The leadership teams across divisions at the new Skydance are continuing to be hashed out, three weeks after the Paramount-Warner Bros. On Friday, Skydance chief communications officer Melissa Zukerman announced the senior members of her team in a memo to staff — and announced the departures of several execs. In her memo, Zuckerman said Skydance has the opportunity to “rethink how we communicate – moving beyond traditional channels and finding new ways to reach people directly.” To that end, the company is launching a “direct to market” function focused on “expanding executive storytelling across our owned-and-operated platforms and identifying new channels and formats.” That, Zuckerman wrote, “will give us more ways to tell our own story, in our own voice, directly to the people we want to reach.” Zuckerman’s four top lieutenants are: Laura Watson, EVP, head of corporate, executive and strategic communications (who joined Paramount in mid-2025 after leaving WBD); Shannon Buck, EVP, corporate communications and media relations (previously head of communications for Paramount+); Virginia Fout, EVP, global and executive events (previously owner/president of V Productions); and Deborah Marcus, SVP, head of corporate social responsibility (who joined Paramount in August 2025).
Zuckerman also thanked the comms teams members from Paramount and Warner Bros. who will be leaving the company: Arielle Falkowitz, Megan Klein, Joe Libonati, Adrienne O’Hara, Karen Shosfy, Heather Wagoner and Dennis Williams. Communications is an essential part of how this company operates every day. Our role is to protect and promote our business and our people – advancing our priorities, strengthening our reputation and ensuring that those who matter to our success understand who we are, what we stand for and where we are going.
To do that well, we need to be deeply connected to the business, close to our leaders and teams, and always ready to engage. And we have an extraordinary opportunity in front of us. Few companies have the breadth of businesses, brands, content and creative talent that we do – or the ability to reach so many people in so many ways.
We have a chance to harness the full power of that ecosystem, bringing greater creativity and impact to our communications and using our platforms to build stronger, more direct and meaningful connections. David and Ynon have set three priorities: establish Skydance as the premier Hollywood content engine and home for the world’s leading storytellers; accelerate our integrated direct-to-consumer platform with great content, leading-edge technology and a superior fan experience; and optimize our highly profitable linear television portfolio, anchored by CBS. Underpinning all three is an ambition to build the most technologically capable media company – delivering more and better experiences for consumers, empowering our teams and operating with greater effectiveness, all while keeping human creativity at the heart of great storytelling.
Our job in Communications is to help move that strategy forward – by telling the stories of our storytellers, creatives, technologists and business leaders: their triumphs, their progress and, yes, their challenges. We build understanding of where we’re going and confidence in our ability to get there, making sure our words are always backed by our actions. We show, not tell – letting our work and our results speak for themselves, communicating with transparency and grounding everything we say in facts.
That’s how we earn credibility and trust. And we need an organization ready to deliver on that mandate. At its center is a Corporate Communications function responsible for enterprise and executive communications, working hand-in-hand with teams embedded across our businesses.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
