Pixar Expects to Make Layoffs in Second Half of 2024

Today, it’s easy to put Martin Scorsese up there as one of the greatest American film directors of all time. However, according to one of his longest collaborators, that feeling is relatively new, as studios didn’t respect him as a living legend until the last decade or so.

Channel 4 is merging several commissioning departments including TV drama and film and leaving its Horseferry Road premises as the network sets out its layoffs plan and five-year strategy.

Naman Ramachandran U.K. public service broadcaster Channel 4 has confirmed the 200 layoffs that were being planned earlier this month.

Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford has shared that he thinks Ozzy Osbourne deserves to be knighted.Speaking to Classic Rock magazine recently, – and reported via Louder Sound – Halford voiced his support for the decade-long campaign to get the Prince of Darkness and former Black Sabbath frontman knighted.“If one person deserves a knighthood, it’s Ozzy Osbourne,” Halford said to Classic Rock. “Just for the joy he’s given people over the years.”Halford, like many others, is of the belief that Osbourne – a forefather of the metal genre – is well-deserving of knighthood for his contributions to the music industry.

San Francisco’s Jeffrey’s Toys, the city’s oldest toy store and the inspiration for the Toy Story franchise, is permanently closing.

Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish said today the company will continue to reduce its global workforce “to operate as a leaner company and spend less.” But there were no further details in a memo to staff obtained by Deadline following a “Bob Live” town hall today.  

Lily Gladstone is making Oscars history!

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor It’s the beginning of the end for Netflix‘s lowest-cost plan that does not include advertising. In reporting results for the fourth quarter of 2023, in which it added a better-than-expected 13.1 million net subscribers, Netflix touted its ad-supported plan as accounting for 40% of all Netflix sign-ups in markets where it has launched that, and said the number of subscribers on ad tiers grew almost 70% quarter-over-quarter. The company didn’t break out subscriber numbers but said it recently surpassed 23 million monthly active unique users on advertising tiers.

League Of Legends developer Riot Games has laid off 530 staff members and shut down all development on spin-off games.Yesterday, Riot Games announced in a blog post that it is laying off 530 roles globally (11% of overall staffers). Alongside this announcement, the developer has stated that it is stopping all active development on new spin-off games of League Of Legends after the release of Bandle Tale: A League Of Legends Story.“We’re ending new game development under Riot Forge after the upcoming release of Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story. Forge was an experiment to see what would happen when Rioters partnered with their favourite indie devs and let them loose on Runeterra with their unique viewpoints, styles and expertise,” the blog post read.“Across six titles spanning different game genres, regions, and characters, it’s been inspiring to see what these devs created in partnership with the Forge team.

Prime Video has slotted Thursday, March 14 for the premiere of the second half of Invincible‘s eight-episode second season. The announcement comes on the 21st anniversary of the inception of Robert Kirkman‘s comic book, illustrated by Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley, on which the adult animated superhero series is based. Four new episodes will air weekly begining March 14 on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

Diego Ramos Bechara editor No more thinking required, Mark! The second half of “Invincible‘s” second season will fly its way into Amazon’s Prime Video on March 14 – the 21st anniversary of the inception of the comic book that inspired it. Prime Video plans to premiere the second half of its eight-episode second season in March – with four new weekly episodes.

EXCLUSIVE: Amid speculation about its future, Paramount Global is proceeding with a new wave of staff reductions in February, sources tell Deadline. I hear the cuts will impact hundreds of employees across the entire company.

Sports Illustrated‘s stunning mass layoffs Friday, which cast doubt on the future of the 70-year-old media stalwart, have prompted waves of emotional reaction across social media.

The Los Angeles Times is planning “another round of major layoffs,” the publication’s guild warned its members in a memo, after executive editor Kevin Merida announced his surprise departure last week.

EXCLUSIVE: Prime Video‘s teams in Africa and the Middle East & North Africa region are facing layoffs, as part of a wider restructure that also “rebalances” investment towards Amazon’s European content division.

Pitchfork, one of the strongest music news and reviews publications over its 30-year-old online history, is being folded into men’s magazine GQ, owner Condé Nast said Wednesday.

Ethan Shanfeld Oscar-nominated actor June Squibb has joined the voice cast of Pixar’s “Inside Out 2.” The 94-year-old Squibb last worked with the Disney-owned studio for 2020’s “Soul” and 2019’s “Toy Story 4,” and has lent her voice to other animated projects including “Solar Opposites,” “Ralph Breaks the Internet” and “The Fungies.” Squibb’s character details are unknown, but she joins an A-list voice cast in the sequel, out June 14. Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith and Lewis Black return as Joy, Sadness and Anger, respectively, while Tony Hale and Liza Lapira took over for Bill Hader and Mindy Kaling as Fear and Disgust after reported salary disputes.

Universal Music Group is planning what may become hundreds of job cuts to its recorded music division in its first quarter, according to numerous reports.

Pixar Animation Studios is planning to reduce its workforce in the coming months, an insider confirmed to Deadline, as part of overall content spending trims at Disney.

EXCLUSIVE: Topic Studios, the award-winning production company behind titles like Theater Camp and 100 Foot Wave, has laid off over 20 employees, multiple sources tell Deadline. We hear that almost all divisions are affected, and that the company’s TV division has shuttered altogether. Employees were notified on Tuesday.