Skydance’s JB Perrette Makes First Moves After Re-Upping Contract

JB Perrette has moved quickly to put together the executives that will report to him at Skydance.

Perrette, who is Co-Chair & Chief Business Officer, Skydance TV and Co-Chair & Chief Business Officer, Skydance Direct-To-Consumer, oversees global distribution, advertising sales, content sales, DTC strategy, marketing and business operations across Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery’s new owner.

Deadline understands that Perrette has signed a new contract, like a number of David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz’s top team. It’s not clear how long Perrette has signed up for, but his colleagues Casey Bloys, who he worked closely with at WBD, signed a five-year deal earlier this month.

He has gotten straight to work; earlier today, he named three executives to oversee content sales, advertising and distribution for him.

David Decker has been named President, Content Sales, coming ahead of the Mipcom international TV market, Jay Askinasi is Chief Revenue Officer, Advertising and Ray Hopkins is President, Distribution.

Decker’s appointment has also led to the first executive from this group to depart following the merger; Kevin MacLellan, who was President of International and Global Content Distribution at Paramount, is exiting, as a result.

Insiders told Deadline that it was important for the divisions that bring in revenue to Skydance to get their houses in order sooner rather than later, compared to the content divisions that are still working out personnel decisions.

Perrette is an interesting case; he was previously CEO and President of Global Streaming and Games for Warner Bros. Discovery and one of David Zaslav’s key lieutenants. But over the last few years, he has built up a key partnership with Bloys as the pair oversaw the growth of the HBO Max streaming service, Bloys on the content side, and Perrette on the business side. He will also now work closely with George Cheeks, who is Co-Chair and Chief Content Officer, Skydance TV.