How a failed actor used his father’s immense wealth to become one of Hollywood’s most powerful men
In 2006, movie studio Skydance Productions was formed as a way to give the son of one of the world’s richest men a shot at his dream.
Software tycoon Larry Ellison put tens of millions of dollars into the production of Flyboys, a World War I-era action movie starring his son David.
James Franco and David Ellison in Flyboys. Skydance
The film was a critical and commercial flop, costing $86 million to make and grossing $24 million.
Critics panned the script, the historical accuracy, and the performance of David Ellison.
But 20 years on, Skydance is now one of the biggest media companies in the world, having swallowed up major studios Paramount and Warner Bros. in a massive merger.
Now films which would have begun with the famed Warner Bros. logo or the iconic Paramount mountain will now begin with the word Skydance.
And heading the major conglomerate is 43-year-old David Ellison, backed by his father.
The merger has put Ellison in charge of not just a massive part of Hollywood, but of the wider media industry.
He now has control over CBS, CNN, HBO and channels like MTV, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon.
CEO of Paramount Skydance David Ellison, right, and wife Sandra Lynn Modic. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
In Australia, Skydance now owns Network Ten and the Warner Bros. Movie World theme park.
Ellison didn’t give up his acting career after Flyboys, but the movie is an ignominious high point of his on-screen career.
He later starred in a sex comedy called Hole in One.
The film's plot is about a student who is tricked by a sadistic surgeon into getting breast implants, forcing him to try and get the surgery reversed by winning a golf game.
It was not a success.
Ellison also wrote another film and offered Taylor Lautner millions to star in it.
Lautner pulled out after learning he would be acting alongside Ellison, according to Deadline Hollywood.
Ellison did transition into a more successful career away from the camera, bankrolling sequels to hit franchises like Star Trek, Mission: Impossible and Terminator.
Now Hollywood and the wider media are worried about the immense power Ellison has accumulated.
Ellison previously donated large sums of money to Joe Biden when he was president.
Since then he has become a major supporter of Donald Trump, attending the State of the Union as an invited guest of late senator Lindsey Graham.
As head of CBS, Ellison installed conservative commentator Bari Weiss to run the company’s news division.
Since then there has been a mass exodus of top journalists from the network.
Larry Ellison is one of the world’s richest men. Getty Images
Former CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley was fired after he criticised Weiss in a staff meeting.
Ratings for CBS News and 60 Minutes have since sharply dropped during Weiss’ tenure.
CBS was also strongly criticised for axing The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the top rating late night talk show.
The network was accused of acting at the behest of Trump, who has a long-running animosity with Colbert.
Curiously, one Hollywood studio not swallowed up in the Skydance conglomerate is the one founded by Ellison's sister.
Megan Ellison also set out to make it in Hollywood, but took a different direction with the money her father gave her.
Her independent studio Annapurna has made critically acclaimed but not necessarily high grossing films since forming in 2012.
In 2013 alone, Annapurna films received 17 Academy Award nominations.
In its first seven years of existence, Annapurna made five films that were nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards - Zero Dark Thirty, Her, American Hustle, Phantom Thread and Vice.
Hustlers was a rare financial smash for Annapurna. Supplied
Others, like Hustlers, The Master, Foxcatcher and The Invite all got great reviews.
But its fortunes faltered somewhat after a strong start, and after a series of flops the studio reportedly got a bailout worth more than $200 million to keep the lights on.
Annapurna laid off about 15 per cent of its staff last month.
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