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\n\tEXCLUSIVE: <\/strong>Sony<\/a> Pictures Entertainment is proceeding with layoffs<\/a> starting Tuesday across the motion picture group, teleivsion and corporate offices, in what is seen as a months-long process.<\/p>\n \n\tThe number being pink-slipped is estimated to be in the end a few hundred from a global staff which numbers north of 12,000. Those positions impacted are largely in the junior and middle management realm. The layoffs, we\u2019re told, are targeted and strategic, and not a mere cost-cutting exercise.<\/p>\n \n\tThe current move by Sony Pictures<\/a> Entertainment chairman and CEO Ravi Ahuja is so the conglomerate can better lean into growth-oriented strategies; strengthen its differentiated businesses; and focus on ROI drivers such as Crunchyroll, other types of anime outside that toon group, as well as PlayStation adaptations in film and TV. That means winding down non-core or low-growth businesses like Pixomondo<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tSaid Ahuja in an email to staff this morning, \u201cOver the past year, we have sharpened our strategy and clarified where we believe the greatest opportunities exist. As we lean into those priorities, we need to operate with greater focus, speed, and alignment to strengthen our differentiated capabilities. To support our growth,\u00a0we are aligning our organization with where the business is going \u2014 not where it has been.\u00a0That requires changes to how we are structured and where we invest.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe chairman and CEO added, \u201cWith that, we are reducing roles in certain areas while increasing focus and investment in others that are most critical to our future. This means that some of our colleagues will be leaving the company. These are difficult decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tRead the full memo below.<\/p>\n \n\tIn February, news broke that Sony Pictures Television\u00a0offered buyouts<\/a> to executives in select areas identified as having less growth potential.<\/p>\n \n\tWe understand that some of the new consolidation will entail GSN going under Sony\u2019s Game Show Group led by\u00a0Suzanne Prete, President, Game Shows. As previously announced, Sony Pictures Television-Nonfiction now falls under\u00a0Katherine Pope<\/a>, the President of Sony TV Studios, in the wake of Eli Holzman<\/a>, President of\u00a0Sony Pictures Television<\/a>, Nonfiction, and Co-President\u00a0Aaron Saidman<\/a> exiting the business.<\/p>\n \n\tIn regards to maximizing spend on the marketing side of the studio business, Sony is looking to shift resources to achieve the highest-impact initiatives where possible.<\/p>\n \n\tFranchise strategy and brand extension for Sony remains a priority across game shows, anime, experiences, next-gen content, platform-native content\u00a0(i.e., the studio is committing more to its YouTube capabilities) and the overall Sony Group ecosystem. As such, Sony will be adding resources in many of these areas. Read, Game Shows remain a vital line of revenue, with Sony broadening development channels for anime and game show IP. In some instances, we understand, this will mean new creative positions being added. Of late, there has been an ongoing Jeopardy!<\/em> expansion (Pop Culture J!, Celebrity J!, J! YouTube Edition<\/em>) with the main game show streaming next day on Hulu and Peacock.<\/p>\n \n\tAmong the growth areas at Sony: it recently acquired Peanuts<\/a> and made an investment and first-look theatrical deal with Brian Robbins\u2019 Big Shot Pictures <\/a>which will be an incubator for YouTube kids content.<\/p>\n \n\tThere\u2019s also a plethora in the feature and TV pipeline for Sony, which prizes itself as a non-streamer, and an arms dealer of content in today\u2019s entertainment landscape, e.g., The Boys <\/em>final season is premiering April 8 on Prime, with spinoffs Gen V <\/em>and Vought Rising <\/em>on the horizon. This summer will see the Prime debut of the Nicolas Cage-led Spider-Noir<\/em> series on May 27. PlayStation adaptations are prime with new seasons of Twisted Metal <\/em>and HBO\u2019s The Last of Us <\/em>coming, as well as a streaming series take of God of War <\/em>in production, <\/em>and a feature adaptation of Helldivers <\/em>from director Justin Lin and starring Jason Momoa, due out in 2027. Big screen animated versions of prized franchises, Venom <\/em>and Ghostbusters<\/em>, are in the works for the big screen.<\/p>\n