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UPFRONTS 2013: The Overachievers 
Paramount has restructured its Licensing and Consumer Products division. They’ve laid off 53 people worldwide and will save $10 million annually. Here is the memo just issued:
To: Paramount Employees
From: Frederick Huntsberry and Rob Moore
Date: Sept. 30, 2010We wanted to inform you of a number of changes we are making to better manage our overall business, as well as make our reporting structure more rational and efficient. Effective today, we are restructuring four of our divisions and realigning the responsibilities of several senior executives. The key changes are as follows:
· Licensing and Consumer Products will now be merged into Motion Picture Promotions and overseen by LeeAnne Stables, Executive Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Partnerships.
· The development and production of feature films made for home entertainment and digital platforms are being consolidated under Tom Lesinski in his role as President of Paramount Digital Entertainment.
· The distribution of motion pictures on digital platforms will now be handled by Hal Richardson, President of Paramount Pictures Worldwide Television Distribution.
This realignment will result in a staff reduction of 53 positions worldwide. The new structure outlined above will advance our ongoing goal of eliminating redundancy, rationalizing similar business lines, and optimizing our work force and cost structure.
The hard work and talent of the employees whose positions are affected by this change have greatly enhanced our company, and we sincerely thank them for their efforts.
In today’s environment, companies must make smart choices about how resources are deployed. The restructuring we are announcing today consolidates our operations in a way that is consistent with how more of our customers are exploring multiple facets of the film experience. Paramount as a company simply must keep evolving and refining its operations.
We salute your efforts in making 2010 a great year thus far, and we have no doubt that it is now even better positioned to continue on that successful path.
- Frederick and Rob
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“We sincerely thank them for their efforts…” “We salute your efforts in making 2010 a great year thus far…” What part of 2010 being a great year necessitates laying off 53 people? Whatever, same ol, same ol BS.
Frederick Huntsberry should resign. He is one of the worst most loathed executives at paramount.
He was a real dick at Universal too.
“The new structure outlined above will advance our ongoing goal of … rationalizing similar business lines …”
Huh? What is that supposed to mean?
Brad grey, rob moore, and the hated and useless frederick hunstberry should lose their jobs. They are all no talent scum.
I hear changes within domestic theatrical marketing next.
Paramount has a Consumer Products Division?
It took me a few reads to truly understand this memo. Finally, I think I get it. As a service to anyone else who was as confused as I was, I offer this translation:
TO: The people we want to keep fearful for their jobs
FROM: The guys who will stand on a balcony and shoot you for sport
The Human Resources group is recommending that we let you know that we are firing a bunch of people. Letting people go is the easiest way to save money in a year that we didn’t make as much as we’d hoped. We are firing these people right now and forking over the cash to some of our favorite senior people. You may be fired if you work for one of these, our favorite people:
LeeAnne, in Licensing and Consumer Products, is getting more money and needs some people to sacrifice their positions to make this happen.
Tom Lesinski needs more money to make things for the internet because it sounds cool and futuristic to make things for the internet.
Hal Richardson is getting a raise even though he barely has a job as it is. We’ll need some of you to forfeit you positions to make this possible.
The money needed to make these raises possible is going to cost some 53 people their jobs. Don’t feel bad, if you lost your job, you were redundant and probably not doing anything we needed anyway.
We don’t want you to sue, so here’s a pat on the back. Now pack your things and leave quietly. Thank you.
We don’t know how to run a real business, so the best we can do to find the cash to keep our friends happy is to let people go. We think this is smart so we’ll keep doing this in the future.
2010 has been another year where we couldn’t come up with anything truly innovative. And since we really need bigger bonuses, we’re better off without you.
Your buds, Fred and Robbie
here’s another version:
as you know, our movies didn’t work in the marketplace, and obviously we can’t hold the creative and production teams accountable, so we’ll be firing some business and distribution staff to make our numbers.
Not quite right. Letting people go on the last day of the fiscal year means (a) we’ve done well enough that we can afford to get the severance costs out of the way this year and still hit our targets or (b) the year’s a bust so let’s dump the severance costs now and try to do better next year.
I wonder which one it was?
brad grey’s a good guy in this business
It was disgraceful the way this was handled. Mr. Huntsberry did something similar during his tenure at Universal…and it was greeted with the same disdain. This man is a problem. Just like Uni, once he leaves, his visions will be corrected. WHY do you let a team go that has constantly “delivered” and was nurturing many new deals. And, I am sorry to say, things are being turned over to a universally disliked person. So sad.
Does anyone remember a time when Paramount knew what it was doing? I don’t they’ve had a clue about running the studio in nearly a decade.
At least Jon Dolgen and Sherry Lansing knew how to run a studio and make movies. This current group doesn’t know how to do either.
Dolgen was a genius.
Paramount is completely strapped for cash right now.
-RnsW
i think most of these posters are living in denial. no real value to mgm library; blockbuster bankruptcy; dvd sales off; primary consumer base watching movies in 3d in theaters where the theater owners keep most of the box office receipts and pay none of the p&A — then go to facebook. the costs have to come out of the business somewhere, and i understand that a lot of the people sent home were just overhead that couldn’t be supported any more.
Observer – the “people sent home” were the very people who provided Paramount with licensing agreements that supported the franchises. Huntsberry is clueless and useless, unless it comes to his paranoia about “piracy”. I fault (in part) HR for handling this situation SO POORLY. If you want to thin out a department (like everything else at Paramount) start there. Note to management; value your long term employees; they know what they are doing.
Paramount is a Dinosaur! Old company, old bldgs, old systems and old thinking! They need to lay off the old executives which btw do come from Universal and just start restructuring from above. Better mgmt better company. And seriously, just make more damn movies …good ones. They are starting to looking more like a renting studio who rents out their space to other companies rather than using them to make their own movies.
Paramount = Raleigh North