Whackings
The beginning of the real bitter end of the Hollywood Reporter happened yesterday when, as Nikki Finke has reported, several essential, first-rate people were cut from the payroll -- film reporters Gregg Goldstein, Carolyn Giardina, Leslie Simmons, managing editor Harley Lond, TV critic Barry Garron, TV reporter Kimberly Nordyke, Manhattan-based special issues editor Randee Dawn, international department editor Hy Hollinger, plus Dan Evans, Lesley Goldberg, Michelle Belaski and James Gonzalez.
Plus the roilling heads at Paramount, Universal/Focus and Newsday.
Plus I'm told that film critic Glenn Whipp has been cut from the ranks of the L.A. Daily News. Put vaguely, his duties and/or compensation have been reduced beyond a duties/compensation diminishment that had happened previously. (I could make it vaguer.) Whipp didn't reply to an e-mail, his colleague Bob Strauss didn't reply to email and a call, Whipp's arts editor didn't pick up, etc. People never seem to want to call back when someone's been cut. Nobody wants to touch it.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on December 5, 2008 at 11:05 AM
comment #1
corey3rd
says ...
Shortening Oscar season has hurt the bottom line of ad pages.
Posted by corey3rd
at December 5, 2008 12:36 PM
comment #2
Luke Y. Thompson
says ...
In my experience, people don't want to comment when someone's been cut because they don't want their immediate emotional reaction to come back and bite them in the ass with either a current or future employer.
Sadly, as soon as the LAT cut down to one critic, it was inevitable that the Daily News would follow suit.
Posted by Luke Y. Thompson
at December 5, 2008 2:43 PM
comment #3
Joshua Mooney
says ...
They made the stupid mistake of losing Matt King a couple years ago. Hardly their first dumb move. In fairness, I once did work for THR, BPI and VNU,
so-- grain of salt, etc. They just cut some good people, is I guess my point.
Posted by Joshua Mooney
at December 5, 2008 3:03 PM
comment #4
adorian
says ...
Where can I find a good list of current films in production on the Web? Years ago, I subscribed to Variety because they had a weekly chart of new films that started production. When they stopped doing the weekly chart, I switched to Hollywood Reporter because they had good weekly production charts. But they've stopped doing them in their paper mag (and I'm not going to try to access their pay-for-access Web charts), so Hollywood Reporter can go under for all I'm concerned.
I just want to know what new projects start production each week.
Posted by adorian
at December 5, 2008 5:41 PM
comment #5
Glenn Whipp
says ...
I did not receive an e-mail from you, Jeff.
I must say, I got a little lost in your thicket of vagueness. I never had a duties/compensation dimishment in my 11 years at the Daily News ... until the rather abrupt one that occured today.
See you at the movies ...
Posted by Glenn Whipp
at December 5, 2008 6:00 PM
comment #6
Edward Havens
says ...
I know why THR didn't shitcan Borys Kit: they need to keep someone on hand to crib scoops from entertainment news websites and claim them as their own.
Posted by Edward Havens
at December 6, 2008 9:49 PM