Hollywood Reacts to David Ellison Appointment

For some in Hollywood, Skydance’s $8 billion acquisition of Paramount is a relief: a historic movie studio and entertainment conglomerate will be largely left standing. That’s compared to the fact that if Sony had actually acquired Paramount, we would have seen a potential reduction in theatrical releases, a move that would have a huge impact on the production and exhibition ecosystem.

Dean Devlin, who produced the 2006 film Flyboyswhich starred a young David Ellison, hailed the financier-producer's talents Monday as the executive best suited to lead a studio, and whose creativity shines a bright light at a time when the industry is facing change.

“The massive explosion of Silicon Valley was driven by companies run by engineers and visionaries who were passionate about what they were building,” Devlin said. “David Ellison is a filmmaker first and foremost. I knew him well early in his career. His motivation for starting his company wasn’t monetary. He built his company so he could make the movies and TV shows that inspired him. So he could tell stories. The entertainment industry needs leaders who, at their core, love and are passionate about filmmaking and aren’t in it just to make money. David is a brilliant leader, but he’s not an accountant. He’s a creative first and foremost. He’s a fan, an artist, and a builder. At a time when the entertainment industry seems to have lost its way, having someone like David lead a historic company like Paramount is the hope we need.”

RELATED: Paramount Global Co-CEOs Tell Staff It's 'Business as Usual' Until Skydance Deal Closes

Devlin isn’t alone in thinking this way. On Monday, Paramount’s incoming chairman Jeff Shell gushed about Ellison during Skydance’s conference call with Paramount: “It’s been a long time since a creative director has led one of the great Hollywood companies, and I think it’s very important, when creativity is at the heart of working with the artists in our company, to have someone like David at the helm of the company. If you wanted to go into a lab and design the perfect director for the next generation of Hollywood companies, you would literally bring David Ellison out, because not only can he go to a table read, he can go into the next room and code.”

RELATED: Shari Redstone Tells Staff Skydance Has 'Resources to Leverage Paramount Global's Competitive Advantages'

Michael O'Leary, president of the National Association of Theatre Owners, also spoke this morning. He had this to say about the Paramount-Skydance merger from the exhibitors' perspective:

On behalf of movie theater owners in the United States and around the world, NATO will closely examine the details of the proposed merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media. Our guiding principle in this analysis will be whether or not this transaction will result in more films being produced for the global movie theater audience. We are encouraged by the commitment that David Ellison and the Skydance Media team have demonstrated in the past to theatrical distribution.

A transaction that reaffirms Paramount's historic commitment to theatrical exhibition will benefit consumers by ensuring a broad range of films, across all genres and budgets, that are synonymous with Paramount's proud heritage. Films like The Godfather, Top Gun: Maverick, Impossible mission, Terms of Endearment, Beverly Hills Cop, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Forrest Gump, The Raiders of the Lost Arkamong others, all of which are best experienced in a room full of moviegoers.

Conversely, a merger that resulted in fewer films being produced would not only harm consumers and lead to lower revenues, but would also have a negative impact on the people who work in all sectors of this great industry: creation, distribution and exhibition.

A Paramount that recognizes the unique place theaters have in communities across this country and around the world will be a catalyst for more moviegoing options to be available to today's moviegoers and to generations of new fans in the years to come.

We look forward to learning more about this proposal and working with all interested parties to achieve the critical goal of seeing more films on the big screen.

At the time of writing, Paramount Global stock was trading at $11.46, -3%, following this morning's investor call.