the Chairman of Skydance Sports, and producer on all of its projects to date, including the Golden Globe-nominated feature film AIR with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon; Sports Emmy-nominated documentaries Good Rivals, NFL Draft: The Pick is In (#1 on Roku), and Kelce (#1 on Prime Video); and the recently released franchise series Hard Knocks: Off Season with the New York Giants (#2 on Max).
Also in 2022, Jesse helped spearhead Skydance’s $400 million investment led by KKR, marking the company’s valuation over $4 billion. In 2020, he 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 in sports and television, respectively. 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.
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 Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Paley Media Council, and LA Sports and Entertainment Commission. In 2023, he was named on Sports Business Journal’s inaugural “4SE in Sports Storytelling” list that honors the most prominent and compelling people in sports and entertainment, and was listed in Variety’s prestigious Dealmakers Impact Report for six years in a row, 2015-2020. Jesse is a minority owner of Angel City Football Club and of Team Liquid (multi-champion esports team). He serves as a board member of UCLA’s Institute of Environment, Conservation International’s Global 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.
Larry Wasserman is the Chief Financial Officer and Co-President of Business Operations at Skydance Media. In his roles, Larry is responsible for overseeing the Company’s global finance, accounting, facility operations, human resources, risk management, and IT teams as well as provides support and analysis for the execution of new business initiatives, investments, and capital raise efforts across the organization.
During his tenure at Skydance, Larry has been a key player in several capital raises, securing close to $1 billion from partners such as Tencent Holdings, RedBird Capital Partners, CJ E&M, and, most recently, KKR. He manages the Company’s $750 million revolving credit facility through JPMorgan Chase & Co. and a syndicate of top-tier entertainment lenders.
Larry helped to establish the financial model and business plan for Skydance’s newest division, Skydance Sports, and assisted in the creation of its partnership with the NFL and NFL Films. Larry also headed Skydance Interactive during the development and launch of the critically acclaimed VR survival-horror game The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – which is the company’s most successful game to date.
Prior to Skydance, Larry was the Chief Financial Officer at DreamWorks Studios, where he oversaw all financial activities and several operating divisions of the film and television company founded by Steven Spielberg. He played an integral role in re-launching the company as an independent studio in 2008. Before joining 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 and Skydance Sports, 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 studio’s upcoming film slate includes Mayday, Balls Up, The Old Guard 2, Fountain of Youth, Way of the Warrior Kid, Matchbox and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. In addition, Don helps oversee Nocturna, the horror label formed with Andy & Barbara Muschietti that focuses on high-quality, horror features for global audiences in both theatrical and streaming. The first project from the studio will be They Will Kill You. Don also serves as executive producer on the critically acclaimed “Reacher” television series.
Don has more than 30 years of experience in shepherding tentpole films, serving as producer on past Skydance releases including The Gorge, The Family Plan, Heart of Stone, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Spy Kids: Armageddon, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Ghosted, 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.
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 franchises such 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.
A 35-year veteran of the game industry, Amy Hennig joined Skydance Media in 2019 to explore new frontiers in interactive storytelling. In addition to serving as Co-President of New Media, Skydance Games, Amy is also the Creative Director and Lead Writer on the studio’s upcoming titles Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra and a collaboration with Lucasfilm Games set in the legendary Star Wars galaxy.
Before Skydance, Amy spent 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 game industry. Her work has earned countless industry awards, including a BAFTA for Story and two 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 honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at 2019’s Game Developers Choice Awards.
Amy 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.
Jason T. Reed is an award-winning producer and media executive who currently serves as Head of Skydance Sports. In this role, Jason leads the overall Skydance Sports operations and the development and production of the studio’s entire slate of sports-driven storytelling across scripted and unscripted content, documentaries, and events.
Skydance Sports, the joint venture between the NFL and Skydance, has quickly become the preeminent studio for leagues, teams, elite athletes and A-List Hollywood talent seeking to produce premium, sports-related entertainment. The studio’s slate includes the Sports Emmy-nominated docuseries NFL: The Pick is In on the Roku Channel, the recently released Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants for HBO, the upcoming Aaron Rodgers: Enigma on Netflix, the Hallmark Channel holiday film Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story, and the upcoming docuseries chronicling the Dallas Cowboys’ dynasty and franchise owner Jerry Jones for Netflix.
Prior to Skydance Sports, he ran Jason T. Reed Productions which was focused on producing high-quality film, television, and digital content for global audiences. Under this banner, Jason produced Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and the live-action feature film adaptation of Mulan, among others. Before launching his producing career, Jason worked at Walt Disney Studios where he oversaw a wide range of successful films, including the National Treasure franchise, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, Pearl Harbor, Armageddon, Enchanted, High School Musical 3, and Bringing Down the House. Jason also has a long history and deep expertise in the production of sports-related features, including Prefontaine, The Waterboy, The Greatest Game Ever Played, Mr. 3000, and Glory Road.
Jason received degrees in Philosophy and Cinema-Television Production from the University of Southern California and lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.
A decorated filmmaker and writer, Jon Weinbach is the President of Unscripted, Skydance Sports, a division of Skydance Media launched in September 2021. At Skydance, he oversees production and development of sports and sports-adjacent unscripted series and documentaries.
Skydance Sports’ portfolio includes the Sports Emmy-nominated docuseries Good Rivals, Kelce, and NFL Draft: The Pick Is In as well as the recently released Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants. The studio’s upcoming docuseries include Aaron Rodgers: Enigma and the docuseries chronicling the Dallas Cowboys’ dynasty and franchise owner Jerry Jones for Netflix.
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, Global Business Affairs & International, Jean Chi is responsible for overseeing all business and legal affairs related to Skydance’s global content divisions, including feature film, television, and animation, as well as Skydance’s international content business.
Before joining the team at Skydance, Jean served as the Global Head of Content Business Affairs at Spotify where she led business affairs and strategic functions for the platform’s US and international content business. Prior to Spotify, Jean served as the EVP & Head of Business Affairs of Paramount Pictures, as well as Head of Content Planning & Business Affairs at A24. Jean has also held executive posts at Lionsgate, Summit Entertainment, and Disney/ABC Cable Networks Group.
Jean holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in linguistics from Stanford University and a Juris Doctor degree from New York University School of Law. She began her legal career at Latham & Watkins LLP.
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. In her role as Co-President of Business Operations, Stephanie also oversees Human Resources, Information Technology, and Facilities 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.
As EVP, Human Resources, Jodi DiCenzo will be responsible for setting the company’s overall human resources strategy and culture development which includes leading the efforts for employee relations and engagement, organizational structure, and company benefits.
Jodi is a seasoned Human Resources leader with over 20 years of success in the entertainment and creative industries. Before joining the team at Skydance, Jodi most recently served as Global Head of HR at Universal Studio Group. Prior to her time at NBC / Universal, Jodi also worked at Apple as the HR Business Partner and Site Lead as well as at DreamWorks Animation as the Head of Production HR.