Episode 85: Paramount Denies Ellison's CNN Deal with Trump

Episode 85: Paramount Denies Ellison's CNN Deal with Trump

Paramount formally denied Tuesday that Larry Ellison promised President Trump a CNN overhaul in exchange for support during the Warner Bros. Discovery bidding process — a claim that has now surfaced across three separate reporting cycles since November. The denial lands as Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison is simultaneously pledging editorial independence for CBS News, distancing the company from Bari Weiss as a potential combined-news-operation leader, and searching for a new business executive to run post-merger operations. For agents, showrunners, and executives trying to read who their actual bosses will be inside a combined Paramount-WBD entity, the editorial independence question and the org-chart question are the same question. Key Takeaways: * Paramount's spokesperson denied — on the record to the Wall Street Journal — that either David or Larry Ellison made commitments to any government body, state AG, or federal agency regarding the future of CNN or any other news property. * The Wall Street Journal report is the third in a series: November reporting named CNN hosts Erin Burnett and Brianna Keilar as targets; December reporting implicated David Ellison directly with Trump administration officials. * A White House spokesperson said Trump "consistently maintained he was neutral to all parties throughout the Warner Bros. Discovery bidding process." * David Ellison's editorial independence pledge for CBS News came two weeks ago, directly amid Bari Weiss's disruptive tenure at the network, including upheaval at 60 Minutes. * Sources with knowledge of CBS's thinking told The Wrap there is "no intention" for Weiss to run the combined news operation post-merger — a signal originating inside the organization, not from Ellison's PR apparatus. * Paramount Skydance is actively searching for a new business executive to lead post-merger operations, meaning the leadership structure of a combined Paramount-WBD entity remains unresolved. * State AG scrutiny remains a live regulatory risk — Paramount's categorical denial appears partly calibrated for that audience, given AGs in California and New York have visibility into merger conduct. The denial closes a PR loop but does not resolve the underlying structural tension: Ellison is managing regulatory bodies, journalistic talent, and the creative community simultaneously, all of whom are cross-referencing his public statements against a series of leaked conversations. As the merger org chart gets built and the CNN editorial question remains live, every new report on this thread will carry business consequences — for representation strategy, for talent decisions inside CBS and CNN, and for the regulatory timeline of the deal itself. Subscribe to The Option for daily updates on the business behind the business.

Episode 84: A24 and Google DeepMind's $75M AI Venture

Google DeepMind is investing $75 million into a joint AI venture with A24, making it the first known partnership between a major AI lab and a full-fledged film studio. The multi-year, non-exclusive deal will produce filmmaker-facing tools developed collaboratively — outputs that flow back into Google's ecosystem. For studio heads, agents, and working producers, this is the moment A24 closes the gap on Netflix, Amazon, and Lionsgate in the AI infrastructure arms race — and the terms of how it's structured have real implications for every content company watching from the sidelines. Key Takeaways: * Google DeepMind is investing $75 million in a multi-year AI research partnership with A24 — the first known studio-level deal for DeepMind. * The deal is non-exclusive on both sides: A24 can still work with other AI companies; DeepMind can still partner with other studios. * A24's AI program is run by Scott Belsky (formerly Adobe, co-founder of Behance), leading a team of ~24 — unusually large for A24's lean structure, hired in early 2025. * A24 is already prototyping a storyboard tool, following Martin Scorsese's similar announcement weeks earlier — storyboarding is emerging as the near-term AI use case with the lowest filmmaker resistance. * Competitors already in the AI tooling race: Netflix (internal tools), Amazon Studios (internal tools), Lionsgate (deal with Runway AI). * DeepMind's Veo video generator is expected to be further integrated into the partnership — giving A24 filmmakers access to one of the most capable video generation platforms currently available. * Kane Parsons, director of A24's current biggest theatrical hit Backrooms, has publicly stated he would eliminate generative AI entirely if he could — a significant internal tension for the partnership's filmmaker-trust narrative. The deeper trend this deal accelerates: content brands building bespoke AI models tuned to specific creative voices, rather than relying on general-purpose generation. Whether narrow training sets can produce tools as useful as the broad models is unresolved — but A24 and DeepMind are betting filmmaker trust lives in the customization lane. For agents and producers, the immediate question is which A24 directors engage publicly with the program, and which ones stay quiet. That signal will map the actual fault lines in the director community faster than any survey. Subscribe to The Option for daily updates on the business behind the business.

