NBCU, Netflix Alum Shannon Buck Joins Paramount to Head Up Direct-to-Consumer PR and Communications

PR and communications vet Shannon Buck is joining Paramount, where she’ll serve as exec VP, head of communications and PR for Paramount Direct to Consumer. In the new gig, which officially start Monday, her oversight includes global communications and publicity strategy.

Buck joins from NBCUniversal, where she was most recently exec VP of intergrated communications. The Paramount hire reunites Buck with former Netflix colleague Cindy Holland, who recently took over as head of streaming for the merged Paramount Skydance company.

At Paramount, Buck will work closely with Holland and chief communications officer Melissa Zukerman on all direct-to-consumer communications and publicity.

“Shannon is a seasoned strategic communications executive with over 20 years leading publicity and communications for content across platforms, specializing in direct-to-consumer audience engagement and brand building,” Holland said in a note to staffers.

Buck is the latest former Netflix exec to join Paramount Skydance, where Holland has also recruited Jane Wiseman as exec VP, head of originals.

Buck spent nearly three years at NBCU, first joining as executive vice president of publicity of Peacock, where she oversaw publicity, events and activations for Peacock original and exclusive content, and later as NBCU restructured its teams, she focused on B2B marketing for Universal Studio Group, awards strategy and marketing and other communications duties.

During her more than six years at Netflix, where she served as vice president of series publicity, Buck led teams across scripted, unscripted and stand-up content, on programs including “Bridgerton,” “Stranger Things,” “The Queen’s Gambit,” “The Crown,” “Emily in Paris,” “Queer Eye,” “Love Is Blind” and “The Circle.” She first joined Netflix as a director of publicity in 2016, handling campaigns for series such as “Black Mirror,” “Mindhunter,” “Master of None” and “Big Mouth.”

Before Netflix, Buck was Starz’s senior vice president of programming publicity, working across awards, events, talent relations and publicity strategy. She has also served as a vice president at FerenComm, working with clients such as Bravo, Food Network, AMC, WeTV, DIY Network, Sundance Channel, Starz and History Channel.

Here’s Holland’s memo to staff:

“I am excited to share that Shannon Buck will officially join the team starting tomorrow, as EVP, Head of Communications and PR for Paramount Direct to Consumer. Her oversight will include global communications and publicity strategy for our business. Shannon is a seasoned strategic communications executive with over 20 years leading publicity and communications for content across platforms, specializing in direct-to-consumer audience engagement and brand building. She has a proven track record of developing award-winning campaigns, with particular expertise in strategies that drive subscriber acquisition and retention.

“She joins us from NBCUniversal where she most recently served as head of Integrated Communications across all their television and studio group, coordinating campaigns across multiple entertainment brands within a single corporate structure. She started as Head of Publicity for Peacock where she led earned media efforts for their slate including inserting Love Island into the cultural zeitgeist and driving critical and consumer success for The Traitors. She had a six year run at Netflix where she helped build and structure the team during rapid organization growth and demonstrated particular success in international campaign coordination and scaling teams with an eye towards innovation.”