David Rooney" src="../../../../../files/u4383/variety_embed.jpg" />The evisceration of Variety continues.
On Monday, the trade let go chief film critic Todd McCarthy and chief theater critic David Rooney. Longtime film critic Derek Elley also was cut, as were features editor/indie film reporter Sharon Swart and graphic designer Danielle Grimes, along with several copy and design desk employees.
In a memo to Variety staff, the trade's group editor, Tim Gray, said all three critics have been asked to work as freelancers for the moribund trade.
However, McCarthy told TheWrap he has made no such arrangement, at least not yet.
"It’s sad,” McCarthy said. “It’s the end of something. You can say it’s the end, or you can say it’s the end of the way it’s always been done.”
Reaction from the film community was characterized by shock and dismay, with Roger Ebert tweeting, "Variety fires Todd McCarthy and I cancel my subscription. He was my reason to read the paper. RIP, schmucks."
Still, in his memo, Gray insisted, "Today's changes won't be noticed by readers. Our goal is the same: To maintain, or improve, our quality coverage.
"We are not changing our review policy," he added. "Last year we ran more than 1,200 film reviews. No other news outlet comes even close, and we will continue to be the leader in numbers and quality. It doesn't make economic sense to have full-time reviewers, but Todd, Derek and Rooney have been asked to continue as freelancers."
Insiders told TheWrap that a total of eight people would lose their jobs on Monday.
The layoffs would be at least the fourth set of staff cuts in the past 18 months or so as the trade has battled declining advertising revenue and circulation.
McCarthy said he was called into editor Tim Gray’s office on Monday and informed that it would be his last day.
“They’re restructuring, and let go or have let go other full-time critics, except for Brian Lowry,” he said.
McCarthy was the longest-tenured writer at Variety, second only to columnist Army Archerd, who died last year.
McCarthy said he has been deluged by messages from colleagues and industry friends who were alarmed at his dismissal.
While Variety didn’t release a list of names affected by Monday’s staff cuts, the trade did outline a series of promotions in a statement posted on its site.
Kirstin Wilder, formerly deputy managing editor, will be upped to managing editor, where she will continue to oversee production, finances and editorial personnel. She now also will handle administrative concerns on the “business side,” according to Gray.
Executive editor Steven Gaydos, who was upped during the last round of cuts in April, will see his duties further expand beyond just the advertising-supported special reports division, contributing to what editor Gray said will be “other growing areas at the paper."
But the news of the day was that the trade planned to eliminate core editorial staff positions by dumping its well-known and longtime critics.
Newspapers across the country have been laying off their film and TV critics over the past few years, as consumers have turned to online review aggregators such as RottenTomatoes.com.
