Skydance Media

Main Logo Variations

Credits

Descriptions by
EnormousRat, BenIsRandom, Colorband

Captures by
Sov and SuperMax124

Editions by
TheRealMarcel2000‎ and SuperMax124

Video captures courtesy of
Skydance, Broken Saw, ifrequire and Ginger Bob Productions, Pictures & Studios

Skydance Media
Founded:	April 4, 2006
Founder:	David Ellison
Formerly:	Skydance Productions (2006-2016)
Key People:	David Ellison Dana Goldberg Don Granger
Location:	United States
Parent:	CJ ENM Tencent KKR
Subsidiaries:	See Category:Skydance Media

Background

Skydance Media (formerly Skydance Productions) is the production company of David Ellison, launched on April 4, 2006. The company entered a five-year partnership to co-produce and co-finance films with Paramount Pictures starting in 2009. David's sister, Megan, founded Annapurna Pictures.

The company name comes from Ellison's love of aviation, since he is an accomplished pilot and took inspiration from flying aerobatics known as "skydancing". In 2018, the company partnered with Tencent Pictures, buying a 5% to 10% minority stake, with RedBird Capital Partners and CJ ENM later coming in as investors since February 2020.

1st Logo (December 22, 2010-July 31, 2015)

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  Prototype version

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  Original version

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  Enhanced version

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  Storyboard draft [1]

Visuals: The sequence starts with a bright orange flash on one side of a giant letter. The camera zooms out to reveal the Sun and other letters floating in space, supported by metallic constructions. Then the camera moves right and only the corona of the Sun remains in the background, as the letters leave their supports and form "SKYDANCE" (in Minion Pro Semibold font), with "PRODUCTIONS" underneath already formed, flipping in letter-by-letter.

Variants:

• A prototype version is seen on the trailer for True Grit, where part of the sun blur is seen and there is only the stars in the sky.
• On Terminator Genisys and Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, the logo is enhanced to have "PRODUCTIONS" and the sun's glowing removed. The company name shines as the logo is formed while a trademark symbol appears next to it. The text zooms in slightly.

Technique: CGI from Picturemill.

Audio: A majestic orchestral fanfare, composed by Pinar Toprak and recorded at the Eastwood Scoring Stage at Warner Bros. Studios. A behind the scenes video of the making of the fanfare was uploaded by Toprak herself and can be seen here. In some cases, it's silent or it uses the opening theme of the film.

Availability: First seen on True Grit, and also appears on Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, The Guilt Trip, Jack Reacher, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Star Trek Into Darkness, World War Z, and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. The version with music can be found on Picturemill's website and on Skydance's official YouTube channel. The last film to use this logo was Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, while its last appearances overall were on most trailers for Star Trek Beyond, and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back.

2nd Logo (July 22, 2016-)

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Visuals: The screen fades into the Sun as it spins and zooms out as it gives off some form of solar flare. The zoom reveals coronal rain all over the sun, as a big serif "S" (in the same font as the previous logo) flies in from the left, followed by a "K" and so on, until we see the finished product as it continues zooming out, later stopping to show the company name from before, now slightly-spaced out as it shines and zooms in; set on a space background.

Variant: At the end of films, the logo is still.

Technique: CGI from Imaginary Forces.

Audio: An extended version of Toprak's fanfare from the previous logo. Like the last logo, it's either silent or uses the opening theme of the film.

Availability: First seen on Star Trek Beyond and later seen on films from the company, such as Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, Life, Geostorm, Annihilation, Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Gemini Man, Terminator: Dark Fate, 6 Underground, The Old Guard and Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins. It suprisingly appeared at the end of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, which both had the next logo at the beginning.

3rd Logo (December 19, 2020-)

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Visuals: The screen fades into a close-up shot of the Sun at first as the camera pans and rotates, as it gives off many solar flares. After a few seconds, there is an "E" (in same font as the other 2 logos) fly in from the left, followed by an "N", and so on, until the letters form the wordmark like from before; now with a curve at the bottom of the letters (a la the Netflix logo), flying above the sun against a new purple space galaxy background. Then a flash of light draws an arch underneath the name.

Trivia: This logo is based on the print logo Skydance introduced back in 2020.

Variants:

• A shortened version exists, where it skips the first few seconds of the animation.
• To celebrate the company's 10th anniversary, the text "CELEBRATING 10 YEARS" is underneath the arch. This is mostly shortened. Used in tandem with the normal variant.
• Like the previous logo, at the end of films, the logo is still.

Technique: CGI, though the design studio is unknown this time.

Audio: A brand new majestic orchestral fanfare, which is completely different from the first two logos and is composed by Lorne Balfe. There is a behind-the-scenes video that he posted on his X (Twitter) page, which you can see here. Sometimes, the opening theme of the film plays over the logo or none.

Audio Trivia: For the recording of the new theme, Balfe went to four different locations across the world (three of them being Los Angeles, Beijing and London) to record the arrangements, with mixing being done in Dubai.

Availability: This logo is currently being used in tandem with the previous logo.

• First debuted on the "About" and the "Leadership" sections of the company's website in December 2020, and later debuted on The Tomorrow War as a shortened version, released on July 2, 2021.
• It appeared on trailers and TV spots for Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins as well, but the film itself used the previous logo.
• The version without the anniversary disclaimer first debuted on the Australian trailer for Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins; while the proper full version with theme made its debut on the Netflix original movie The Adam Project.