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EXCLUSIVE… UPDATE: I’ve just learned that Relativity Media has begun 
a process of laying off staffers from the operations and marketing teams. All 10 affected employees were told today. Relativity Media has a total workforce of about 215. The layoffs follow the company’s announcement that it will promote the Bandito Brothers’ upcoming action-thriller Act of Valor with four 30-second Super Bowl-timed spots on February 5th. These commercials are super-expensive which is why most studios usually confine their Super Bowl movie ads to one. In addition to business news reports speculating about Relativity Media’s financial health, there has been considerable executive roiling at the top echelon of the media company run by Ryan Kavanaugh.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Hopefully the will wind down slowly and keep as many people working through Snow White as possible.
As long as Ryan doesn’t have to suffer….
Relativity Media has their hand on practically every major release there is, and Ryan Kavanaugh swims in gold water. So if they’re having financial troubles so much so that they have to put 10 people out of work just to run a Superbowl ad, then someone is seriously mucking things up, and the buck stops with gold water boy, so where’s his pay cut? Hahahahaha, yeah right. Gotta keep that private chopper fueld up.
Well he’s stopped flying the GIV and has started flying much smaller planes with some random charter company. Cuts at the top!
A fool too late bewares when all the peril is past.
Elizabeth I
Looks like the house of cards is starting to fall apart at the base level. Eventually the card at the top of the pile will fall as well.
You gotta know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away and Ryan better RUN!
He has made enormous concessions. I hear he’s agreed to not go forward with his plan to change the company’s name to “Ryan Kavanaugh’s Relativity Media.” He’s still keeping his name in Relativity’s website title though.
laying off 10 people in order to run 4 superbowl ads ..???…wow..theres some real return on investment ..QUICK .someone get an intervention to ryan kavanaugh…we all know he likes the old “keeping up appearances ” routine with flying in the jets ,parties ….but this is just downright stupid ….superbowl ads have the staying power of ..uh…maybe a day or two …he’s starting to believe his own hype ..!!!!
“…superbowl ads have the staying power of ..uh…maybe a day or two”
Oh Yeah? Well, what about Apple’s “1984″ ad?
Oh, wait. That wasn’t promoting a generic actioner…never mind.
They didn’t lay people off because of the superbowl spots, that’s a seperate set of money. They’re laying people off because they are tight on operating cash.
You obviously have no clue how to run a business. If you reduce your marketing budget, you then have more operating cash. Duh!
You’re absolutely right. Because at the end of the day, one dollar in advertising is actually worth less than one dollar in operating cash.
Big deal. I’m just happy Ryan Kavanaugh is still able to land his chopper at Cedars Sinai.
Can’t wait for the end of Kavanaugh and his fellow Wall Street douchebags. Good riddance!!! Save the movies!!
If SOPA does not pass more media jobs are on the chopping block,
you can spend 500MM in a year and get back 490MM the next, what do you have left for the next year ? that is what happened to relativity, to many downloads are killing the industry,
I think it’s important to point out some basic business economics here. By laying off ten people, Relativity Media (read, Ryan Kavanaugh) is freeing up money that can be invested in the company and so make Relativity Media (read, Ryan Kavanaugh) richer. Even with those 10 people gone, that will still leave around 205 people for Relativity Media (read, Ryan Kavanaugh) to lay off at the time of its choosing, so freeing up even more money to invest in the company and thus make Relativity Media (read, Ryan Kavanaugh) even richer still.
I like anyone that helps fund movies. End of story.
I just wish they were good movies, cuz of their last 10 films, only 3 have made them some money.
If I was at the company I’d start looking for a job fast. I don’t wish for their failure because they employ people and their movies employ people but this company was a mess from the start. They sure have lasted longer than I thought they would. That Tooley guy has no idea what he’s doing, and Ryan is a pro-sales/con-man who might end up behind bars eventually when the truth all comes out, if it does.
Hopefully they can keep people employed for awhile longer. Not sure how much longer it will last.
So get rid of the people that do the bulk of the work? Wow – wonder what that will cost $$$ in mistakes. Why are companies so short sighted? They never see the big picture. How about cutting salaries at the top??? Or maybe a plane ride or two? That never seems to happen.
maybe they should fire whoever bought 4 superbowl spots for a movie
that can’t possibly open
Most of you are morons. 10 years ago we had between 40 and 50 buyers. Now we have about 15 and that’s stretching it. Whether you like Ryan or not you should be rooting for the success of the company and the other 200 people that work hard and support their families. Who cares if he flies in a helicopter. With LA traffic we would all do it if we could afford it.
Must be a nice feeling, being laid off so company can afford Super Bowl Commercials.
well said fred!!
Concur. The industry is in collapse. SOPA is a decade to late… and corporate strategy thanks to all those visionary MBA’s. Laying off people and the business 101 debate here is irrelevant. RM is tanking and so is the rest of the business. At least Ryan had a set of balls and aimed for the stars. Oh yeah, what has everyone else on here achieved on par with Ryan’s efforts?
Over the last several years, I have gone to an average of 50 movies per year. However, the entertainment industry’s support for measures that put their profits above due process, fair use, and individual liberty have led me to a decision to boycott Hollywood movies.
I am tired of the entertainment industry enticing me, on one hand, while spitting in my eye on the other. Normally corporations with such contempt for their customers die on the vine.
P.T. Barnum called his customers ‘suckers’ and where is the circus industry now? The telephone company alienated its clients, relying on the force of government sponsored monopoly. Where is AT&T now? The most hated companies in America are the cable companies who also historically rely on local monopolies and have treated their customer base with contempt.
Who else sues their customers, makes blanket accusations of theft, and seeks special treatment by the government, doles out 97 million over the last year to Congress to purchase legislation to abridge individual rights?
Who else makes legitimately purchased DVDs and blue ray product force people to wade through irrelevant crap, some of which threaten them, to get to content?
Who else whines like entitled one-per-centers when people they have to suffer through the economic downturn like the rest of the country?
Why the U.S. movie industry, that’s who.
Well, I am a customer who is mad as hell and not going to stand for it anymore.