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Hello Sunshine Lays Off Half Of Staff In Wake Of Acquisition By Reese Witherspoon And Mediawan
Hello Sunshine, which was recently re-acquired by co-founder Reese Witherspoon alongside France-based Mediawan, is laying off half of its staff.
The company produces film and TV titles along with maintaining a Witherspoon-branded book club. It is letting go of about 30 workers, a source familiar with the cutbacks told Deadline, was not unexpected and is part of an effort to refocus Hello Sunshine on its core strategic areas. Remaining employees are concentrating primarily on film, TV and the book club, along with related social and digital marketing as well as partnerships.
The Mediawan-Witherspoon acquisition earlier this month from Candle Media drew considerable attention in the industry given the steep drop in valuation over the past couple of years. The initial Candle deal valued Hello Sunshine at $900 million. While the recent transaction price was not disclosed, knowledgeable sources told Deadline that Candle, backed by private equity giant Blackstone, likely lost hundreds of millions of dollars on the deal.
Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine Cuts 50% of Employees After Actress Buys Back Company
Earlier this month, Witherspoon bought her production company back from Candle Media, the Blackstone-backed label that had acquired a controlling stake in 2021. With the support of the French conglomerate Mediawan, the actress was reportedly able to reacquire the banner for just a fraction of the $900 million that Candle Media had paid for it. Now, after just a few weeks in the driver’s seat, Witherspoon has let go some 30 employees — roughly 50% of Hello Sunshine’s staff.
Variety learned the layoff news from multiple sources, who noted that Hello Sunshine will now focus primarily on film and television projects and the Reese’s Book Club brand, with the direct-to-consumer division being gutted. Reps for Hello Sunshine declined a request for comment.
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Reese Witherspoon Buys Back Hello Sunshine
Reese Witherspoon bought back Be Sunshine from Candle Media in partnership with Mediawan Oct. 13 at a steep discount.
Be Sunshine, a West Los Angeles-based women-forward production house, was founded by the “Legally Blonde” actress in 2016 and does business as Hello Sunshine. The deal falls in the low- to mid-eight figures, according to Axios Media Inc., representing a significant fall from the $900 million price tag just five years ago when Candle Media acquired the production house behind HBO’s “Big Little Lies” and the Oscar-nominated “Gone Girl.”
With Hello Sunshine, the Blackstone Inc.-backed company had hoped to capitalize on the streaming surge during the COVID-19 pandemic and scale it across lifestyle, advertising and merchandise.
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