Entertainment Partners has laid off roughly a few dozen employees as a result of its merger with Ease Entertainment, the payroll-services firm acknowledged on Wednesday.
“Though we care deeply about all of our team members, as is usually the case when teams and companies combine, we had to cut duplicative roles in the technology department, which affected less than 5 percent of our combined workforce,” said Ron Cogan, a vp with the merged company.
While insiders have complained that EP had been outsourcing some technology development to an out-of-the-country third party, Cogan said on Wednesday that the merger will mean less outsourcing going forward.
“This transition provides EP with greater resources and capabilities and therefore we no longer require the same level of assistance from third-party contracted partners,” he said.
EP said six days ago it would pay an undisclosed amount of money to acquire Ease. EP president and CEO Mark Goldstein is the CEO of the merged company while Ease CEO Mike Rose becomes president of a newly formed unit called Movie Magic Scenechronize Technologies. The combined company has roughly 1,000 employees.
Email: Paul.Bond@THR.com
