OR Media, UK Producer Behind Tom Hollander Doc ‘Path Of Blood,’ Lays Off 18 Staff & Pays Freelancers Late Amid “Difficult” Financial Woes
deadline.comEXCLUSIVE: British producer OR Media, which has made shows for the Saudi state broadcaster and BBC, along with Tom Hollander-starring docu-feature Path of Blood, has laid off 14% of its workforce and failed to pay freelancers to the tune of what sources estimate could be hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Deadline has spoken with half a dozen current and former OR Media staff, who paint a chaotic picture of a company in a tricky financial position.
We have also seen emails from CFO Andrew Wallace to senior staff saying “we’re having difficult conversations with a large number of people” and urging them to be “alert to the risk of malicious rumor.” An OR Media spokesman blamed a “major” unnamed UK client, which announced that “it was making significant and immediate cuts to its operations.” “Whilst not disputing its debts to us or its desire to continue commissioning films from us in the future, it unilaterally imposed an extremely tight payment plan on us,” added the spokesman. “We are in the process of signing a number of new contracts and these will enable us to return to our normal payment terms in the very near future, begin reengaging staff, and hopefully repair some of the damage that has been done.” The number laid off totals 18, the spokesman said, which accounts for around 14% of the circa-200 staff at the London-based, near-30-year-old company.
Deadline is told that numerous freelancers and suppliers haven’t been paid for months, with estimates from insiders placing the total owed across the board in the hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Read more on deadline.com