Former Paramount Co-CEO Chris McCarthy is in talks to join NBCUniversal as a producer to help wrangle Taylor Sheridan.
McCarthy is expected to join the company to help handle its relationship with Yellowstone co-creator Taylor Sheridan, who signed a big film and TV deal at the Comcast-owned studio last month.
While the move is somewhat of a surprise, it makes sense for Donna Langley and Pearlena Igbokwe and their teams, given that McCarthy was the man that handled Paramount’s relationship with the ranch-owning writer. Deadline understands it is a standalone producing deal with McCarthy working with Glasser’s 101 Studios.
Sheridan’s huge five-year overall deal for film, TV and streaming will begin January 1, 2029 after Sheridan’s overall TV deal with Paramount ends in 2028. Sheridan’s other close collaborator and producing partner, David Glasser and his 101 Studios shingle, also signed a deal with NBCUniversal that will begin in early 2026, after it fulfills its current obligations to Paramount.
McCarthy left Paramount earlier this year as David Ellison’s Skydance took over the company, having spent 22 years at the company. The rumor at the time of his exit was that he was likely to remain working with Sheridan.
In addition to serving as Co-CEO of Paramount Global alongside George Cheeks and Brian Robbins since April 2024, McCarthy was in charge of Showtime/MTV Entertainment, which produced Sheridan’s shows, which also include Mayor of Kingstown, Tulsa King, Lioness and Landman.
It was essentially Sheridan’s success that put McCarthy at the top of that mountain with the Sicario writer fueling Paramount+’s growth.
McCarthy was the one who signed a huge overall deal five years ago, with Sheridan at Paramount, thought to be worth $200M. The two always seemed close. Earlier this year, Sheridan told Bloomberg, which broke the news of McCarthy’s move, that he wanted Paramount to keep McCarthy. “I don’t know of another executive that I could do this with,” he said.