The Weinstein Co. on Wednesday let go of the remainder of its employees, as it prepares to close a $289 million sale out of bankruptcy to Lantern Capital.
A person familiar with the situation told TheWrap that the company terminated the remaining 70 or so employees who were still at TWC. But Lantern Capital, which is buying the studio out of bankruptcy, has offered contracts to roughly two-thirds of TWC’s former employees, amounting to roughly 20 TWC workers who have been laid off.
What was once a 140-person staff has been reduced to no more than roughly 70 as of earlier this week.
TWC has been in turmoil, and was forced to file for bankruptcy in March after accusations against the former Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein’s amounted to 30 years of alleged sexual harassment and assault, which began to come to light last fall.
The layoffs come hours after a Delaware bankruptcy court approved TWC’s decreased sale price and new purchase agreement with Lantern Capital, despite objections from high-profile filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, who are concerned about unpaid film royalties.
The deal is expected to close as early as Friday.
Lantern co-founders Andy Mitchell and Milos Brajovic hinted during a June meeting with TWC staff that some employees would likely need to reapply for their jobs. But there haven’t been specifics as to how the company plans to operate the studio or what the business will look like post-sale.
On Tuesday Lantern tapped industry veterans Steve Beeks, Alexa Platt and Lauren Zalaznick to consult for the company as it looks to revive the film studio.
Mitchell and Brajovic said in a statement at the time that in their roles as advisors, they will “help position the new company for a creative and strategic future in the development, production and delivery of quality content across all platforms.”
“As we close this transaction in the coming days, these industry experts will help us implement a thoughtful strategy to launch Lantern Entertainment,” Mitchell and Brajovic said. “We have such tremendous respect for Alexa, Lauren and Steve. This further underscores our commitment to engage the best in the business in this formative stage of the new company.”
Variety first reported Wednesday’s layoffs.