Ramsey Naito will step down as president of Paramount Animation.
“I would like to share with you that I am leaving the company and closing this special chapter with you all,” she wrote in a memo to staff Wednesday night. “Leading this incredible team of talented storytellers, artists, and dreamers and watching the magic they create with their imagination and dedication has been one of the great joys of my career.”
Her departure follows the studio’s recent merger with Skydance, which resulted in several significant executive changes. The company’s new chairman and chief executive officer, David Ellison, announced that the company is embarking on a series of layoffs, which are expected to result in approximately 2,000 job cuts in the United States and additional cuts overseas.
“I want to be as open and candid as possible about the reasons behind these changes,” Ellison wrote in a memo earlier in the day about the company-wide layoffs. “In some areas, we are addressing redundancies that have occurred across the organization. In other areas, we are phasing out roles that no longer align with our evolving priorities and new structure designed to strengthen our focus on growth. Ultimately, these actions are necessary for Paramount’s long-term success.”
Naito, an Oscar-nominated producer for 2017’s “The Boss Baby,” began his career at Nickelodeon, returning in 2018 and being promoted to president of animation in 2021. Since then, Mr. Naito has worked at the film studio on films such as “The Smurfs,” “Transformers,” “Paw Patrol,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” and “SpongeBob SquarePants.”
In his previous role overseeing Nickelodeon Animation, Mr. Naito led animated content across all formats and platforms, spanning linear, digital, television movies and feature films. This includes the day-to-day operations of Nickelodeon franchises such as “SpongeBob SquarePants” and its spinoffs “The Patrick Star Show” and “Camp Corral,” as well as the new “Dora the Explorer” series.
“I am extremely proud of the work that the animation team and I have done over the past eight-plus years. From SpongeBob SquarePants to PAW Patrol to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, we are honored to have given new life and love to beloved characters and stories from Paramount and Nickelodeon’s vast library, creating all-new original lithographies for today’s generation,” Naito’s note continued. “Not only am I infinitely proud of what we’ve built, I’m even more proud of the spirit behind it – the collaboration, creativity and kindness that defines this team. As I move forward, I’ll always have your back (and as I watch your work light up screens everywhere, I’ll be singing along to the ‘PAW Patrol’ theme or humming the ‘TMNT’ riff).”
She concluded, “Thank you Josh, Dana, and the incredible leadership team who will take our animation business to new heights.”
She is referring to Paramount Pictures co-chairmen Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, who called Naito “an incredible partner and leader.”
“We are extremely grateful to Mr. Ramsey for his creativity, dedication, and lasting impact on the direction of our animation,” Goldberg and Greenstein said in a statement. “She has been a great partner and leader, and her work has left a lasting mark on the studio as we work into the future.”
