Cimarron Group lays off employees in restructuring

Cimarron Group, one of Hollywood’s leading brand strategy marketing companies, is facing mounting financial difficulties.

The company did not meet its payroll obligations last week and laid off an unspecified number of employees on Monday as part of a financial restructuring, two sources close to the company said.

Several of the firm’s staff have already moved to rival firms, including Trailer Park and the trailer house Buddha Jones, said the sources, who were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.

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Representatives for Cimarron Group did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Founded more than 30 years ago, the Hollywood-based company creates movie trailers and TV spots as well as print and digital ad campaigns for major studio movies.
Cimarron, which has offices in Singapore, Italy and Beijing, recently worked on Fox’s “The Heat,” “Epic,” “Taken 2,” and “Ice Age: Continental Drift,” as well as DreamWorks’ “The Croods,” also released by Fox; and Universal’s “Identity Thief.”

The company’s clients include MGM Grand, Cirque du Soleil, the consumer products division of 20th Century Fox, and Village Roadshow.

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Signs of the company’s financial distress have been evident for months. In June, SAG-AFTRA accused the company of reneging on payments to performers as well as contributions to pension and health plans. The guild temporarily ordered its members not to work with Cimarron until it reach an agreement to resolve the dispute.

And in April, Cimarron quietly closed its Beijing office after less than a year in operation in China, laying off six employees who said they were not paid any severance and were owed back-wages. Cimarron disputed the claims and said it would retain a presence in China.

Company executives said the decision became necessary after one of its major clients, MGM Grand, pulled out of a planned casino project in Vietnam. They also told The Times that progress had been slower than anticipated in building up its film marketing business in China.

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