Sony Pictures Entertainment Names Disney’s Jill Ratner General Counsel

EXCLUSIVE: Veteran Sony Pictures Television (SPT) executive Steve Kent is leaving his role to focus solely on The Young and the Restless.

Mary J. Blige is bringing her mission to empower women beyond her music to her hometown — with the help of the singer’s superstar friends. Taraji P.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor In the latest twist in Paramount Global‘s M&A saga, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Apollo Global Management reportedly have made a bid to take Paramount private with an all-cash buyout offer of $26 billion. Sony and private-equity giant Apollo submitted an offer letter Wednesday to Paramount Global, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. The report comes as Paramount Global board’s special committee established to consider M&A proposals is evaluating the best and final offer from Skydance Media to merge Paramount and Skydance, while keeping Paramount Global public.

Sony Pictures Television has brought on Kate Gill as SVP, Comedy Development. In her new role, she will focus on developing new comedy series for all platforms for the U.S. scripted division. Reporting to Colin Davis, EVP, Comedy Development, Gill will be based in SPT’s Culver City, CA headquarters and starts her new role on May 13.

EXCLUSIVE: Wednesday and Elvis producer Gail Berman, founder and CEO of The Jackal Group, has signed a three-year overall deal with Sony Pictures Television. Under the pact, which starts today, the industry veteran will develop and produce scripted series for cable and streaming platforms.

Naman Ramachandran Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) has signed a one-year deal that is a mix of exclusive and non-exclusive library titles for the Pakistan market with streamer Begin. Backed by venture accelerator Z2C Limited, Begin is an SVOD platform that serves the Southwest Asian region, with licensed deals in live sports and entertainment.

EXCLUSIVE: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice writers and creators of the smash hit Netflix series Wednesday, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, have signed a first-look deal with Sony Pictures to develop films through the duo’s Millar Gough Ink banner, Deadline has learned.

Sony’s SVP of Corporate Communications for the Motion Picture Group, Tahra Grant, has been upped to EVP, Chief Communcations Officer for Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Sony Pictures Entertainment has hired Jill Ratner as their EVP and General Counsel, overseeing all of the studio’s legal functions, compliance and labor relations, SPE music affairs, government/external matters, and corporate social responsibility teams. 

William Earl Variety and Sony Pictures Television will host an invite-only FYC Showcase in Los Angeles on May 7 featuring activations and three panel conversations with creatives from “Gen V,” “For All Mankind,” “Justified: City Primeval,” “Platonic,” “Twisted Metal,” “Outlander” and “The Wheel of Time.” All conversations will be moderated by a Variety editor and available on Variety.com following the event. Programming includes: Building a Television Universe A conversation between showrunners and key below-the-line talent on how to successfully build a universe in the competitive television landscape.

Wheelhouse is getting ready for a rollercoaster ride.

EXCLUSIVE: The new 28 Years Later trilogy from director Danny Boyle and Sony Pictures is gaining momentum, and some serious star power. Sources tell Deadline that Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes have boarded the first pic, a sequel to the original 28 Days Later.

EXCLUSIVE: Lissette Feliciano (Women Is Losers) is attached to write and direct On Your Feet, a feature adaptation of the same-name Broadway musical that’s in early development at Sony Pictures, Deadline has learned.

EXCLUSIVE: Nina Lederman, Sony Pictures Television’s (SPT) global scripted boss, is exiting amid the slowdown.

A witness who reported seeing a man "running for his life" from the Jill Dando murder scene has identified him as a Serbian assassin.

Clue is set to get another crack at the remake treatment.

Fingerprints which were hoped to hold a vital clue in the Jill Dando murder case have never been identified. The marks were reportedly left by a "crazy" man on a traffic light post as he sprinted away from the murder scene.

A man wanted for questioning in relation to the Jill Dando murder bears a striking resemblance to a Serbian secret services assassin, an investigation has revealed.

In a shocking development in the Jill Dando murder investigation 25 years after the crime was committed, a man has been revealed to bear a remarkable semblance to a feared Serbian hitman. In an exclusive probe by The Mirror startling similarities were revealed between the unknown man captured on CCTV along the alleged escape route of Dando's killer and twice-convicted murderer Milorad Ulemek, serving a 40-year sentence in Serbia.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Sony Pictures Entertainment and Apollo Global Management are considering a possible joint bid for Paramount Global. News of the discussions was first reported by the New York Times. Sources close to the situation confirmed the conversations but cautioned that there are numerous obstacles that would need to be overcome before the sides could formally submit an offer.