TORONTO – With the deal now mostly closed – pending CRTC approval of the regulated broadcast assets, of course – a number of Alliance Atlantis senior folks have left or are on their way out.
A memo to employees late last week, after the deal’s closure was announced, made official the moves of some of the senior staffers. "The portion of our broadcasting business that is subject to CRTC approval and its associated employees now resides within a trust," explains the memo. "The remainder of our broadcasting business now resides outside the trust within a company called CW Media, which is owned by both CanWest and Goldman Sachs, and controlled by CanWest."
While the press release last week announcing that the deal’s done noted that company co-founder and executive chairman Michael MacMillan was leaving the company and CEO Phyllis Yaffe is staying on through to the CRTC decision (the hearing is set for September 5), other senior folks have also departed – or soon may be.
Norm Bolen (executive vice-president, content), Errol Da Ré (senior vice-president, sales) and Jackie Saad (senior vice-president, human resources) will continue on with the broadcasting division through to CRTC approval.
Upon closing last week, however, chief financial officer David Lazzarato, Andrea Wood, executive vice-president and general counsel, and Ted Riley, managing director, international distribution have left the company.
Andrew Callum, the company’s senior vice-president, strategy, is staying to work on implementing the transition plan for AA’s Movie Distribution division while, while Heather Conway (EVP marketing and public affairs) will be staying with the company until the end of September.
"We expect that in the weeks ahead there may be some further announcements regarding the plans of some of our senior team after CRTC approval," noted the memo to employees.
