Paramount+ Canada originals chief Tom Hastings exits

Tom Hastings

Tom Hastings, who had overseen originals for Paramount+ in Canada, is leaving the streamer.

Hastings joined Paramount in late 2022 and led commissioning on Canadian originals for the US studio’s streamer, although no shows have yet emerged.

He joined Paramount having been VP of scripted at Muse Entertainment and also led original drama for Canuck operator Bell Media.

Fellow Paramount Canada exec Katrina Kowalski, who had most recently been VP of content for Pluto TV and Paramount+ in Canada, took up the new role of SVP of international content programming and acquisitions for Pluto TV last year.

She reports into Olivier Jollet, EVP & international general manager of Pluto TV, and Jeff Grossmann, EVP of streaming content and business operations at Paramount.

Paramount has been cutting staff across it operations over the past year and CEO Bob Bakish confirmed in January that the streamer would be pulling back on international originals in a bid to achieve profitability.

The company has been in the process of cutting around 800 jobs since the start of the year, following 120 exits as Showtime and Paramount+ brands were integrated.

There have already been cutbacks at the Smithsonian Channel and the merging of the Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios teams.

The US studio is also at the centre of takeover discussions, with Skydance in exclusive talks for the Yellowstone and Top Gun producer.

Skydance became the frontrunner for Paramount last week and now details have emerged over the proposed acquisition, which would see the David Ellison-led firm joined by All3Media’s soon-to-be-owner RedBird Capital and Leonine owner KKR as shareholders in the US studio. Canadian trade Playback broke the news.