EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate Alternative Television is the latest business to be hit with layoffs.
The unscripted TV arm of the studio, which is behind series such as Discovery’s Naked and Afraid and Dirty Jobs, has begun a round of redundancies today.
Deadline understands that it’s hitting eOne’s U.S. label with Dirk Hoogstra, Nicole Sorrenti and San Heng departing.
Former History Channel boss Hoogstra joined the company in January as it launched Lionsgate Alternative Television. Before joining, he was CEO of Say Yes To The Dress producer Half Yard Productions, which is owned by Peter Chernin’s The North Road Company.
Sorrenti, who was Chief Creative Officer at Half Yard, also left at the same time and joined Lionsgate in April as EVP, Development, eOne U.S. Heng, who was previously a showrunner who worked on shows such as RuPaul’s Drag Race and Chrissy & Dave Dine Out, was SVP, Development.
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We hear that around 5% of the division’s employees were impacted. The unit employs around 100 people. It is believed to be the result of the continued integration of eOne and Lionsgate, following the $375M deal closed twelve months ago, as well as the general belt-tightening that is happening around the industry.
It comes two weeks after Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer admitted that its unscripted business was “feeling the effects of a continuing market correction.”
Speaking to analysts after its financial quarter, Feltheimer said that its television business was “doing everything you would expect us to do” including “reducing costs” and “consolidating smaller labels to create greater efficiencies in our unscripted business”.
Lionsgate Alternative Television, which is run by Craig Piligian, was founded earlier this year, bringing together eOne’s unscripted assets together with its own non-fiction division.
It includes the Piligian-founded Pilgrim Media Group, which produces series such as Discovery’s Dirty Jobs; Naked and Afraid producer Renegade; Blackfin, which produced Netflix’s Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez; The Yorkshire Vet producer Daisybeck; and eOne UK, which is behind MTV’s Ex on the Beach.
Last December, the company laid off around 10% of eOne’s workforce ahead of the closing of the merger and in September it offered U.S. employees a voluntary severance and early retirement program amid the contracting media and entertainment landscape
Lionsgate is just the latest company to make further cuts this year.
This month, The CW cut around 35 staff, CAA laid off between 20 and 30 people and Anyone But You producer SK Global axed a similar number. Last month, UTA was impacted, Fox did layoffs as part of an ad sales reorganization and other companies affected include Aardman and Allen Media Group.
Disney began another round of layoffs in September hitting about 300 staffers as part of a cost cutting push and Paramount Global laid off hundreds in an ongoing move to cut about 15% of its workforce and save $500 million.
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