In a move to organizationally re-align, Paramount Pictures is cutting 110 positions on its lot and slicing five percent of its 2,200 workforce internationally.
"As our industry continues to adapt to an increasingly competitive environment, we are always ensuring that Paramount is conducting its business as efficiently and productively as possible," Paramount chief executive officer Frederick Huntsberry said in a memo, according to Variety.com. "Change is always difficult and we never take these steps lightly.
"We are confident that these changes will allow us to manage our business with greater speed and flexibility and fully capitalize on opportunities in the global entertainment market," she said.
Eliminations are expected to be made in several departments including marketing, finance, human resources, information technology, international home media, distribution, and legal. 2013 has been profitable for the company after it did not have any major success in 2012. It's movies: "Star Trek Into Darkness," "G.I. Joe Retaliation" and "World War Z" have all brought in over $350 million worldwide Variety reported.
"We have a history even in tough times of maintaining or growing margins," Phillipp Dauman, chief executive officer of Paramount's parent company Viacom told Variety. "For the most part we're going to greenlight films with consumer products potential." These include re-booting the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles".
Dauman informed investors at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference Sept. 24 that his company was shifting its focus to "low risk" films even on movies with big budgets in "Transformers" and "Mission Impossible."
"World War Z" another film at risk of not bringing in enough revenue for the company is also expected to be co-financed.
Paramount's latest news is the company's second round of layoffs of over 100 positions within the past two years. One-hundred twenty positions were slashed as part of the company's efforts to consolidate in the midst of a decline in the amount of money coming in from DVD sales. The company combined its DVD, television, and digital divisions. Its international headquarters in London were also moved to Los Angeles.
