Several tech industries are still not safe from layoffs as hundreds to thousands are still affected by it. Just when things are finally dying down in the film industry, one of the most popular animation studios is hit with layoffs.
DreamWorks Layoffs
The animation studio popular for movies like the "Kung Fu Panda" and "Shrek" franchises is reportedly suffering a setback financially, as its production costs increase. There are also talks of the studio being affected by the writers strike.
As a result, DreamWorks is laying off up to 4% of its staff, which is about 70 employees, according to a DreamWorks Animation spokesperson. This in turn might affect upcoming movies, some of which are already in development.
Some of the roles that were affected by the job cuts include corporate functions, feature, television, and technology departments, as reported by Deadline. Ultimately, all of this comes as part of the studio's cost-reduction efforts.
The news comes as the studio is preparing for the release of the third movie for "Trolls," which is somewhat of a big deal given that the characters will voiced by known artists like Anna Kendrick, Camilla Cabello, Kid Cudi, Troye Sivan, Amy Schumer, RuPaul, and more.
Another included in the listed names is Justin Timberlake, who will not only be taking on a voice acting role but will also reunite with his former band *NSYNC to perform for a soundtrack for a movie. This will be the first time in 22 years that the boy group will perform together again.
Hopefully, the change will not affect DreamWork's upcoming movie in partnership with Netflix titled "Orion and the Dark." The animated feature's release is set in 2024, with executive producers such as Walt Dohrn and Bonnie Arnold, and writer Charlie Kaufman.
Pixar Studios Conducted Layoffs This June
This year has seen job cuts in other animation giants as well. Pixar, for instance, reduced its workforce by firing 75 employees out of a total of 1,200. While it seems small, the move faced some backlash because of the people who did get fired.
One is Angus MacLane, who was the director of "Lightyear" and has worked on other famous titles like "Toy Story 4," "Incredibles 2," and "Coco." MacLane was among the longest-working animators with 26 years of experience under his belt.
Another was Gayln Susman, who has been with Pixar since 1995. She served as a producer on "Lightyear," but she's more known for saving "Toy Story 2" by having a backup copy of the film when 90% of it was deleted from Pixar's files, as mentioned in The Disney Blog.
Disney did not stop with Pixar, especially since part of CEO Bob Iger's plans to put the company back in shape is eliminating over 7,000 jobs in various departments. The end goal is for the entertainment giant to cut $5.5 billion in costs.
The biggest round of layoffs was the second one, wherein Disney laid off approximately 4,000 jobs, affecting both regular employees to executives. Now that the layoffs are done, the company has effectively removed 3% of its total workforce of 220,000.
