Another round of post-merger layoffs has begun at Warner Bros. this week, with DC Entertainment among the divisions reported to be at risk. The layoffs Tuesday were at Warner Bros. TV, which cut 82 current positions and eliminated 43 open positions for a total of 26% of the workforce, according to Deadline. The cuts affected staff in scripted, unscripted, and animation, according to the report.
The move comes as Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav continues on the path to find the promised $3 billion in post-merger cost savings. DC is one of the divisions that may be cut in this new round of layoffs, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Zaslav has not yet implemented a new strategy for DC and DC-based content at the company. As long ago as April, shortly after the Warner Bros.-Discovery merger closed, Zasalav was reported to considering a reorganization that would make DC its own content vertical (see “DC Re-Org in the Works“). In August, producer Dan Lin was reported to be in the running to become the head of the new vertical (see “New DC Head“), but the deal fell apart last month (see “Lin Won’t Be DC Head“).
Regardless of the new organization, it’s hard to see how DC could take more staff cuts; it lost a third of its editorial staff and many others, including sales and marketing staff, in multiple rounds of brutal cuts under then-owner AT&T in 2020 (see “WarnerMedia Layoffs Hit DC“).
Source: ICv2
