Top IDW Entertainment & Publishing Execs Exit As Parent Company Of ‘Wynonna Earp’ Producer Lays Off 39% Of Workforce And Delists From NYSE – Update

Patrick Hipes and Nellie Andreeva
·3 min read

UPDATED with more details: IDW Media Holdings, the company that includes a prominent comics division and an entertainment division behind such series as Syfy’s Wynonna Earp, BBC America/Netflix’s Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency and Netflix’s Locke & Key, said Thursday it is undergoing cost-cutting measures including reducing its workforce by more than a third, delisting from the NYSE and making changes to senior management in response to “operational challenges.”

Leaving are Paul Davidson, EVP and head of IDW Media’s entertainment division, along with the majority of the entertainment team, as well as the head of publishing, Nachie Marsham, Deadline has learned.

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As part of the changes, the IDW board said that Davidi Jonas, son of IDW’s chairman and chairman of the board Howard Jonas, will take over as CEO replacing Allan Grafman. Davidi Jonas was recently elected to the board by the company’s stockholders; his family collectively owns a controlling interest in the company’s equity, IDW said.

Chief financial officer Brooke Feinstein is also departing the company.

Overall, the layoffs will impact 39% of IDW’s current workforce, which the company said will eventually deliver $4.4 million in annual savings.

As a result, IDW expects to hold approximately $5.7 million cash and cash equivalents as of April 28.

As for the stock, the IDW board plans to deregister its Class B common stock and delist it from the NYSE, expecting the moves to take effect by May 18. The company said it “intends to file an application for its Class B common stock to be quoted on the OTCQB platform as soon as practicable.”

The overall plan will “position the company for recovery and future growth,” putting IDW in “the strongest position possible to unlock value from its assets, including its intellectual property and ability to generate new intellectual property,” IDW said in a press release today.

“Since re-joining the Company as Executive Chairman, I have taken a deep dive into the Company and have strong views on what is needed to put the Company’s best foot forward on the path of success,” Davidi Jonas said in today’s release. “The painful cuts we are making are unfortunately absolutely necessary. We need to ensure that the Company can survive and then grow. I want to thank Allan, Brooke, and the great employees and other contributors to IDW’s past successes.

“Today we hit reset. Today I take on the responsibility to those for whom I work and those whom I work with, the stockholders and my colleagues at IDW. I will work tirelessly to unlock value.”

IDW Entertainment’s Wynonna Earp ran four seasons on Syfy, while Locke & Key, based on an IDW comic property, ran three seasons on Netflix.

Last year, IDW Entertainment revealed projects in development with Ánima Studios, Cartoon Network Studios, HBO Max, Universal Content Productions, Universal International Studios and Warner Bros. Television — all based on graphic novels and comics from IDW Publishing and Top Shelf Productions (an imprint of IDW).

The future of the company’s entertainment efforts have been thrown in limbo by the dramatic cuts in the division.

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