By Matt Ott & Paul Harloff
Sony Pictures and the private equity firm Apollo Global Management have expressed interest in buying Paramount Global for $26 billion, according to a person familiar with the details.
Sony would be the majority shareholder and Apollo would have a minority stake, according to the person, who requested anonymity because details of the offer have not been made public.
The Sony-Apollo offer was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. The Journal reported previously that Apollo had made an offer to buy Paramount on its own but Paramount's board had concerns about the bid, including whether it could arrange financing for a deal.
The Journal and others have reported that Paramount is considering a possible merger with Skydance, David Ellison's media company that has helped produce such Paramount releases as "Top Gun: Maverick" and "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning."
Earlier this week, New York-based Paramount said that Bob Bakish would step down as CEO of the film, television and multimedia company, to be replaced by a troika of executives who will form a new "Office of the CEO."
Matt Ott & Paul Harloff are AP writers
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More