BREAKING: Spyglass Media Group has entered into a first look deal with Warner Bros. The studio will also become a strategic investor. Spyglass is run by chairman/CEO Gary Barber, the former MGM chairman who relaunched the company he formed with Roger Birnbaum in 1998 when he made a deal with Lantern Entertainment…

Spyglass Media Group, launched this month by former MGM boss Gary Barber and Lantern Entertainment, has laid off 15 workers due to the shutdown of the company's New York office. A company insider confirmed reports of the reductions Wednesday, saying it was a shift designed to maximize the efficiency of workers at the…

Spyglass Media Group has tapped Kristin Cotich as EVP of Worldwide Communications, marking the latest move by an MGM alum to the new company led by former MGM boss Gary Barber. Cotich will report to Barber, who is chairman and CEO of Spyglass. She previously held the same title at MGM, working for Barber when he…

Spyglass Media Group, the independent production and distribution outfit launched this week by Gary Barber and Lantern Entertainment, has tapped Barber’s former MGM colleague, Cheryl Rodman, as its Chief Legal Officer. She will oversee legal matters and business & legal affairs for the company, including corporate…

Former MGM CEO and Spyglass principal Gary Barber and Lantern Entertainment have joined forces to form Spyglass Media Group, an independent outfit, which will blend new film and TV projects with the Weinstein Co. assets. Strategic investors include Eagle Pictures, the largest independent distributor in Italy, and the…

While it remains in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process, audio giant iHeartMedia has announced the members of its newly formulated board of directors, a group that includes former MGM boss Gary Barber and ex-Disney exec Jay Rasulo. Noting that the board selections are subject to the approval of the company’s…

Gary Barber and MGM have officially parted ways in a resolution between the two parties that has MGM Holdings paying out $260M to its former chairman/CEO of eight years. This comes only three months after Barber was ousted from the company in a firing that shocked employees and the town. The moves comes after both…

As it continues to plot a new course after a management reshuffling, MGM has received some unwelcome news this morning from Moody's Investors Service. Noting the company's increased spending on film and TV projects, it has downgraded two key ratings for the company. MGM's "corporate family rating" and default…

MGM Holdings, in its first call with analysts today following the sudden and unexpected ouster of MGM chairman/CEO Gary Barber last week, said the company is being led by a management team through a newly created “Office of the CEO.” Recently installed Chief Operating Officer Chris Brearton said this group of senior…

UPDATED 3:48 PM with more details: More information is coming to the surface about what caused MGM chairman and CEO Gary Barber to be ousted by MGM Holdings Inc yesterday. Sources with knowledge of the situation said it really came down to fighting about the direction of the company and a difference of opinion between…

Epix, the premium network now owned by MGM, will be available to subscribers of Comcast’s X1 service in early 2018 under a new distribution deal hammered out by the two companies. About 57% of Comcast’s industry-leading 22.5 million cable households are on the X1 platform, giving Epix valuable new real estate as it…

MGM Holdings, the film and TV studio’s privately held parent company, reported a sizable gain in third-quarter net income even as revenue drifted down. Net income of $112.8 million in the period ending Sept. 30 marked a dramatic increase from the prior year’s $12.4 million, though revenue of $267.7 million slid 10%…