Executive Team
Chief Executive Officer |
- Chief Creative Officer |
- President & Chief Operating Officer |
- Chief Financial Officer |
- President, Feature Film Production |
- President, New Media Division |
- Head, Animation |
- President, Animation |
- President, Skydance Television |
- SVP, Human Resources |
- President, Global Business & Legal Affairs |
- General Counsel |
David Ellison
Chief Executive Officer
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 of its divisions: feature film, television, interactive and animation.
David currently oversees Skydance’s upcoming film slate including Top Gun: Maverick, The Old Guard, Without Remorse, Snake Eyes, The Tomorrow War and the upcoming seventh and eighth installments of the Mission: Impossible series. Under his leadership, Skydance has produced a number of blockbuster and critically acclaimed films including the recent 6 Underground, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Annihilation, Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond, the Jack Reacher and G.I. Joe films, Terminator: Dark Fate, Gemini Man and the Academy Award-nominated True Grit.
In 2013, David launched Skydance Television, which boasts a diverse slate of series including three Emmy-nominated series: Grace and Frankie and Altered Carbon on Netflix and Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan on Amazon. The slate also includes Condor on AT&T Audience Network, Foundation on Apple TV+ and Jack Reacher on Amazon.
In 2016, David 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 and the mech-shooter Archangel: Hellfire.
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. The division’s animated feature film slate includes Luck, Spellbound (working title) and Powerless (working title). In 2020, David formed Skydance Animation Madrid.
In 2018, David announced that Skydance had entered into a partnership with Tencent Holdings Limited, a leading provider of Internet value added services in China. In 2020, David 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.
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.
Dana Goldberg
Chief Creative Officer
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 feature film slate which includes Top: Gun Maverick, The Old Guard, Without Remorse, Snake Eyes, The Tomorrow War and the upcoming seventh and eighth installments of the critically acclaimed Mission: Impossible series. Dana also helps to oversee Skydance’s animated slate including the films Luck, Spellbound (working title) and Powerless (working title).
In addition to feature films, Dana has creative oversight of Skydance Television’s slate of original series which includes three Emmy-nominated series: Grace and Frankie and Altered Carbon on Netflix and Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan on Amazon. The slate also includes Condor on AT&T Audience Network, Foundation on Apple TV+ and Jack Reacher on Amazon.
Dana joined Skydance in 2010 as President of Production, and was responsible for the entire film slate, which has included 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.
Jesse Sisgold
President & Chief Operating Officer
As President and Chief Operating Officer of Skydance Media, Jesse Sisgold helps to set and execute the overall strategy and growth plan for the company, while managing key operations across all units. He also oversees animation production, business and legal affairs, corporate development, human resources, interactive entertainment, international distribution and co-productions, and television production for the company, and manages relationships across all distribution and co-financing partners.
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 and television series. In 2019, Jesse was instrumental in raising $275 million of equity capital and forming strategic partnerships with Redbird Capital and CJ E&M. The partnership with CJ ENM grows Skydance’s global television business and provides a foothold in the booming South 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. 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.
Jesse was honored in Variety’s Dealmakers Impact Report each of the last five years (2015-2019).
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 and the Paley Media Council. He also serves as a board member of UCLA’s Institute of Environment and Sustainability, Conservation International’s Global Leadership Council, and Angels at Risk. He 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
Chief Financial Officer
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.
Don Granger
President, Feature Film Production
As President of Feature Film Production at Skydance, Don Granger is responsible for overseeing the development and production of the Company’s robust feature film slate, including Top Gun: Maverick, The Old Guard, Without Remorse, Snake Eyes, The Tomorrow War and the upcoming seventh and eighth installments of the critically acclaimed Mission: Impossible series.
Don has over 30 years of experience in shepherding tentpole films, serving as producer on past Skydance releases including 6 Underground, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Annihilation, Terminator: Dark Fate, Gemini Man, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back 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 such blockbuster franchises as Mission: Impossible, Star Trek, Tomb Raider and the Jack Ryan films, 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. degree from Yale University and resides in Southern California with his family.
Amy Hennig
President, New Media Division
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.
Amy holds a B.A. with honors from the University of California, Berkeley, and attended the School of Cinema at San Francisco State University.
John Lasseter
Head, Animation
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 Cars Land, 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.
Holly Edwards
President, Animation
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 first slated feature animation film, Luck, is set for 2021.
Holly is an animation veteran with more than 20 years of experience producing feature films and television. 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 both the Producers Guild of America and ASIFA Hollywood and holds a BA in Media Communications from Webster University in St. Louis.
Bill Bost
President, Skydance Television
As President, Skydance Television, Bill Bost is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the Television department and the studio’s expansive slate of series across all broadcast, cable and streaming platforms.
A nine-year studio veteran, Bill most recently served as Senior Vice President of Television, where he was responsible for overseeing the Emmy-nominated Netflix series Grace and Frankie, starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin (which was recently renewed for a seventh and final season – becoming the streamer’s longest running series). In addition, he oversaw the Emmy-nominated Altered Carbon as well as the upcoming epic drama series Foundation, starring Jared Harris and Lee Pace, for Apple TV+. Bill was also responsible for supervising multiple shows in development.
Before rising through the Skydance ranks as a television development executive, Bill began his career at the company as the executive assistant to CEO and Founder David Ellison, with whom he worked closely on award-winning films including Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Jack Reacher, G.I. Joe: Retaliation and World War Z. Prior to Skydance, he worked with producer Debra Martin Chase at Disney and curated a collection of documentaries for The Documentary Channel/Pivot. Bill began his entertainment career at Ivan Reitman's The Montecito Company.
Bill is a member of the Television Academy and the Paley Media Council.
Kathy Dossett
SVP, Human Resources
Kathy Dossett is Senior Vice President Human Resources for Skydance Media. In this role, she is responsible for setting the company’s overall human resources strategy and culture development. Kathy partners with the Skydance executive team to align the company’s HR functions which includes leading the efforts for employee relations and engagement, organizational structure and company benefits.
Kathy previously served as a Human Resources executive at leading entertainment companies and studios. Past roles include: Vice President of Human Resources for Starz Entertainment and Lionsgate; Head of Human Resources for Relativity Media Studios; Human Resources Business Partner for SONY Pictures Entertainment & Imageworks; Head of Human Resources for IMAGI Animation Studios (Hong Kong); Human Resources Business Partner Director for Walt Disney Studios; Head of Employee Relations & Training, DreamWorks Studios; Head of Human Resources, Magnet Interactive Digital Production Studio; and Human Resource Leader, Santa Monica College.
Kathy graduated from the University of North Texas with a degree in Business.
Jun Oh
President, Global Business & Legal Affairs
As President of Global & Business Legal Affairs, 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, Jun 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. Jun 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. Jun 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.
Stephanie Kyoko McKinnon
General Counsel
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.