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Layoffs at Variety Include Anne Thompson
SpoutBlog — ... the Hollywood Reporter less than two years ago for the Variety job. Her most recent post on her Variety-hosted Thompson on Hollywood blog says she’ll keep the blog going, and is also “actively involved in a web start-up which is in stealth mode; details will be available soon. And I will continue teaching film criticism at USC and hosting Sneak Previews at UCLA Extension.” ...

Damn this economy
Edward Copeland on Film — ... I was distressed to learn moments ago that Anne Thompson, deputy editor and film columnist at Variety, was among several staff members at the venerable Hollywood institution who were let go in a series of staff cuts today. Anne has been more than a supporter of this blog, she has been a great friend and on her most recent blog entry, she insists that her blog will continue. While Citigroup is wasting its government bailout on a spiffy new $50 million corporate jet, isn't it high time that film writers, being laid off at an alarming pace, sidle up to the TARP trough and ...

Variety ankles Anne Thompson
The House Next Door — ... . Anne Thompson (a frequent House linkee) has been let go from Variety. The second link will take you to her personal announcement at her blog Thompson On Hollywood, which she says will continue. In addition, she is fielding other offers and pursuing other interests. Best wishes to Anne in this time.

Variety Axes Vet Anne Thompson, Fest Editor Mike Jones in Layoff
All these wonderful things — ... Festival editor Mike Jones, an indieWIRE and Filmmaker Magazine veteran. Thompson, who wrote her Risky Business blog for The Hollywood Reporter before she decamped for Variety and launched Thompson on Hollywood, is particularly bewildering.  Few are able to balance coverage of studios and indies as well as Thompson does.  And, true to her being a real reporter, she has better sources and a more inquisitive mind than nearly anyone who writes about the industry on a regular basis. In a posting on her blog announcing the news, Thompson held out hopes for the continuance of her ...

Whacked
Movie Marketing Madness — It’s odd the way that something you’ve known was a problem all along takes on vastly different proportions when it impacts someone you know and respect. That’s where my head is at right now, though, with the news that Anne Thompson is among those who just got let go from Variety. Ever since I first discovered her writing years ago I’ve been a fan of Anne’s writing, first at The Hollywood Reporter and then at Variety. While I’ve always respected her great writing - especially her ability to approach the changing marketing and distribution landscape in a non-condescening way - she became one of ...

The axe keeps falling, the toll keeps mounting
MovingPictureBlog — Two esteemed colleagues -- Anne Thompson and Michael Jones -- are among the newly decommissioned in the wake of layoffs at Variety. To paraphrase Hunter S. Thompson's oft-quoted remark about the Nixon Era: Now is a good time to keep your head down.