The planned restructuring, which includes cutting business ties in the U.K. and Australia, is meant to ‘align our organization with the growth areas of the business and to prepare us for our next chapter as a standalone company,’ says CEO Jeffrey Hirsch.
In anticipation of its separation from Lionsgate in the first quarter of 2024, Starz is set to lay off over 10% of its workforce as well as cut business ties in the U.K. and Australia, according to Variety.
The sad announcement arrived in a memo sent to staff by Starz CEO Jeffrey Hirsch, followed by a company-wide meeting. “We are making these changes to align our organization with the growth areas of the business and to prepare us for our next chapter as a standalone company,” Hirsch said in the email.
Starz was originally set to separate from Lionsgate, its parent company since 2016, in September of this year. However, the move was delayed until 2024 due to the ongoing strikes as well as Lionsgate’s acquisition of Hasbro’s eOne, announced in August.
This round of layoffs is just one in an industry-wide series of staff reductions and company restructures this year, including cuts at Netflix, DreamWorks Animation, Epic Games, DNEG, CD Projekt Red, Embracer Group, and Electronic Arts.
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