Dan Cohen

NOTABLE WORK AND POSITIONS

Paramount Global — former Chief Content Licensing Officer and President, Republic Pictures (2017–2025)
The Walt Disney Company — former Executive Vice President of Pay Television and Digital Sales, Disney/ABC Home Entertainment and Television Distribution (20 years)
Showtime Networks — former Vice President, Film Acquisitions and Co-Productions
Tele-TV Media — former Vice President, Program Acquisitions and Scheduling

BIOGRAPHY

Dan Cohen spent 20 years at Disney/ABC, most recently serving as executive vice president of pay television and digital sales for the Walt Disney Studios' home entertainment and television distribution division, where he oversaw distribution of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, ABC and Disney Channel content to businesses worldwide. While at Disney, he negotiated two of the industry's most significant pay-television licensing agreements: a 1999 deal with Starz and a 2012 exclusive deal with Netflix. Earlier in his career, he held roles at Post-Newsweek Cable, Palmer Cablevision and Viewer's Choice, was vice president of film acquisitions and co-productions at Showtime Networks, and was vice president of program acquisitions and scheduling at Tele-TV Media.

In April 2017, Paramount Pictures hired Cohen as president of worldwide television licensing, reporting to then-chief operating officer Andrew Gumpert, to oversee the global licensing and distribution of the studio's films, television series and other content. He was later promoted to president of Worldwide Home Entertainment & Television Distribution for Paramount Pictures, then to president of global content licensing at ViacomCBS, and ultimately to chief content licensing officer of Paramount, a role in which he led licensing and distribution for content from the CBS Television Network, The CW, Paramount+ with Showtime, Paramount Pictures, CBS Studios, CBS News, CBS Media Ventures, MTV Entertainment Studios, Nickelodeon, VIS and Miramax. He also served concurrently as president of Republic Pictures, a Paramount label he revitalized starting in March 2023; under his leadership, Republic hosted world premieres including “BlackBerry” at the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival, “Self Reliance” at SXSW 2023, William Friedkin's final film, “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial,” in 2023, and “September 5” at the 2024 Venice Film Festival.

Cohen stepped down from both his chief content licensing officer and Republic Pictures president roles in July 2025, notifying staff of his departure ahead of Skydance Media's approximately $8 billion acquisition of Paramount Global, which closed on August 7, 2025, and brought in a new management team led by Skydance chief executive David Ellison and former NBCUniversal executive Jeff Shell.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

1. Netflix and Starz pay-television deals. While at Disney, negotiated a landmark 1999 pay-TV licensing agreement with Starz and a 2012 exclusive deal with Netflix.

2. Chief Content Licensing Officer, Paramount, 2017–2025. Rose from president of worldwide television licensing to lead all global content licensing and distribution for Paramount's television and film portfolio.

3. Revitalization of Republic Pictures, 2023. Relaunched the Paramount-owned film label, which went on to premiere films at the Berlin, SXSW and Venice film festivals.