Warner Bros. Discovery is laying off 70 HBO Max employees ahead of the company’s planned merger of its two main streaming services next year, eliminating four major departments and exiting several EVPs and SVPs.
Among the departments being eliminated: HBO Max Originals Nonfiction and Live Action, International Originals, Casting and Content Acquisitions.
This amounts to roughly 14% of staff under head content officer Casey Bloys being let go prior to HBO Max and Discovery+ being combined into a single service set to launch in the United States next summer. The layoffs are part of WBD CEO David Zaslav’s continue cost-cutting efforts as the company seeks out $3 billion in synergies and looks to pay down debt that has ballooned to more than $50 billion.
Bloys sent a personal memo to staff later Monday that was obtained by TheWrap.
“Unfortunately, the environment in which we operate is changing rapidly, and it is up to us to continue to refine our model to chart a course for long term success,” Bloys wrote. “As you heard from David Zaslav during our last earnings call, producing top-tier HBO/Max scripted content is crucial to WBD’s future. Part of this process involves an honest assessment of what we need moving forward. To best align our strengths and strategy with the challenges and opportunities ahead, I am announcing the following organizational changes.
HBO Max’s unscripted spaces were impacted the most in the layoffs. They downsized given Discovery’s successful footprint in the unscripted realm. There are no official cancellations as a part of Monday’s restructuring and any HBO max unscripted shows that perform well are expected to continue.
Sarah Aubrey will continue overseeing HBO Max’s original dramas while incorporating international programming into her responsibilities, alongside Gerhard Zeiler who leads WBD’s international division. HBO head of Comedy Amy Gravitt will take control of HBO Max comedy as HBO’s scripted development team takes on greater oversight within the WBD content portfolio. Suzanna Makkos, HBO Max comedy lead, will now report directly to Gravitt and not Aubrey.
Additional departments impacted by the restructuring include HBO Max’s casting division (HBO never had a casting division) as well as acquisitions as the company focuses on its own content. Most major acquisitions outside of select library and pay two and pay three deals will now be funneled through Warner.