Starz Entertainment confirmed Thursday that it laid off about 50 workers due to a reorganization that began last spring.
But the job cuts have nothing to do with the Douglas County-based cable channel’s Entertainment Corp. Instead, they stem from channels into Starz Encore in April. The jobs affected were in creative departments.
“Due to significant changes and reduced needs precipitated from a rebrand the company underwent in April 2016, Starz notified 50 employees in the marketing and creative services teams that their jobs have been restructured and eliminated. While a difficult decision, the Company is doing this with the utmost respect for each and every person,” a Starz spokesman shared in an e-mail statement.
The cuts came the same day Starz for the merger, according to a regulatory filing on Thursday. Lions Gate will be merged into Starz and afterward, the combined company will have 90 television series on 40 networks and a film business that generated $7 billion at the global box office for the past four years.
Starz employs 700 people, including 480 in the Denver area.
