DreamWorks to Lay Off 200

NBCUniversal will lay off 200 employees at the Glendale campus of DreamWorks Animation, the media company said Thursday. In a staff memo sent by Jeff Shell, chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment, DreamWorks employees were told the elimination of the positions was among the moves to integrate the company into Universal Filmed Entertainment Group. “These changes are focused in the corporate overhead groups as well as distribution and consumer products, areas where we can fully integrate operations with NBCUniversal,” Shell wrote in the memo. The layoffs come less than a month after NBCUniversal parent Comcast Corp. closed on its $3.8 billion acquisition of the former independent animated film and television studio. The affected employees will be notified this week and many will continue with the studio over a transition period of the next few months, Shell wrote. “These are difficult but necessary moves as we work to integrate our organizations and we will be as generous as possible to those who will be leaving the company,” the memo said. The acquisition gives Universal a broader reach in the competitive children and family entertainment markets. In addition to feature films, DreamWorks Animation also produces television series distributed on the Netflix streaming platform, live theatrical events and licenses its characters for use in overseas themed entertainment attractions.