Gerry Cardinale at RedBird's Manhattan office.Crystal Cox/InsiderSkydance, the film studio owned by David Ellison, is vying to buy Paramount.Skydance's biggest backer is private equity firm RedBird, a top player in sports and media.Meet the mastermind behind RedBird, ex-Goldman Sachs partner and Yankees dealmaker Gerry Cardinale.Paramount's CEO Bob Bakish was ousted on Monday night, putting the entertainment giant one step closer to accepting a merger deal. The would-be buyer, film studio Skydance Media, is owned by David Ellison, son of billionaire Oracle founder Larry.A key player in the negotiations is private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners.