Paramount Animation’s Ramsey Naito Exits
Ramsey Naito is exiting her post as president of Paramount Animation.
“I want to share with you that I am leaving the company and closing this very special chapter with all of you,” she wrote on Wednesday night in a note to staff. “Leading this incredible team of talented storytellers, artists and dreamers, and watching the magic that you’ve spun from your imagination and dedication, has been one of the great joys of my career.”
Her departure follows the studio’s recent merger with Skydance, which has resulted in several significant executive shuffles. David Ellison, the company’s new chairman and CEO, announced he’s undertaking a series of staffing cuts that are expected to eliminate approximately 2,000 jobs in the U.S. with additional layoffs taking place internationally.
“We want to be as open and direct as possible about the reasons behind these changes,” Ellison wrote in memo earlier in the day about the companywide cuts. “In some areas, we are addressing redundancies that have emerged across the organization. In others, we are phasing out roles that are no longer aligned with our evolving priorities and the new structure designed to strengthen our focus on growth. Ultimately, these steps are necessary to position Paramount for long-term success.”
An Oscar-nominated producer of 2017’s “Boss Baby,” Naito started her career at Nickelodeon and returned in 2018 before she was promoted to president of the animation division in 2021. Since then, Naito was responsible for breathing new life into broadly appealing franchises at the film studio such as “Smurfs,” “Transformers,” “PAW Patrol,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and “SpongeBob SquarePants.”
In her previous role overseeing Nickelodeon Animation, Naito led animated content across all formats and platforms, spanning linear, digital, TV movies, theatrical motion pictures. This included the day-to-day operations of Nickelodeon’s franchises, including “SpongeBob SquarePants” and its spinoffs like “The Patrick Star Show” and “Kamp Koral” as well as a new “Dora the Explorer” series.
“I am so proud of the work the animation teams and I have done for the last 8+ years. I am honored to have given new life and love to the beloved characters and stories within the vast Paramount and Nickelodeon libraries — from ‘SpongeBob’ to ‘PAW Patrol’ to ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ — and the birth of a whole new slate of originals for today’s generation,” Naito’s note continued. “Not only am I endlessly proud of what we’ve built, but even more so the spirit behind it — the collaboration, creativity, and kindness that define this team. Though I’m moving on, I’ll always be cheering you on (and singing along to the ‘PAW Patrol’ theme or humming the ‘TMNT’ riff when I see your work lighting up screens everywhere).”
She concluded, “Thank you to Josh, Dana and the fantastic leadership team who I know will keep propelling our animation business to great heights.”
She’s referring to Paramount Pictures co-chairs Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, who called Naito an “incredible partner and leader.”
“We’re so appreciative of Ramsey’s creativity, dedication, and lasting influence on our animation slate,” Goldberg and Greenstein said in a statement. “She’s been an incredible partner and leader, and her work has left a lasting mark on our studio as we look toward the future.”
