Ritchson Hires Jackson to Lead Film Unit
The former Paramount executive joins the Reacher star’s company to manage a growing slate of major studio projects.
By Lorenzo Marshall ·
Alex Jackson has been named president of film and television at Alan Ritchson’s production company, Dancing Skeleton.
Jackson steps into the role after serving as senior vice president of film and television at Chernin Entertainment. In that capacity, he managed a slate of projects and handled the packaging and sale of concepts to studios including HBO, Lionsgate, and Netflix. Before his time at Chernin Entertainment, Jackson worked as senior vice president of production for the motion picture group at Paramount Pictures. He spent nearly four years in that role, overseeing the development of titles such as Terminator: Dark Fate, Babylon, Infinite, and The Lovebirds. He also contributed to high-profile productions including The Running Man and Gladiator 2.
Jackson built his early career at Media Rights Capital, where he worked for nearly a decade. He rose to the position of vice president of production and helped formalize the company’s underwriting process. His credits from that period include Baby Driver, the Ted franchise, Elysium, and The Dark Tower. He focused on filmmaker-driven projects and handled all aspects of development and production for those films.
Ritchson brings a substantial workload to his new partnership. The actor stars opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in Adam Shankman’s holiday film, The Man With the Bag. His upcoming slate includes an untitled Mike Thornton project about a Navy Seal, which is currently in post-production at Amazon MGM Studios. He is also attached to War Machines, a sequel to a popular Netflix series, and an untitled MotoGP project in development for Netflix. Additional projects include Counting Miracles for Amazon and an untitled survival competition series in post-production at Netflix. The MotoGP project lists Chris Morgan and Ainsley Morgan as producers, along with Joe Roth and Jeff Kirschenbaum for RK Films.
Earlier this year, Ritchson and Dancing Skeleton signed a three-year first-look television deal with Amazon MGM Studios. The agreement covers the development and production of new shows for Prime Video. The company focuses on high-impact, audience-driven storytelling from distinctive creative voices. Ritchson has been producing for years, with credits on Blue Mountain State: The Rise of Thadland, Seberg, Motor City, and Runner. He also serves as an executive producer on Prime Video’s Reacher, created by Nick Santora.
The most recent season of Reacher received an early renewal for season six before the fourth season finale aired. Ritchson also appeared in the spin-off series Neagley. His career expansion from acting to producing has driven the growth of Dancing Skeleton, which now operates across various genres and platforms. The new leadership role at the company aims to manage this increasing volume of high-concept original projects.
