Kevin MacLellan Leaves Skydance as International Business Is Reorganised
Kevin MacLellan is leaving Skydance Corp after just over a year running Paramount’s international business.
Variety reported the departure on 8 October 2026. It ends a short tenure at the top of one of television’s largest overseas operations.
MacLellan served as president of global content distribution and international at Paramount. He reported directly to David Ellison, the Skydance chief who now leads the combined company.
The job covered a lot of ground. He directed worldwide licensing of Paramount, CBS and Skydance film and television shows to streaming services and digital stores where viewers rent or buy titles. He also held direct operating responsibility for Channel 5 in the United Kingdom and Network 10 in Australia, plus international cable networks including MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon.
His exit is tied to a wider reshuffle. All networks and streaming platforms outside the United States will sit under JB Perrette, according to the same report. Perrette is co-chair and chief business officer of the Skydance TV and direct-to-consumer streaming divisions, meaning services sold straight to viewers, and is a former Warner Bros. Discovery executive.
MacLellan joined Paramount in August 2025 when Ellison’s Skydance Media closed its $8 billion merger with Paramount Global to create Paramount Skydance Corp. Prior to joining, he had advised RedBird Capital Partners on its investment in Paramount.
He is a long-time distribution executive. He spent nearly two decades at NBCUniversal, most recently as chairman of global distribution and international, leaving in 2020. He also held senior roles at Sony Pictures and HBO.
The departure follows several days of uncertainty around the role. Variety reported on 5 October that Skydance planned to reorganise its international operations and that MacLellan would not move into the new C-suite. Deadline had reported around the same time that MacLellan had looked set to take the top international post.
For viewers, this means little changes on screen for now. Schedules, channels and streaming libraries stay in place while new reporting lines settle. What shifts is who decides what gets sold where, which channels get investment, and how shows travel between countries.
