Anywhere from 150 to 400 DWA employees will be getting pink-slipped, with animators, storyboard artists and other production personnel the most likely to be affected.
Layoffs are coming to DreamWorks Animation, according to a report by Variety.
Earlier this month DWA Chief Creative Officer Bill Damaschke stepped down from his post as veteran producers Bonnie Arnold and Mireille Soria were named co-presidents of the struggling animation studio.
Anywhere from 150 to 400 DWA employees will be getting pink-slipped in the coming months at the company’s Glendale and Redwood City, CA locations, with animators, storyboard artists and other production personnel reportedly the most likely to be affected.
Steve Hulett, business representative for the Animation Guild, said that members began reporting layoffs last week. “We began hearing from members that they were getting laid off, but the company hasn’t responded to our inquiries,” he said.
The planned layoffs follow recent write-downs, including one analyst’s projected $14 million loss on animated spin-off The Penguins of Madagascar. Other write-downs include an $87 million loss on Rise of the Guardians, a $13.5 million hit on Turbo and a $57 million write-down on Mr. Peabody & Sherman.
Mass layoffs similarly hit DWA in 2013 after distributor Fox delayed Mr. Peabody and Sherman to spring 2014, and Me & My Shadow, an animation planned for 2014 featuring the voices of Kate Hudson, Josh Gad, and Bill Hader, was taken off the schedule altogether and reverted back into development.
DreamWorks Animation’s upcoming slate includes Home, which arrives in theaters on March 27, as well as 2016’s Kung Fu Panda 3, Trolls, and the as-yet-undated B.O.O. Bureau of Otherworldly Operations. Boss Baby, Mumbai Musical and sequels to Puss in Boots, The Croods and a third How to Train Your Dragon are also in development.
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.
