Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Undergoes Layoffs

deadline.com:

Lionsgate, which continues preparations to separate its studio business from Starz, laid off staffers in its Motion Picture Group today, sources tell Deadline.

I hear the number is about a dozen. The news comes on the heels of the company revealing during its Q3 earnings call in February that it had cut about 150 positions, reducing 10 percent of its work force across all divisions, over the previous six months.

Lionsgate CFO Jimmy Barge said at the time that the layoffs were part of efforts to manage costs ahead of the planned separation.

Today’s layoffs also are part of ongoing streamlining of Lionsgate’s film division, led by chairman Joe Drake and vice chair Adam Fogelson, and of overall belt-tightening across media companies in a challenging economic environment.