BLACK MONDAY: 450 New Line Jobs Axed

28 Comments »

1. That’s awful, even with the spectre of impending doom hanging over the company this past year, it’s still hard for all those involved once the proverbial axe has finally fallen.

   I do think Time-Warner’s made a mistake though. They should have brought in fresh top management, new partners, and spun the company off, with Time Warner still owning a piece to ensure first dibs on TV/foreign release rights. Because re-running the Austin Powers trilogy on a pretty much weekly basis is just not healthy, even for cable channels.

   I wish the recently laid off New Line folks good luck and good new jobs in the near future.

   Comment by Furious D — April 14, 2008 @ 6:18 pm

2. It’s particularly sad because this very site helped aid all of the forces lining up against New Line. Bob, Michael and Toby have PLENTY to blame for the problems New Line has faced over the past three years, but your bordering-on-the-pathological anti-Shaye hatred and constant ass-kissing of “ballsy” Jeff Bewkes have thrown fuel on the fire. Bewkes ended up reneging on many of his severance promises and the spin that this site helped propagate — based on Bewkes and TW’s own misleading press releases — only proved cover for the soulless bureaucrats at Time/Warner. I have a lot of friends losing jobs today. I can’t help but feel that this site had a part to play in that.

   Comment by Jack Burton — April 14, 2008 @ 6:18 pm

3. Very, very sad. Toby ran that studio into the ground and Bob/Michael stood by and let him do it. The staff that are staying are lucky since no one else in town would hire their untalented asses. Everyone worth a damn has already left for greener pastures. And who is going to want to make a movie with these idiots? Anyone?

   Comment by Les Mayfield Jr. — April 14, 2008 @ 6:38 pm

4. As a former intern for New Line this is truly a sad day, but not one that I didn’t see coming. Good luck to all those who are being re-shuffled and my thoughts go out to all those who have been let go.

   Comment by MentalSyzygy — April 14, 2008 @ 6:43 pm

5. …and the person most responsible for the terrible product New Line’s been releasing for the better part of five years gets to stay and run the place.

   Comment by Ironic — April 14, 2008 @ 6:57 pm

6. From United Airlines to New Line to GM, It is always so sad that the rank and file get laid off when the management makes continued mistakes.

   Comment by elliott — April 14, 2008 @ 8:29 pm

7. The new NL is really like the blind leading the blind…now they’re not only the joke of the entire business, but can’t really hide from the inevitable. Not like any of them can take credit for any franchise films to come like Austin Powers 4.

   Look at New Line and all the execs under De Luca, where they are now, then look at the ones under boy genius red head’s reign (except for the two that were smart and talented enough so they got plucked by other studios)…what a talented manager of people mr. president/moonlighting writer really is! The execs that are staying literally have no market value anywhere else…ironic that it’s still Toby and his team of “hit-makers” who we must note either held the title of his assistant in the past or current wife’s best-friend that are left to run this sinking ship! Oh wait, maybe they’ll bring his wife’s best-friend’s husband back onto this “dream team” since his directing career turned out to be so lucrative…NOT.

   Comment by nldeservesnorespect — April 14, 2008 @ 8:42 pm

8. jack burton,
   do not blame nikki for the downfall of newline - she is not to blame for toby’s inability to be a leader and poor taste and bob’s alcoholic and post-alcoholic dysfunctionality - this site has brought a lot of truth to light and having worked at new line, it’s about time

   Comment by after after the sunset — April 14, 2008 @ 9:13 pm

9. Oh, Douglas…you are so wrong and misinformed. Inside word is that they are keeping Sam Brown and Mike Disco for the new reality TV show “DUMB AND DUMBER”. Every week, you will get to marvel at the stupidity as you watch 2 movie studio executives show how clueless human beings can actually be. Co-starring Toby Emmerich as the “Guy Who Thinks He’s Louis B. Meyer”; Joe Francis as the “Show Us Your Tits guy”; and Charlie Emde as the “Guy Who Says ‘Ummm’ every 3 seconds”. The pilot has Disco and his wacky boss Toby, closing Toby’s door and having an intern demonstrate lap dancing. HR is still giggling about that one.
   Also, it’s true that Michelle Weiss is staying. I don’t know about you, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that THE POSSUM CITY CLOGGERS will finally get made! Michelle is the only one to see that a movie about the cut-throat, fast-paced, exciting, crazy world of competitive clogging has SMASH HIT written all over it! Think about it…how many times have you been at a party and overheard someone talk about clogging? If you are like me, you have heard it dozens-maybe hundreds- of times. Douglas, now that New Line has trimmed all the fat(people with talent and smarts), they are poised to take over as the number one studio in town!

