Longtime Paramount Pictures Executive Stephanie Ito Resigns (EXCLUSIVE)

Matt Donnelly

March 17, 2021, 2:31 PM·2 min read

Trailblazing executive Stephanie Ito is departing Paramount Pictures after a nearly 16-year run.

Currently serving as president of post-production — the first woman to achieve the rank at one of the major studios — Ito informed colleagues of her resignation in an internal memo circulated Wednesday.

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“I am so thankful for my time at the studio. I could have never imagined having the opportunity to work with such amazing colleagues, directors, producers, and craftspeople. It has been an honor,” Ito wrote. “Thank you for working tirelessly, without ego, and toward a common purpose, particularly over this challenging last year. We have grown and become a richly diverse and inclusive family.”

Ito joined Paramount in 2006, where she oversaw post-production on franchises like “Transformers,” “Mission: Impossible” and “Stark Trek,” as well as awards players like “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Interstellar,” “Flight,” “The Big Short” and “Rocketman.” Most recently, she shepherded post on “A Quiet Place” and its forthcoming sequel, and has worked on the Martin Scorsese projects “Shutter Island,” “Silence” and “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

“Stephanie has been a pivotal leader during her time at Paramount, overseeing all aspects of post-production, and making her mark as the first female president of post-production at any major studio,” Paramount Motion Picture Group President Emma Watts said in her own note.

Ito also had an extracurricular presence at the studio, serving as executive co-chair for Viacom’s Asian Media Professionals group. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Ito began her career at Dreamworks in post supervision on “War of the Worlds,” “Munich” and “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”

Read Ito’s full memo:

To my amazing team,

I am writing to tell you I have resigned my position and am leaving Paramount Pictures at the end of the week.

I am so thankful for my time at the studio. I could have never imagined having the opportunity to work with such amazing colleagues, directors, producers, and craftspeople. It has been an honor.

Thank you for working tirelessly, without ego, and toward a common purpose, particularly over this challenging last year. We have grown and become a richly diverse and inclusive family.

Whether in the cutting room, on the dub stage, in the boardroom, or over dinner, we will meet again soon.

Thank you so very much,

Stephanie

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