Warner Bros. to start cutting more than 1,000 jobs

Time Warner Inc. began cutting more than 1,000 jobs at its Warner Bros. film studio, according to a person familiar with the matter, as Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Bewkes presses a campaign to reduce costs.

The studio employed more than 8,000 people worldwide before the firings, said the person, who asked not to be named because the figures aren't public. That suggests reductions in the range of 12 percent to 13 percent at the Burbank, California-based entertainment unit.

The move furthers Bewkes' efforts to pare costs since turning down Rupert Murdoch's $75 billion offer for Time Warner, saying the company could do better on its own. Last month, the company's HBO cable channel let go about 7 percent of its 2,400 employees, and Turner Broadcasting said it would eliminate about 10 percent of its global workforce.

"We at Warner Bros. have committed to reducing costs across the company in order to meet our long-term financial targets, and that includes cutting staff," Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara said in a memo to staff. "These changes are challenging, but we believe they will allow us to reallocate resources and position the company for growth and stability in the years ahead."

Bloomberg News reported in September that Warner Bros. planned to cut staff and reduce costs.

Separately, Turner said today it hired Kevin Reilly, former entertainment chairman at Fox Broadcasting, as president of TBS and TNT, and chief creative officer of Turner Entertainment.