   Comment by Les Mayfield Jr. — April 14, 2008 @ 10:42 pm

10. As one of the 450 people who got fired today, I am sad to be leaving my friends and a little worried about finding a new job. But I am mostly happy, because New Line was a horrible and nasty place to work. Back stabbing like you wouldn’t believe, crappy movies, terrible marketing, old boys club, sexual harassment coming from the top… Luckily I’m still young and relatively cheap to hire in this terrible job market. And anything I find has to be a better place than New Line.

    Comment by 1 of the 450 — April 14, 2008 @ 11:41 pm

11. Aw, so a few drones have to look for work like those of us who create the stuff do the second a gig is over. Big effing tragedy. And, not one person I’ve ever dealt with there has been remotely competent, and most were generally nasty in disposition. Better learn some charm for the Nordstrom’s job.

    Comment by Oh Well — April 15, 2008 @ 12:45 am

12. What’s wrong with “Back stabbing like you wouldn’t believe, crappy movies, terrible marketing, old boys club, sexual harassment coming from the top”? Those are the things what made Old Line the shining beacon of showbiz success it once was. You can’t go wrong with a studio like that. But before we move on we have to look back with fond memories of DeLuca getting a backyard blowjob from a sexy bimbo at an Oscar weekend barbecue or his replacement being sued for stealing another writer’s script and turning it into the smash hit “Frequency”. Those were the good old days and you should feel very sad that you won’t see Shaye driving around West Hollywood in his old convertible any longer. It’s the end of a golden era that’s for sure.

    Comment by Sammy Glick — April 15, 2008 @ 1:34 am

13. 1 of the 450: I hate to break it to you, but you’re not in “luck” if you’re young and relatively cheap to hire. To me, that just makes it sound like you’re disposable. There are thousands of young, cheap people out there. But what do you actually bring to the table besides being inexperienced and cheap? You don’t sound like someone I’d want to hire.

    Comment by Can't Take It Anymore — April 15, 2008 @ 8:15 am

14. Hey, Can’t Take It Anymore and Oh Well,

    Nice show of sympathy, you dicks. If you both are in the position of hiring anyone, I hope you pour your own coffee and get your own lunches, because you sound like the kind of class-act employers who tend to get ugly payback.

    To all my friends at New Line, you are in my thoughts and prayers. Except Toby.

    Comment by Jack Burton — April 15, 2008 @ 11:03 am

15. Dear, Can’t Take it Anymore -

    If you’ve got the time to knock 1 of 450’s comments and throw negativity that way, you’ve got too much free time on your hands and might not be the hotshot you think you are.

    Comment by you can take it some more — April 15, 2008 @ 11:09 am

16. Wow
    So Beyda takes over while Holmberg leaves? Beyda can barely add and is a piece of work. And no one mentions Ordesky. If he is not staying, does New Line even make THE HOBBIT? My guess is HOBBIT goes to main Warners and former New Liner Lynn Harris takes it and cackles.

    Comment by Bang a Gong — April 15, 2008 @ 11:10 am

17. I’m sorry if some of you can’t face the reality that you’re not entitled to a job. If someone’s main “qualifications” for employment are youth and a low salary requirement, then I suggest they seek employment in the fast food or retail sectors.

    In virtually every other industry, you need to bring intelligence, skills, and a drive to succeed to the table. If you don’t have those attributes, ultimately, why should I care if you don’t have a job?

    I just think it’s silly that 1 of 450 is trying to engender sympathy on a message board in this manner.

    Comment by Can't Take It Anymore — April 15, 2008 @ 11:59 am

18. And I’m sorry that Can’t Take It Anymore can’t face the fact that he’s a heartless douche. You’re like the troll who responds to airline tragedies like “well, you should have taken Greyhound!”

    Comment by Jack Burton — April 15, 2008 @ 12:38 pm

19. Geez, so many personal attacks against NL employees and Nikki herself. Reality is, this is just corporate idiocracy in the Bush era. Of course the new New Line will be a failure or irrelevant at best. But for now, it’s just 500 or so thrown by the man into the unemployment bin. Can’t we all get along?

    Comment by drone — April 15, 2008 @ 12:41 pm

20. Hey Can’t Take it Anymore -

    Quit being a prick. Today 450 people are out of jobs. They’ve got kids in schools and mortgages and rent and car payments. They’re people, man. Show some empathy. It’s not the fault of 440 of those people that NL is going down in flames. They’re just folks like you and me trying to make a living and do good work. There are TONS of NL staffers out on their ass today that were good assistants and good publicists and good distribution staffers and good editors and good copywriters. They work at a faceless multinational corporation who made cuts. There are a lot of husbands who have to look their wives in the face tonight knowing that they don’t know where the next paycheck comes from. Maybe you could cut them a little slack today.

