MUMBAI: In a major restructuring exercise, Viacom18’s movie arm – Studio 18 has seen a mass exodus of almost 10 – 12 professionals at the mid and senior management level.
As per information available with Businessofcinema.com, three senior level team members comprising Studio 18 head – domestic distribution, marketing and syndication Hemant Bhardwaj, Studio 18 head of international operations Tanuj Garg and Studio 18 senior vice president – production Shariq Patel will be leaving the company after serving a three months’ notice period. With the departure of these three, the senior level management in Studio 18 is now non-existent.
According to information available with Businessofcinema.com, the international operations of Studio 18 are also being shut down as a part of this restructuring plan.
Additionally, approximately 7 – 10 middle management professionals from the India distribution and marketing division will also be leaving the company.
As was reported earlier by this website, Studio 18 has hired Balaji Motion Pictures COO Vikram Malhotra as COO. He will report to Viacom 18 CEO Haresh Chawla.
This year the company released films like Striker, It’s A Wonderful Afterlife, Hum Tum Aur Ghost and Road, Movie – all of which were box office duds. Studio 18’s forthcoming films’ pipeline is also dry with only one movie, which is the official remake of The Italian Job. The movie is currently in its early production stage and will be directed by Abbas – Mastan. It stars Abhishek Bachchan, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Bobby Deol. The movie was also to star Katrina Kaif but after the actress walked out, either Sonam Kapoor or Anuskha Sharma are being considered for the role of female lead.
With Malhotra taking over the reigns now, it remains to be seen how Studio 18’s graph pans out over the next few months.
