In an effort to cut costs, Lionsgate is offering employees in the United States voluntary severance and pension packages, its CEO wrote in a memo to staff Monday.
“As we continue to move toward the complete separation of the studio and STARZ in a challenging operating environment, Lionsgate's executive committee has approved a comprehensive strategic plan to increase productivity and achieve greater cost efficiencies,” he said in the email. email chief Jon Feltheimer.
The memo did not disclose a target for the number of staff reductions at the Santa Monica-based company, and a company representative declined to elaborate on the memo. According to its latest annual report, Lionsgate employs 1,500 people worldwide.
The studio, which counts among its assets a film and television catalog of 20,000 titles, has released a number of underperforming titles in the past two months, including Borderlands ($32 million in global box office receipts), The raven ($23.5 million), 1992 ($2.9 million), The assassin's game ($5.8 million) and Never let go ($8.3 million). This does not include that of Francis Ford Coppola Megalopoliswhich the studio distributed but which the director self-financed with a sum of 4 million dollars for a film with a budget of 120 million dollars.
Lionsgate also provided employees with an updated return-to-office policy, stating that all EVPs and above will be required to work on-site five days a week starting in the new year. “All other full-time Lionsgate employees will be required to adhere to our current company policy of working in the office at least four days a week,” the CEO wrote. “We are a creative organization that relies on in-person communication and collaboration, and we need an 'all hands on deck' to continue to operate effectively in these challenging times.”
Feltheimer, who has run Lionsgate since 2000, recently renewed his contract with the studio, which extended his deal as CEO from August for five years through July 31, 2029. Year-to-date, Lionsgate shares are down about 30%.