Lionsgate is getting smaller. The studio will be reducing its staff by 5% on Thursday, with around 50 people leaving as a result.
Earlier this year, the studio reduced staff by 8%, meaning the company is now 13% smaller. This will be the last round of expected layoffs, with this latest batch completing a year-long process of repositioning the company for growth.
As for the purpose of the headcount reduction, it is corporate belt-tightening, as almost all companies in the industry are doing at the moment.
Lionsgate chief Jon Feltheimer sent a memo to staff, noting the decision to split Lionsgate and Starz into separate companies as an effort to “position ourselves for solid and significant growth in the years ahead.”
The studio just released the Stephen King adaptation “The Long Walk” and has “The Strangers – Chapter 2” out next week, with Oscar hopeful “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” anticipated sequel “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” and the Sydney Sweeney-led “The Housemaid” opening before the end of the year.
Read the full memo, below:
We continue to operate in an industry environment characterized by unprecedented change and disruption, and we are continuing to adapt our organization to these changes in order to compete successfully. As part of this process, we separated Lionsgate and STARZ into independent standalone companies earlier this year, and we are continuing to monetize non-core assets, re-allocate our resources to growth areas of the business and reduce costs.
We have already reduced our studio headcount by approximately 8% this year and today we are notifying an additional 5% of our employees that their positions will soon be eliminated. These are difficult decisions impacting colleagues with whom we have collaborated for years and who have made valuable contributions to Lionsgate’s success, and we will make their transitions as smooth as possible. Our Human Resources team will follow up with additional information later this morning. Though we may continue to fine-tune the organizational structure of individual departments from time to time, today’s headcount reduction will substantially complete our year-long process of repositioning the company for growth.
Our core strengths remain intact: one of the largest and most valuable film & television libraries in the world, a portfolio of premium franchises, deep content pipelines and a talented and entrepreneurial workforce second to none. Working together, I am confident that we will continue to position ourselves for solid and significant growth in the years ahead.
