Sony Pictures laying off 216 employees in Culver City

The layoffs underway at Sony Pictures Entertainment as part of a cost-cutting initiative are affecting 216 employees in Culver City, where the company is based.

The number of layoffs was disclosed in a notice the film and television studio filed with the California Employment Development Department.

(The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act requires companies with 75 workers or more to notify the state of forthcoming reductions that eliminate 50 or more jobs.)

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The staff reductions, which began Monday and will continue this week, include employees at divisions throughout the studio, a unit of Sony Corp.

According to the notice, the layoffs will be effective between June 2 and July 18. Pink slips are being handed to workers at four Sony Pictures offices -- three on Washington Boulevard and one on Corporate Pointe.

There are also layoffs underway at the studio’s international offices.

At an investors conference in November, Sony Pictures executives outlined $250 million in budget cuts that were already underway. The studio also hired consultancy Bain & Co. last year to identify $100 million or more in additional cuts.

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The layoffs this week are part of that cost-cutting initiative, which was announced after Sony Pictures posted an operating loss of $181 million for the company’s fiscal second quarter that ended Sept. 30.

Last year Sony Pictures released a handful of high-profile movies that underperformed at the box office, though the studio has put out recent critical and commercial successes “Captain Phillips” and “American Hustle.”

This is only the most recent round of layoffs at the studio. The Times reported in January that the studio had laid off an undisclosed number of people from its Sony Pictures Technologies group, including the unit’s president, Chris Cookson.

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