Miramax Layoffs

[Sarangel]

Film studio Miramax, which has clashed recently with parent Walt Disney, plans this week to lay off about 35 percent of its workforce to cut costs and improve efficiency, the New York Post says, citing an unidentified source familiar with the situation.

The cuts would affect about 160 of Miramax's 450 employees in all areas of the company, mostly mid-level and lower-level employees, the newspaper said on Monday. Earlier this year, Miramax was considering 90 layoffs, published reports said.

An unidentified source told the newspaper: "The studio realized that it was significantly overstaffed relative to the decreased number of projects it has been working on."

Calls to Disney and Miramax were not immediately returned. A Miramax spokesman told the newspaper the company doesn't comment on speculation.

The studio last went through a budget crunch in 2001 and 2002, when it cut about 15 percent of its roughly 430 jobs. Miramax, which is run by Harvey and Bob Weinstein, is based in New York and has sizable operations in Los Angeles and offices worldwide.

Harvey Weinstein and Disney Chief Executive Michael Eisner have clashed over the direction of Miramax, an art house studio sold to Disney in 1993, as well as over the brothers' compensation.

Industry watchers have speculated that both Weinsteins, or just Harvey, might leave Miramax or buy part of it back.

Disney executives have said they want Miramax, whose box office receipts topped $1 billion last year, to refocus on smaller fare rather than big movies such as "Chicago" and "Cold Mountain", which it produced.

Miramax also backed Michael Moore's documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11", which mocks U.S. President George Bush's Iraq policy, to Eisner's ire.

The Weinsteins personally bought the movie's rights after Disney refused to let them release it under the Miramax banner. The brothers partnered on the film's distribution with Lions Gate, a unit of Lions Gate Entertainment, and IFC Films, a unit of Cablevision Systems' Rainbow Media Holdings.