eOne Takeover - Deadline: Entertainment One’s Steve Bertram Reflects On “Incredible Ride” As He & Michael Lombardo Set Exits Following Lionsgate Acquisition

Story from Deadline:

Following the announcement Thursday morning that Lionsgate has agreed to acquire Entertainment One from Hasbro for $500 million, eOne’s top film and TV executives, Steve Bertram, President, Film & TV, and Michael Lombardo, President, Global Television, are preparing to exit.

“With the business transitioning to a new owner, the time is right for me to move on. I will stay with the company for a short period to help kick off the transition process,” Bertram wrote in a memo to staff this morning, a copy of which was obtained by Deadline.

Lombardo is set to depart at the end of the transaction, sources tell Deadline. Nick Meyer exited as President of Film when his contract ended in June.

The moves were fully expected as Hasbro is set to name a transition team shortly and Lionsgate to start the process of integrating the acquired eOne assets into the company.

Bertram is an eOne veteran, having joined the indie studio as President of the Global Film Group in 2014. He subsequently also took oversight of the TV operation and, following the company’s acquisition by Hasbro in 2020, brought in former top HBO programming executive Lombardo, first as a consultant and then Head of TV.

One of the biggest new series Lombardo set up since then is a live-action Dungeons & Dragons at Paramount+. Meanwhile, the film division had the March release Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, which eOne co-produced and co-financed with Paramount. EOne’s film and TV portfolio also includes recent movies like The Woman King and current TV series The Rookie and Yellowjackets.

“Over the past decade, eOne Film & TV has grown into a leading independent production and distribution company, and we’ve celebrated so many wins,” Bertram wrote. “For me, this has been an incredible ride.”

The eOne assets that were sold include all scripted and unscripted TV production (except for the Family Brands division housing such staples as Peppa Pig and PJ Masks); all film production and related global distribution; a 6,500-plus title content library; and Hasbro’s interest in eOne’s Canadian film and TV business. 9-In preparation for the sale, eOne underwent multiple rounds of layoffs over the last few months that impacted about 20% of the indie studio’s film and television staff. Hasbro’s plan, announced in January, involves cutting 15% of the company’s global workforce this year, or about 1,000 positions.