Funko is reportedly undergoing new layoffs. On Friday, The Hollywood Reporter shared a securities filing from the toy giant. In the documents, there was a mention of laying off 180-200 employees. That would constitute about 13% of Funko’s total workforce. As the company continues to grow, these kinds of cost-cutting measures have become a little more prevalent. Not too long ago they’ve acquired other outfits like Mondo and fired some people. For its part, Funko says that they will end up footing the bill for $2.8 million associated with these layoffs. But, in the same breath, assert that it will lead to as much as $22 million in cash savings annually. Fans, of course, don’t like the sounds of any job loss in the current moment.
In the filing posted on Friday, Funko argued that the moves are, “part of the Company’s initiatives to re-balance its cost structure into prioritized areas that the Company believes will drive long-term growth and improve margins. As the Company focuses on these goals, it is consolidating functions and eliminating or reducing investment in areas of lower focus.”
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Funko Acquired Mondo Last Year
When Funko acquired Mondo, a lot of eyebrows were raised. The poster company was founded in 2004 and the geek community absolutely loves their limited edition posters for films, shows, and comics. Mondo also has a reputation for creating vinyl movie soundtracks and various pop culture merchandise. The founders were laid off by Funko back in March. That includes co-founders Rob Jones and Mitch Putnam. So, it’s been a weird couple of years for the company at large.
Last year, Funko acquired Mondo from Alamo Drafthouse. “Mondo’s devoted fan base and high-end pop culture collectibles make it the perfect complement to Funko’s current portfolio of brands. By leveraging our international distribution and licensing network, we feel well-positioned to expedite the growth of the Mondo brand,” Chief Executive Officer Andrew Perlmutter said in a press release. “It’s an exciting opportunity to couple Mondo’s already stellar product assortment and aesthetic with Funko’s massive property library.”
Artists Were Upset About the Mondo Changes
People working with Mondo were completely caught off-guard. That includes artist Daniel Danger, who’s had multiple projects with Mondo since 2006. “Do they not understand they just lost their entire artist base?” Danger told Gizmodo. “I want to work with Rob, Mitch, and [senior creative director] Eric [Garza],” he continued. “They’re Mondo. If they’re not there, it’s just Funko.” In the same Gizmodo report, Danger explained that he was recently speaking with the team about some more projects with Mondo. The was supposed to be San Diego Comic-Con this year. All of that has been pushed aside and he says the projects are now “dead in the water.”
“To me, the heart of Mondo’s artistic vision laid with the staff that was let go, and I’m nervous about ongoing and future planned projects continuing with the same enthusiasm and support,” Gizmodo learned from another anonymous artist. “I’d love to continue working with Mondo but if they become a pale imitation of what they were, I’m sure many of us artists in the scene will migrate to wherever creative staff transitions to in the future.”
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