Anchor Bay's VP of Acquisitions Let Go

[Tony F]

We learned of some incredibly disheartening news this past weekend that will impact the horror genre pretty heavily. Mark Ward, VP of Acquisitions for Anchor Bay Entertainment, was let go from The Bay. This is horrid news as Anchor Bay has been one of the leading genre providers for us horror fiends, while Ward is responsible for bringing you new titles such as HATCHET, JACK BROOKS: MONSTER SLAYER, HALLOWEEN: 25 YEARS OF TERROR, LIGHTNING BUG, SPIRAL, BEHIND THE MASK and next year's LAID TO REST, GRACE, and the Friday the 13th doc, HIS NAME WAS JASON. He's also responsible for all of the incredible re-releases such as HALLOWEEN, DAWN OF THE DEAD, DAY OF THE DEAD, HILLS HAVE EYES, PHANTASM, RE-ANIMATOR, HELLRAISER 1 and 2, CHILDREN OF THE CORN, and the EVIL DEAD 1 and 2 Book of the Dead editions along with the hundreds of horror titles on DVD (and now Blu-ray). This one definitely hurts, but on the bright side, I can't wait to see where he ends up!

source: bloody-disgusting.com

[Joseph F]

Guess any chance we had for more horror from AB has just gone down the proverbial shitter!

[Don May Jr]

It was more than just Mark. It was a lot of people. I heard even the receptionist was let go.

Anchor Bay is concentrating more on newer films and isn't concentrating so much on catalog titles anymore, which I heard is one reason for the mass layoff (do these things always have to happen during the holidays??). The other reason, of course, is probably, like every other DVD company out there, we're all hurting financially this year. The economy sucks, folks, and it has unfortunate consequences.

A wonderful friend there, Shayna MacLeod, who was the Acquisitions Director at Anchor Bay Entertainment, was also among those who lost their jobs. She emailed me and I was shocked at the news. I just hate when companies do this during this time of year, but I understand it's all about getting people out before the year's end... it just sucks in general, though. A dear friend of mine was given his walking papers at Criterion a number of years ago, I think, on the last day before their Christmas break. Sheesh!