WarnerMedia began layoffs Monday morning following the wide-scale restructuring under new CEO Jason Kilar, which was announced last Friday.
The cuts were across multiple film and TV units, with Warner Bros. and HBO particularly impacted, though it is not immediately clear how many staffers were laid off. The cuts are expected to continue throughout the next few days.
Among the layoffs were three senior executives at Warner Bros.: Jeff Schlesinger, Kim Williams and Ron Sanders. Williams was CFO while Schlesinger and Sanders were both distribution heads. Sanders led worldwide distribution for theaters and home entertainment, while Schlesinger led television distribution.
The layoffs come a few days after WarnerMedia underwent a massive reorganization that led to the departure of two top executives.
Kilar shattered the traditional walls of the studio, television and premium cable divisions, rolled all content creation into one operation, while also creating a separate focus on HBO Max that places the nascent streamer at the forefront of its business strategy. Kilar’s moves came just one day after NBCUniversal made a similarly convention-shattering change. Two highly respected executives, Bob Greenblatt and Kevin Reilly, were ousted while Andy Forssell, Ann Sarnoff and Casey Bloys were given more prominent roles.
(Excerpt) Read more in: The Wrap