Vice Bosses Talk Next Steps Following Bankruptcy And Tease New Production Finance Facility That Will Make It A “One-Stop Studio Shop”

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: This year has seen a swath of global production and distribution entities in film and television impacted by layoffs and cuts, and Vice Media Group has been no exception.

Following the company’s much-publicized bankruptcy in 2022, when it was sold for $350 million to hedge fund and former investor Fortress, the group underwent a raft of layoffs and restructuring earlier this year, with its production business, Vice Studios Group, now being led by Jamie Hall in London and Danny Gabai in Los Angeles.

But Hollywood loves a comeback, and Vice Media CEO Bruce Dixon tells Deadline in a rare interview that Vice is back from the brink in a smaller capacity but with a clear vision and money to spend — the latter in the form of an imminent production finance facility, which it hopes to launch before the year end.  “There’s no doubt that the business is far healthier than it was a year ago,” says Dixon. “One of the things I want to focus on is obviously culture and morale – it’s a tough industry to be in at the moment but we’re feeling positive because we have become a far more agile company.”  The Vice chief says he expects the company to be in profit in Q1 2025. “We’re smaller, we take opportunities where we can now and, more importantly, we’re backed by our investors and our board in terms of looking for opportunities for growth and exciting projects.” Today, the company is operating at 30% of its size compared to the beginning of the year.

Dixon says this leaner operation – and particularly its global production entity Vice Studios Group, which is behind projects such as Gangs of London, the Saoirse Ronan feature film Bad Apples, Netflix doc Lewis Capaldi: How I’m Feeling Now and upcoming hybrid musical/doc Pavem