Paramount creates Industrial Relations division under Nicole Lang

Paramount launches – Paramount has launched a new Industrial Relations division led by Nicole Lang and Sheldon Kasdan as executive vice presidents and co-heads, reporting directly to Chief Legal Officer Makan Delrahim. The pair will oversee industrial relations across the Motion P

When Paramount decided to elevate Industrial Relations to a standalone division, the change didn’t land in a vacuum—it came with names attached and responsibilities clearly mapped across both its Motion Picture and TV businesses.

Paramount has launched a new Industrial Relations division led by Nicole Lang and Sheldon Kasdan. The two will serve as executive vice presidents and co-heads of the division, reporting directly to Chief Legal Officer Makan Delrahim.

The mandate is straightforward: maintain strong, constructive partnerships with guilds, unions, and industry professionals.

Lang will oversee all aspects of industrial relations for Paramount’s Motion Picture division, along with studio back lot operations. Kasdan will oversee all aspects of industrial relations for the TV Media division and Paramount Television Studios.

Delrahim framed the move as both a recognition of work that already shaped major negotiations and a signal of where the company plans to put weight going forward. In a statement. he said. “Nicole and Sheldon have played a key role in navigating recent labor negotiations and strengthening our relationships with our partners across the industry. Elevating Industrial Relations to a standalone division reflects both the importance of this work and our confidence in their continued leadership.”.

Lang’s track record sits squarely in the negotiations world. She currently serves as Paramount Pictures’ chief spokesperson in all AMPTP-led industry-wide negotiations with the DGA. IATSE. Teamsters. SAG-AFTRA. the WGA and others. She is also an AMPTP board director and a trustee on the boards of the Directors Guild of America-Producer Pension and Health Plans. the Motion Picture Industry Pension & Health Plans. Teamsters Local 817 Pension. Welfare and Scholarship Funds and the IATSE Entertainment and Exhibition Industries Training Trust Fund.

Kasdan’s focus has also been rooted in labor talks. He currently serves as CBS Studios’ and PTVS’ chief spokesperson at AMPTP-led industry-wide negotiations. and as CBS Broadcasting’s chief negotiator for its national collective bargaining agreements affecting news. stations and sports. He is also on the AMPTP board of directors and a trustee on the AFTRA Retirement Plan. the Directors Guild of America-Producer Pension and Health Plans. the SAG-AFTRA-Producers Health Plan and the SAG-Producers Pension Plan.

Before joining CBS as vice president of labor relations in 2016, Kasdan was vice president and senior labor counsel for NBCUniversal. He got his start in the industry at the AMPTP, where he served as counsel from 1998 to 2000.

In a joint statement. Lang and Kasdan said. “We’re incredibly grateful for our longstanding partnerships with the unions andguilds. and for the company’s recognition of Industrial Relations as a critical function that supports our business and our people. We look forward to building on these relationships.”.

Outside the company, labor leaders welcomed the appointments with the kind of emphasis that matters in bargaining: the experience of sitting across the table and the expectation that agreements are built through sustained engagement.

Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator. congratulated the pair and praised them for working with the union with “professionalism. seriousness of purpose and a clear understanding that durable agreements are built through respect. direct engagement and a willingness to solve hard problems.”.

Russell Hollander. DGA National Executive Director. said Lang and Kasdan have been “thoughtful. solutions-oriented partners across the bargaining table and as Trustees of the DGA-Producer Pension and Health Plans — helping navigate complex issues with professionalism and a shared commitment to finding common ground.”.

IATSE International President Matthew Loeb added that as Paramount and the industry continue to evolve. it’s encouraging that the company’s focus on its relationship with the IATSE—and “most importantly. the concerns of our members who will continue to provide invaluable services to their productions”—remains “in the forefront of their operations.” He also said. “The creation of a new division affirms the importance of labor relations and secures that attention to matters crucial to its labor force are addressed at the highest levels of the company.”.

The new structure puts Lang and Kasdan in direct executive leadership. with industrial relations positioned as central rather than incidental—an internal reshuffling that lands. in practice. right where unions and guilds feel it most: in how negotiations are handled and how ongoing concerns are managed.

Paramount Industrial Relations division Nicole Lang Sheldon Kasdan Makan Delrahim AMPTP DGA IATSE Teamsters SAG-AFTRA WGA unions guilds labor negotiations CBS Studios Paramount Television Studios