Hello Sunshine lays off half of its staff following its acquisition by Reese Witherspoon and Mediawan

Hello Sunshine, recently acquired by co-founder Reese Witherspoon alongside French company Mediawan, is laying off half of its staff.

The company produces film and television titles and operates a Witherspoon-branded book club. The layoff of about 30 workers, a source familiar with the matter told Deadline, was not unexpected and is part of an effort to refocus Hello Sunshine on its core strategic areas. The remaining employees primarily focus on film, television and book club, as well as social and digital marketing and partnerships.

Mediawan-Witherspoon’s acquisition from Candle Media earlier this month attracted considerable industry attention given the sharp decline in valuation over the past two years. The original deal with Candle valued Hello Sunshine at $900 million. Although the price of the recent transaction was not disclosed, informed sources told Deadline that Candle, backed by private equity giant Blackstone, likely lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the deal.

A representative for Hello Sunshine declined to comment on the staff reductions when contacted by Deadline.

Private equity previously flowed into the entertainment sector, with companies lured by low interest rates and the seemingly limitless appetite of Netflix and rival streamers. When streaming platforms cut spending on programming, many providers suffered, and a turbulent economy marked by rising tariffs and fuel costs didn’t help.

Mediawan’s properties also include Brad Pitt’s Plan B as well as the Chernin Group. The company has “built an independent, global studio by putting creators first,” Witherspoon said in a statement earlier this month. “That’s always been my vision for Hello Sunshine.”

Launched in 2016 with backing from Peter Chernin and Jesse Jacobs through The Chernin Group, Hello Sunshine has gone on to rack up a number of premium film and television credits. Among them are Big little lies, The morning show, Where the Crawdads Sing, Little fires everywhere, Daisy Jones and the Six, From Scratchhand The last thing he said to me.

Hello Sunshine co-founder Seth Rodsky has joined the company’s board of directors alongside Witherspoon and representatives from Mediawan.