Paramount Global CEO Calls for Staffers to Focus on Business ‘Execution’ as Acquisition Speculation Swirls, Skydance Media Talks Accelerate

EXCLUSIVE: Greenwich Entertainment has acquired U.S. rights to Copa 71, a documentary about the pioneering “Unofficial Women’s World Cup” that created a sensation in 1971 but has since been virtually erased from history. Rachel Ramsay and James Erskine (Billie) directed the film, which is executive produced by tennis greats Serena and Venus Williams and soccer star Alex Morgan.

UPDATED: The companywide layoffs at Paramount Global on Tuesday impacted about 20 employees at CBS News, including correspondents Catherine Herridge and Jeff Pegues, several sources said.

EXCLUSIVE UPDATED with more names: Details are starting to emerge about the major round of layoffs Tuesday at Paramount Global impacting about 800 employees in the U.S.

Paramount Global has begun a planned round of layoffs, telling U.S.-based employees that those affected by the cutbacks will be notified by the end of Tuesday.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Paramount Global, amid a swirl of M&A discussions, is laying off about 800 employees worldwide — an estimated 3% of its headcount — as it looks to trim costs. CEO Bob Bakish announced the layoffs in a memo Tuesday to staff that was obtained by Variety. According to the memo, U.S.

Alex Ritman “Kneecap,” the wildly raucous comedy biopic about the Irish rap group that became one of the unexpected hits of this year’s Sundance, has scored more international sales. The film, the debut feature of director Rich Peppiatt starring the band members as themselves along with Michael Fassbender, was already picked up in Park City by Sony Pictures Classics, which acquired all rights to the title for North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Turkey and the Middle East.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Shudder, AMC Networks’ streaming service for horror films, thrillers and supernatural stories, has acquired “The Devil’s Bath,” the new film from Austrian horror auteurs Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala. The deal comes ahead of the psychological thriller’s world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it will play in competition.

EXCLUSIVE: We are hearing that Apollo Global Management, who was mulling an offer for National Amusements, the Redstone family company that controls Paramount Global, is no longer considering that now.

Fox Entertainment Global (FEG) is headed to the London TV Screenings with a new-look sales team.

Talk to Me was named Best Film at the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, which were handed out today on the Gold Coast. The teen horror pic also won Best Director for Danny and Michael Philippou and Best Lead Actress for Sophie Wilde.

J. Kim Murphy “Talk to Me” was the runaway winner at this year’s main awards from the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Paramount Global set a new senior vice president over its efforts to win small-and-medium-sized advertisers, another nod of the growing importance of non-traditional market segments to the business of TV, which has long relied on just Madison Avenue’s biggest residents. Paramount named Emily Huo as its senior vice president of “SMB Advertising.” The category often includes entrepreneurial digital advertisers and regional and local marketers who in the past found national TV too broad or, more likely than not, too expensive. In the streaming era, however, smaller advertisers can run pitches aimed at narrower slices of geography or specific consumer niches.

EXCLUSIVE: Former Blue Ant Media execs Solange Attwood and Asha Daniere have launched an “internationally-focused, next generation studio business” out of Canada.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is appalled by the sexually explicit Taylor Swift A.I. deepfakes that are circulating, and is calling for unspecified measures that would prevent its creators from continuing with their production.

Maria Kyriacou, Paramount Global‘s President, Broadcast & Studios, International Markets, is exiting the U.S. studio after four years, as it prepares to slim down its international originals offering.

Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish said today the company will continue to reduce its global workforce “to operate as a leaner company and spend less.” But there were no further details in a memo to staff obtained by Deadline following a “Bob Live” town hall today.  

David Ellison’s Skydance is said to have made a preliminary offer to buy Shari Redstone’s stake in National Amusements, the family holding company that controls Paramount Global, according to a Bloomberg report.

The former chief executive of Greater Manchester’s failing mental health trust was still being paid his £196,000 CEO salary for months after resigning and finishing his duties at the helm. Over the four-month period, the incoming chief executive officer was also being paid the same six-figure salary by the trust, the Manchester Evening News can exclusively reveal.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Australian actor Rebel Wilson has been named as the emcee of the 2024 edition of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) awards. Wilson will take to the stage on Saturday, Feb. 10. Two days earlier, on Feb.

EXCLUSIVE: Amid speculation about its future, Paramount Global is proceeding with a new wave of staff reductions in February, sources tell Deadline. I hear the cuts will impact hundreds of employees across the entire company.