Skydance Media

Skydance Productions was formed in 2006 by David Ellison. The firm's first film was Flyboys in 2006, starring Ellison and co-financed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.[3]

In the fall of 2009, Skydance and Paramount Pictures signed a five-year co-financing, production and distribution agreement, with Paramount holding the additional option of distribution. Before August 2010, Skydance hired Dana Goldberg, formerly of Village Roadshow Pictures, to oversee development and production. In August 2010, with the Paramount partnership and an equity investment by the then sixth richest person in the world, Ellison's father Larry Ellison, Skydance raised $350 million in equity and credit to co-finance its films.[3]

On May 1, 2013, Skydance launched Skydance Television, hiring Marcy Ross as division president.[4] Skydance renewed it slate deal with Paramount in the summer of 2013 for four more years.[5]

In 2014, Jesse Sisgold joined Skydance as President of Business Affairs & Strategic Planning[6] and later that year was upped to Chief Operating Officer.[7] He was again promoted in 2017 to President & COO.[8]

In March 2014, Don Granger joined the company as the newly created post EVP Feature Productions, and he would report to Dana Goldberg, company's chief creative officer.[9]

In March 2015, Anne Globe joined the company as Chief Marketing Officer.[10]

Later that same year, Skydance raised $700 million in new financing. The refinancing included $200 million in equity from a group of investors, and a $500 million line of credit from J.P. Morgan Chase.[5] On May 3, 2016, Skydance Media used part of its new financing to purchase game developer The Workshop Entertainment, Inc. The Workshop Entertainment was renamed and organized as Skydance Interactive, LLC.[11] David Ellison's company also created a production label named Uncharted in December 2016 in order to house content that falls outside of the action, sci-fi or fantasy genre.[12]

On March 16, 2017, Skydance launched the Skydance Animation division by forming a multi-year partnership with Madrid-based Ilion Animation Studios. Two projects are already in the works, with one of them originally eyeing a March 2021 release.[13] In August 2017, Skydance and Paramount renewed their slate deal for another four years to 2021, with the addition of Skydance's animated films for distribution.[14]

On January 25, 2018, Tencent bought a 5% to 10% minority stake.[1][15] Jun Oh was hired by Skydance Media as head of theatrical, interactive and legal affairs in October 2018.[16]

In February 2020, RedBird Capital Partners and CJ ENM invested in the company.[17] More recently, the company signed a first look TV deal with Exile Content Studio.[18] Even more recently, the company signed a first look deal with Impact, a company owned by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer for TV productions.[19]

Skydance Interactive is a game studio focused on developing ambitious titles, managing projects licenses to other developers, and developing innovative game mechanics and software for VR and emerging platforms. The division of Skydance Media was launched in 2016.[32] In 2017, its first VR game, Archangel was launched. The game recently expanded into an online multiplayer upgrade, Archangel: Hellfire. [33]

In 2017, Skydance Interactive partnered with Skybound Entertainment to develop a number of original virtual reality video games based on the expansive world of The Walking Dead universe.[34] The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners will be the inaugural title co-developed by the two companies. The studio is located in Marina del Rey, CA.[35]

Skydance Animation

Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Animation Motion pictures
Founded	2017 (2017)
Headquarters	United States
Key people	Holly Edwards (President) John Lasseter (Head of Animation)
Parent	Skydance Media

Skydance formed a multi-year partnership in March 2017 with Madrid-based Ilion Animation Studios and in July, announced its first two animated feature films — Luck, which opens on February 18, 2022, and Spellbound on November 11, 2022. On October 10, 2017, Bill Damaschke was hired to head the division as president of animation and family entertainment.[36]

Skydance Animation has signed on directors Alessandro Carloni (Kung Fu Panda 3) to direct Luck, Vicky Jenson (Shrek) to direct Spellbound, and Nathan Greno (Tangled) to helm Pookoo (formerly known as Powerless).[37] Peggy Holmes (Secret of the Wings and The Pirate Fairy) was later announced as new director of Luck, replacing Carloni who left over creative differences.[38]

Skydance Animation hired former Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios CCO John Lasseter as Head of Animation in late January 2019, supplanting Damaschke.[39] This decision was met with disapproval from some contributors to various Skydance projects, owing to prior allegations of sexual misconduct against Lasseter during his time with Pixar.[40] Conversely, Damaschke stated that many people "[...] had strong feelings and felt like it was the right thing to do [...] and were excited to get to work with him" and it was "[...] definitely not a black-and-white situation."[41] Emma Thompson was to voice a character in Luck but left the project after Lasseter was hired.[42]

Holly Edwards, who previously served as Skydance Animation's Head of Production, was promoted to the position of president at Skydance Animation.[43]

On April 2, 2020, composer Alan Menken revealed that he is working alongside Lasseter on a project for the studio,[44] which was later announced to be Spellbound.[45] Skydance formally acquired Ilion Studios and rebranded it as Skydance Animation Madrid in April 2020.[46] On July 30, the studio named Shane Prigmore for the newly created position of Senior Vice President of Development for Animation, in which he will oversee the creative development of all feature films and television series.[47] On December 16, 2020, Apple TV+ entered talks to take over the distribution rights to the films Luck and Spellbound.[48]

• Official website
• Skydance Media at IMDb