The Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger has officially created a much bigger entertainment company called Skydance. The deal took effect Tuesday and brings together major Hollywood studios, television networks, streaming services and news businesses under one company. The merger is also a sign of how strongly Big Tech is influencing Hollywood.
Skydance wants to run the new company more like a technology company. Technology is a major part of CEO David Ellison’s plan for the combined business, alongside the traditional Hollywood focus on movies, television and storytelling. CNN reported that Skydance has repeatedly highlighted its technology plans while presenting the company to Wall Street.
Skydance becomes a tech-focused company
Newly appointed co-CEO Ynon Kreiz said technology will be central to the company. He said Skydance wants to build a highly capable media company around a modern technology platform that can improve the user experience, make work more efficient and reduce operating costs. Kreiz said this on Monday.
Technology was mentioned nine times in the company’s leadership announcement. The new management team includes executives with backgrounds at major technology companies such as Google, Facebook and Scale AI. The leadership announcement repeatedly highlighted technology as a key part of Skydance’s future.
AI will power Skydance’s plans
Artificial intelligence will be used across the business. Ellison has described AI as a “force multiplier” that can help people in the creative industry do more rather than simply replace them. CNN reported that Skydance executives have signaled plans to use AI throughout the company.
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Skydance also wants to upgrade the technology behind its streaming services. This includes HBO Max, which became part of the company after the Warner Bros. Discovery deal. The goal is to make the streaming experience easier and more competitive with major rivals. Improving the technology powering streaming services is a major part of the plan.
The company says consumers should eventually get a simpler streaming experience. Skydance said its direct-to-consumer streaming products will see major improvements and will eventually be brought together into a single service. Skydance said Tuesday that consumers can expect more innovation from a company with technology at its core.
Paramount and Warner bring huge scale
The merger is a major achievement for David Ellison, who is only 43. Ellison started his production company in Hollywood about two decades ago and later gained control of Paramount. Ellison took control of Paramount in August 2025 with financial backing from his father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.
Streaming tech could bring layoffs
The technology overhaul could also mean layoffs. Paramount and Warner have overlapping technology systems and other operations, so Skydance will likely look for ways to combine them and remove duplication. eMarketer Senior Analyst Ross Benes told CNN that when he hears Skydance talk about making the company more technology-focused, he also hears the possibility of layoffs.
The company wants to make its different streaming systems work together. Paramount+ and HBO Max could eventually be offered together, while their underlying technology systems could also be unified. Gerry Cardinale, a key architect of the merger, said Skydance plans to unify the technology stacks across its direct-to-consumer businesses, according to CNN.
Cardinale believes Hollywood has to adopt Silicon Valley’s way of working. He said the industry needs to become more like a technology company if it wants to compete with the major technology companies based in Silicon Valley. Cardinale made the comments at the Bloomberg Screentime conference last week.
AI could create new Hollywood revenue
AI could change Hollywood even further. The technology is increasingly being used for tasks such as editing content and creating characters, while also raising concerns about whether some human jobs could disappear. That AI is creating new possibilities across the entertainment production process while potentially reducing the need for some workers.
Ellison does not see AI as a replacement for human creativity. He has said AI should instead act as a tool that helps filmmakers and creative workers bring their ideas to life more fully. Ellison made those comments to CNBC earlier this year.
Skydance could also use AI to make more money from its huge library of entertainment properties. The company owns or will control decades of intellectual property, creating possible new opportunities for licensing characters and other content for AI products. AI could create new licensing opportunities for Skydance.
Kreiz has experience that could help with this strategy. Before joining Skydance, he was CEO of Mattel, a company that makes money from valuable characters and entertainment brands through licensing. CNN pointed to Kreiz’s Mattel background when discussing the possible business opportunities around intellectual property.
Ellison brings in Silicon Valley talent
Ellison has been hiring technology experts to help build his strategy. Last year, he brought in Dane Glasgow, a former Google and Meta executive, as Paramount’s chief product officer. Glasgow is one of the key Silicon Valley hires supporting Ellison’s technology plans.
Ellison has made the central challenge very clear: Hollywood must build technology that can compete with Silicon Valley. When he took control of Paramount last year, Ellison said that without a technology product capable of competing with what Silicon Valley creates, a media company cannot compete successfully. CNN reported Ellison’s comments from the day he took over Paramount.
