Annapurna Pink Slips 16% Of Work Force

Megan Ellison’s Annapurna reduced its work force by roughly 30 employees. The producer of A24’s hit arthouse comedy The Invite counts around 189 staffers. We hear that cuts were made throughout all divisions, TV, film and indie games. A rep for the studio tells Deadline, “The reduction reflects business conditions. Annapurna is an independent entertainment and media company operating in shifting market conditions, and is realigning to meet the changing landscape.” We understand that those employees impacted are being supported through the transition. We’re still looking into whether any top level executives were let go. Annapurna, which was an enormous producer behind such auteur-driven movies as David O. Russell’s American Hustle, Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, and Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty, ventured into distribution and then retrenched greatly, however, has been gradually wading back into feature film producing. Other titles in addition to The Invite have been Neon’s SXSW premiere, I Love Boosters from Boots Riley and Mona Fastvold’s The Testament of Ann Lee which Searchlight acquired out of Venice last year and pushed for awards. Watch on Deadline Annapurna made cuts during Covid in 2020, which included CFO James Pong, but in September 2024 there were 24 staffers from Annapurna Interactive who left the company after the studio failed to spin off the division. The departures at the time included Annapurna Interactive President Nathan Gary along with Heads of Gaming, Deborah Mars and Nathan Vella.