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DreamWorks Animation Faces 170 Additional Layoffs

Cuts come as DWA continues to be integrated into NBCUniversal following its acquisition by Comcast, and just two months after the studio eliminated 200 positions at its Glendale campus and in its distribution and consumer products operations.

DreamWorks Animation’s 2013 feature, ‘The Croods,’ made $587 million at the global box office.

DreamWorks Animation will lay off 170 more employees at its Glendale campus in January, according to a report by the San Fernando Valley Business Journal. The cuts come as DWA continues to be integrated into NBCUniversal following its acquisition by Comcast earlier this year, and just two months after the studio eliminated 200 positions at its Glendale campus and in its distribution and consumer products operations.

This latest round of layoffs reportedly includes positions in the feature animation group, likely due to Universal yanking The Croods 2 from the studio’s production slate.

The Croods sequel, which was formally announced in April 2013, had roughly 30 employees tasked with working on the film, including directors Chris Sanders and Kirk DeMicco. These workers were reportedly told that the studio hopes to keep them at DWA, with some of them potentially shifted to other film projects, while others might be put into training or “artistic development” programs.

Produced under a budget of $135 million, The Croods had a domestic debut of $43.6 million following its release in March 2013 and went on to earn $587 million at the global box office.

Release of The Croods 2 had already been delayed by former DWA distribution partner Fox in August. Originally slated for release on July 21, 2017, the sequel was moved back on the schedule to December 22, 2017.

Jennifer Wolfe's picture

Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.