Episode 83: MSNBC's Next Owner

Comcast earlier this year completed the spinoff of its cable network portfolio — MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network, Golf Channel, and others — placing them under veteran executive Mark Lazarus in a standalone entity. The question of who acquires this portfolio, and on what terms, has direct consequences for every agent, showrunner, and producer with clients or projects at any of these networks. This episode breaks down the buyer landscape, the leverage dynamics in the pre-transaction window, and what the ownership structure means for deal-making. Key Takeaways: * Comcast's cable spinoff includes MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network, and Golf Channel, now operating as a standalone company under Mark Lazarus. * Linear cable networks face structural decline driven by eroding affiliate fees and advertiser migration to streaming and digital platforms. * A financial sponsor buyer (private equity, SPV) signals a cost-extraction thesis — tighter deals, fewer overalls, and decisions optimized for EBITDA margins over creative investment. * A strategic buyer with genuine use for MSNBC's news infrastructure or CNBC's financial news brand reads materially differently — look for investment signals, not just acquisition price. * The pre-transaction window is a leverage moment: current operators have an incentive to demonstrate talent stability to prospective buyers, an incentive that disappears once a buyer is named. * Agents and showrunners should push for front-loaded compensation and defined reversion rights on any projects at these networks, given the uncertain 3-year runway of the portfolio. * USA Network has greenlit projects through prior ownership transitions — but deal structure, not the greenlight itself, is the variable that matters now. The Comcast cable spinoff is a textbook legacy media offload of structural decline. The talent and representation community supplying these networks needs to be negotiating as if the ownership clock is already running — because it is. Watch the buyer announcement closely: strategic vs. financial sponsor is the single most important variable in what these networks look like for the next three to five years. Subscribe to The Option for daily updates on the business behind the business.

Episode 82: Amazon Kills Its Sam Altman Film

Amazon has confirmed it is shelving Artificial, a nearly finished high-profile documentary about OpenAI CEO Sam Altman — a film that, by all accounts, was critical in its portrayal. The move arrives in direct contrast to Amazon's earlier decision to spend $75 million producing and marketing a flattering Melania Trump documentary that landed on Prime Video. For studio executives, producers, agents, and talent with Amazon deals, the business signal is significant: political risk management is now operating above content logic at one of the world's largest film buyers. Key Takeaways: * Amazon confirmed it is dropping Artificial, its documentary about Sam Altman, despite the film being nearly complete. * Amazon spent $75 million to produce and market a Melania Trump documentary earlier this year — that film was released on Prime Video. * The two decisions in sequence constitute a visible pattern: favorable content about Trump-aligned figures gets released; critical content about Trump allies gets buried. * This is a kill at the finish line — not a development pass — which changes the kill-fee math and leverage calculus for talent in active Amazon deals. * Rights reversion is a live question: depending on deal structure, filmmakers may have a path to take Artificial to another buyer. * Amazon has not stated the reason for shelving beyond confirming the decision, but its content behavior over the past several months makes the rationale legible without a quote. * For producers and agents, the practical implication is immediate: the sensitivity map at Amazon Studios now extends to near-complete projects, not just development. This is the kind of move that restructures how talent and their representatives should think about creative risk inside Amazon deals. A studio that pulls a finished film for apparent political reasons is a studio whose greenlight means something different than it did before. Agents negotiating Amazon term deals, producers in active development, and showrunners considering their next overall deal home should be having explicit conversations with their Amazon contacts about where the new lines are drawn — before they find out at the finish line. Subscribe to The Option for daily updates on the business behind the business.

Episode 81: Netflix Denies Lionsgate, But the M&A Clock Is Running

Netflix issued a flat denial Tuesday after Lionsgate shares surged 14% on acquisition speculation — but the denial doesn't close the story. Lionsgate is positioned as a pure-play acquisition target following its May 2025 separation from Starz, with a stock that's climbed from ~$6 to over $16 since the split. That success raises the acquisition floor at a moment when Hollywood consolidation is accelerating fast. This episode breaks down what the Netflix denial actually signals, what Lionsgate's IP slate is worth to a strategic buyer, and where the broader M&A wave is heading. Key Takeaways: * Lionsgate shares surged 14% Tuesday on Netflix merger speculation before giving back 3.5% after-hours on Netflix's denial. * Netflix walked away from Warner Bros. Discovery with a $2.8 billion breakup fee and has also denied interest in Imax and did not bid for Roku. * Lionsgate Studios shares have risen from ~$6 at the May 2025 Starz separation to over $16 — a higher stock price raises the acquisition cost and historically Lionsgate has asked more than the market was ready to pay. * Key Lionsgate IP in play: Michael is approaching $1 billion globally, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping hits this fall, and Mel Gibson's two-part The Resurrection of the Christ is staged for spring 2027 and 2028. * Library rights entanglements remain a due diligence risk that buyers have cited privately — Lionsgate disputes the characterization but it historically compresses deal price. * Netflix confirmed separately it is not pursuing Imax; Raine is fielding interest from strategic buyers and others for the big-screen exhibitor. * Closed or announced major deals in the current consolidation wave: Paramount-Skydance, Paramount-WBD, Charter-Cox, Fox-Roku; Nexstar-Tegna faces state AG litigation. * Netflix has reportedly expressed interest in Sony Pictures, which is not for sale — Sony Group has reaffirmed SPE is central to its corporate strategy. Lionsgate remains the most legible remaining standalone acquisition target in Hollywood. The denial from Netflix is data, not resolution. For agents, producers, and executives whose deal universe depends on knowing who the next buyer is — the rights entanglement question is the variable to track. How that shakes out in due diligence will set the ceiling on any eventual deal price. Watch the fall slate performance and any movement from private equity or strategic buyers on Imax as a parallel signal for where appetite is forming. Subscribe to The Option for daily updates on the business behind the business.