Springhill, the production, consumer product and brand consultancy company founded by LeBron James and Maverick Carter, is cutting some staffers while saying it’s poised to expand its total number of employees this year.
“This was an internal reorganization,” a spokesperson for the Los Angeles-based entertainment firm said. “10 positions were eliminated, and we are hiring 24 more people. The positions were largely administrative, and we are building in sales and creative.” The company has about 200 employees currently.
CEO Carter informed staffers of the layoffs and reorganization on Monday. The Springhill Company, founded in 2020 with a reported $100 million in backing from investors, rolls up multiple entertainment firms backed by James and Carter.
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Those three divisions include the namesake production company, Springhill Entertainment (originally founded in 2015), which backs projects like Warner Bros.’ Space Jam: A New Legacy and the House Party revival, Adam Sandler’s basketball film Hustle on Netflix, game show The Wall for NBC as well as the long-running talk show The Shop, which ended its run on HBO and now airs on YouTube.
Springhill’s Uninterrupted consumer products unit partners on branded apparel and merchandise (like a recent limited run hoodie commemorating LeBron’s NBA scoring record) and experiences like a Phoenix pop-up shop tied to the Super Bowl. Additionally, The Robot Company serves as the firm’s in-house brand consultancy.
Last year, the company also formed a joint venture, IPG x The SpringHill Co., with Interpublic to pair the advertising giants’ clients with its creators. And it also inked a deal to provide production and development resources to tennis star Naomi Osaka’s new media firm Hana Kuma.
Springhill was among the production companies — along with the Blackstone-backed Candle Media, Skydance Media, Legendary Entertainment, A24 and Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat among them — that received a cash infusion from a private equity spending spree targeting Hollywood. In Oct. 2021, Gerry Cardinale’s firm RedBird Capital as well as Nike, Boston Red Sox owner Fenway Sports Group and game studio Epic Games took a minority stake in Springhill, valuing the company at $725 million.
Springhill said at the time that the raise would be spent on “acquiring valuable new IP, pursuing synergistic M&A and investing in emerging creators.”
Sportico first reported the Feb. 13 cuts.