    Comment by Friend of NL staffers — April 15, 2008 @ 1:07 pm

21. @ Can’t Take It Any More:

    You are a blithering idiot. There are many more jobs available at the bottom of the ladder than the top. 1 of the 450 was expressing gratitude at having the flexibility to take one of them vs someone later on in life who will have a tougher time finding a job that meets their salary needs. No sympathy play there. Moron.

    Comment by colinsmith — April 15, 2008 @ 2:32 pm

22. “Reality is, this is just corporate idiocracy in the Bush era.”

    Right, we absolutely MUST blame this on Bush. We never had unemployment or layoffs or downturns before that evil monster Bush (and of course his henchman Rove) came along.

    Of course the mean honchos and moguls are all filthy Rethuglicans - that’s why all their money goes to Obama, Dodd, Kennedy and Clinton. Makes perfect sense.

    Comment by Ray Zaccagnini — April 15, 2008 @ 3:04 pm

23. New Line was an awesome place to work.

    Comment by Axed Newliner — April 15, 2008 @ 3:17 pm

24. So, yeah, it sucks for a lot of us, and for others we saw it coming awhile ago. We can mince words about the hows and whys of it, but really, isn’t this just one more turn of the wheel here? It’s not the first time I’ve been laid off, and if the actors strike happens this summer, jobs will be even more scarce.

    To me, this is just another way of thinning the playing field. If you’re good at what you do, you’ll get picked up. If not, at least you got a few good stories to tell, huh? I had a great run, and I’m getting a good package, and I’d rather embrace whatever new opportunities present themselves.

    Comment by Another One of the 450 — April 15, 2008 @ 4:04 pm

25. Yeah, it probably wasn’t Bush’s fault. And it’s not Nikki’s fault. It’s not Clinton’s fault, or McCain’s, or Dick Parsons’, or Soupy Sales’, or … for god’s sake … “The Man”? “Hoot”? “Son of the Mask”? “The Last Mimzy”? I’ll stop there … you know the rest of them. But don’t blame us drones. We are good workers who did a good job for poor leadership. We’ll land on our feet, and can only hope that karma and justice will take care of those who deserved to suffer for the demise of New Line. It won’t be easy for the large percentage of the 450 who don’t deserve to be cast off, but I hope in time we will all land on our feet.

    Comment by another drone — April 15, 2008 @ 6:12 pm

26. I don’t know who “Les Mayfield Jr.” is but it isn’t the director Les Mayfield, just in case anyone was confused. Maybe there’s a Les Mayfield Jr. out there and he’s busy commenting on what’s going on at New Line but it seems like a very “fishy” coincidence. If in fact someone is out there trying to create confusion over who’s actually making the comment, it’s cheap, man. Really cheap.

    Comment by Diane Crane — April 15, 2008 @ 8:27 pm

27. Truly sad but extremely foreseeable so it’s hard to feel sorry for all the New Line vets who who didn’t jump to warmer pooles on their own once Warner got settled and all the niceties were over. The path of destruction started very early with a “new mood” causing many of the more subversive, creative visionaries in all departments at many levels being left out in the cold whenever it would even sprinkle For me the signs were clear when The Red Headed Boy Flunder took great issue with an anti-Bush T shirt someone , “me” wore at an annual beach party. Like a cancer the best and the brightest were slowly either forced out in horribly demeaning ways or just not renewed. Deluca’s departure was actually the tail end of a first bout of sickness that left the company both physically and spiritually drained and without much hope. Those who were left could no longer break new ground or fully do their jobs in ways that would have protected the company. Stored away somewhere is an elegant worn piece of cloth with a skull and cross bones still well sewn to it that a young Bob Shaye hauled up the mast years ago. Warners hunger for all things within its sightline inevitably proved too much and the final scene became as obvious as one anybody would expect from a movie about an obese retarded baby locked alone in a room…. sooner or later the fingers were going to go in the mouth and there was nothing anyone could do to stop the chewing.

    Comment by another ex-newliner — April 17, 2008 @ 8:40 am

28. New Line Dead?!? Cow dung! I rekon that New Line’s career over distribu-tion will continue (according to certain websites that I visited), while Warner Bros. will have the final say over the days of the releases of New Line’s films.

    Comment by James Benjamin Tracey — April 30, 2008 @ 4:49 pm

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